Alvaro Bautista He no longer has any chance of being Superbike world champion this 2024 season. The Spanish rider failed to retain the number 1 place he obtained in 2023 after a year full of problems. with several zeros and in which it has been difficult for him to adapt to his Panigale V4 R, which this year is more complex, also due to the burden he carries due to the new minimum weight rule.
That of Talavera de la Reina settled the round Estoril last weekend with two podiums, two third positions in the Superpole race and in Race 2 on Sunday, while in the first long heat he took a zero after a fall (he finished 19th). But beyond his performance, Bautista had a more important task regarding his brand, Ducati.
Although no clear team order was given, within Aruba.it Yes, we had talked about the possibility of Álvaro helping his teammate, Nicolò Bulegain the fight they maintain for the 2024 title, especially after the approach of the Italian Toprak Razgatlioğlu due to the Turk's injury at Magny-Cours. SO, Bautista accomplished this task on Sunday by not putting pressure on Bulega in Race 2.in which he finished second, to not deduct points and keep the fight alive.
The WSBK will end this next weekend (October 18-20) at the Jerez circuit – Ángel Nietoand Bulega will arrive with options, although distant (46 points behind rival BMW with 62 remaining in play). However, and when asked about teamwork, The man from La Mancha confirmed in Portugal that he would continue to work for his transalpine teammateeven if it is the first time he has had to do it in his sporting career and he is not used to it.
“In the last laps I had something extra, maybe I could fight for second position“, Bautista began when talking about his performance in the second long race at the venue WorldSBK. “But, at the end of the day, Bulega has a chance, very small, to fight for the title. So, As a team, I think it was better to finish third. I am proud of this gesture, because it is not easy for a driver not to try to overtake. “I think it was the right decision for the team and I hope Nicolò and I can fight for the title in 2025.”
And it was clear that Bautista could attack Bulega in the second half of the race, but the former MotoGP I was clear about what I had to do: “Behind Nicolò, especially in the last three laps, I felt that I could brake harder than him and that I stopped in certain areas. But in others I could attack him. He could fight for second place, but I think it was fair to let him finish second and not lose any more points to Toprak.“.
“We will see what happens in Jerez. You never know what can happen, but at that moment I think it was the right decision.. If I can help you, I will. It's strange, because normally that's not my mentality, I want to make the most of every situation, but today was this time. I think it's the first time in my sporting career that I've done it, but there's always a first time for everything.“Bautista summed up.
His boss, Serafino Foti, team manager of Aruba, only praised the Spaniard's behavior towards his garage partner, denying that it was his mandate: “Honestly, there were no team orders, because Álvaro was smart. He worked for the team because he is a good teammate. So in this case today [el domingo de Estoril] He was also world champion. I would like to thank him and Nicolò because I had a very good race. It was difficult to beat Toprak, because the difference was quite big,” he concluded.
