Aragon WorldSBK: Alvaro Bautista: “It was 100% my mistake, I threw away a race I was enjoying a lot”

Alvaro Bautista says his mistake whilst leading Race 1 of the Aragon WorldSBK round was 100% his fault.
Alvaro Bautista, Ducati WorldSBK Aragon 2023
Alvaro Bautista, Ducati WorldSBK Aragon 2023

Bautista looked dominant and was on course to claim his 20th World✱SBK win of the year as he stretched away frℱom Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu.

But as his lead grew beyond the one second marg✅in, Bautista then lost victory when he lost the front-en🌄d in surprising fashion between turns eight and nine.

"I can’t say it’s a happy day, but these things are part of the gameꦐ and can happen," the championship le🌜ader told WorldSBK.com. 

"It wa🌼s a pity. It was 100% my mistake. I just threw away a race that I was enjoyin𓃲g a lot. The feeling with the bike was good and I was feeling good. 

"I was push📖ing a lot. I just lost the front a little bit more than other laps in that corner and I couldn’t save the crash. This i𒁏s racing and it can happen. 

"Last time, we had a problem with the motor♏bike. This time, I made a mistake. We have to reset to understand why I crashed. In any case, I’m sorry for my team because they worked really hard and also Ducati and the sponsors. 

"It’s part of the game. We know we are competitive and fast so we just have to n༺ot make more mistakes.&nb🌟sp;

"⭕I cannot believe that, at 38 years old, I can make this kind of mistake, but it’s part of racing. The important thing is to learn and try to be a better rider tomorrow."

Bautꦑista also made another mistake as he crashed out of the race on the final lap when trying to overtake Loris B🔴az at turn 16.

While it was a nightmare day for Bautista, teammate Michael Rinal🐭di enjoyed his first win in ove🧔r two years.

After closing in on Rea and ꧂Razgatlioglu, Rinaldi produced two overtakes in two laps before pulling clear of Razgatlioglu.

Rinaldi added: "It’s incredible! At Aragon, strange things happen, I had my first race win here and then this victory today is one of my best, as I f✱ought! 

Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Race1, Aragon WorldSBK, 23 September
Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Race1, Aragon WorldSBK, 23 September

"It was a race where I had to manage the tyre and think a l𝓰ot. There’s been some really dark moments this year but this is the best road to come back. 

"I dec🌠ided to not give up and here I am, reall💧y happy and enjoying this moment."

Rinaldi was not in contention early on but used his better late-race pace due to saving more rear grip in order to make th🍰e win a possibility, shortly after mid-race dista𒈔nce.

"I think that the problem for꧅ them was at the beginning of the race; I was lapping in the 1’50s but they went away, and I think they were using too much tyre, so at the end, it was the key as I was ab༒le to catch them," said Rinaldi. 

"It’s what I thought at the beginning of the race. I’m sorry for Alvaro’s crash and I’m 🔜sure his pace was even better, but I took the opportunity and won the race. 

"These things happen and I wish him the best for tomor🌜row. My target is to always be there fighting for the victory and we’ll see tomorrow if we can repeat it with Alvaro."

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