Alvaro Bautista shared that the height difference between himself and WorldSBK team-mate Nicolo Bulega sees him lose time “in every area” at Cremona.
The Spaniard suffered a difficult Friday when trying to find the limit aboard his V4 R Panigale, crashing three times across both practice sessions.
Despite the difficult start to the weekend, Bautista bounced back to secure three podiums for the first time this season, sealing a hat-trick of third-place finishes.
His pace was stronger than the rest of the field, but he was in a world of his own compared to championship protagonists Bulega and Toprak Razgatlioglu.
“I’m happy because I improve the feeling with the bike today, comparing race one, I can be faster on the pace,” Bautista told media including Motorsport Week.
“It was not enough to fight against Nicolo [Bulega] and Toprak [Razgatlioglu], but we did a step forward.
“I’m too small and I’m struggling a lot when I have to move the bike, and when I have to stop the bike and make the bike down, for sure, I always struggle in all this.
“This kind of tracks are not the best for a small rider like me. But yeah, for sure we need something, still with Toprak, I’m not sure because we are riding different bike, but with Nicolo that I had the chance to see the data and to compare our data, we are losing a little bit.
“It’s not like a big area, but a little bit in every area, no? Especially, he can turn a bit better than me, and that means that he can pick up a bit earlier than me, and he can accelerate.”
Despite the margin difference, the 40-year-old explained that his pace and feeling on the bike have improved round by round.
“It’s the reality and we are working to improve this problem that we have at present, we improve last year’s feeling, we are improving all the lap times in all the tracks, all the base.
“But still not enough to fight for victory, no, but we are working as hard as we can, and yeah, from yesterday to today, we did a step forward, especially in hot condition, and we have to keep in mind also for the next round if we find these conditions.”
Alvaro Bautista solved a technical issue from Friday WorldSBK practice
The Spaniard explained on Saturday that he unlocked more of the bike’s true potential after solving a technical issue on the bike itself.
Due to multiple crashes during practice, he was unable to establish a consistent rhythm over multiple laps.
“I’m satisfied because after missing Friday, I felt much better on the bike. We found a technical issue from Friday on the bike,” he revealed.
“So there was something not working. Fortunately, we found [the solution] this morning. So again, I can get a good confidence, but, you know, when I was on the grid, I was thinking ‘What do you expect about tyres like, because what was the maximum I did with the tyres?’
“And yesterday in FP2, we couldn’t make a long run, so it was like, I don’t know what to expect.”
Bautista’s podium finish marked his first Race 1 finish since the season opener in Phillip Island, but the event wasn’t as smooth sailing as he would have liked.
“At the beginning, I struggled a lot. I did a good start,” he began.
“I struggled to go into the corners with more weight on the bike, with the fuel, and then improve a little bit, but Toprak and Nicolo were too far and I cannot catch them.
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