Phillip Island WorldSBK: Alvaro Bautista ‘couldn’t see anything’ due to spray, ‘was riding on ice’

Alvaro Bautista says the spray when following Jonathan Rea in Race 1 of the 2023 WorldSBK season-opener left him unable to ‘see anything’.
Alvaro Bautista, Ducati WorldSBK Phillip Island 2023
Alvaro Bautista, Ducati WorldSBK Phillip Island 2023

The WorldSBK champion made an electric getaway from second on the grid as he led into turn one from 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Toprak Razgatlioglu.

However, A fast-charging Rea then took the ▨lead on the same lap, nine corners later. 

After losing time in the early laps, Bautista fo🔴und his rhythm and began to apply pressure on Rea, before taking the lead heading into ‘Stoner corner’ (turn 3).

But that came after several laps where Bautista claimed conditions when following anﷺother rider were treacherous. 

"I'm really blessed to win races like this one," added Bautistaꦏ. "Last year we raced here as well, butꦛ we didn't race too much in wet conditions, so it was new for everybody. I just tried to understand how the track was to get the maximum. 

"In the Warm Up lap, I saw behind the riders I had a lot of water spray, and I couldn't see anything, so the idea was to m🌠ake a good start and try to get the lead to not have th𒈔ese issues. 

"I did it and then Jonathan went a bit faster in the firꦇst lap so I just tried to stay calm and understand how much I could push ♛and where was the limit. 

"After a few laps, my pace was similar to Jonathan’s but behind him I couldn't see anything due to the spray, so I just tried to overtake him and stay in front. After mid-race, the tra🐷ck started to be more slippery and it was very difficult, especi⛄ally on the rear. 

"In many corners it seemed like I was riding on ice. There was zero grip. In the end, I could get some gap with Jonathan ꧋and win the race. I'm really happy."

Alvaro Bautista , Race 1, Australian WorldSBK, 25 February
Alvaro Bautista , Race 1, Australian WorldSBK, 25 February

Prior to Race 1 getting underway, Bautista had aౠppeared to be the clear favourite in dry condi🍎tions.

But aft🎃er rain fell that was ༺not expected to be the case, or at least to the same degree.

And it proved to be true d🅘uring the opening stages although Bautista still ran away victorious by over three seconds come the checkered flag.

B♕autista said: "The good thing is that it started to rain for the race, so nobody had a reference, nobody knew the condition. At that moment there were no favourite riders. 

"I was not worried because in the end it’s the first race and I just tried to do the m✃aximum. It was the same for everybody and it was not an advantage for anybody."

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