After a thrilling Race 2 at MotorLand Aragon for the Prosecco DOC Aragon Round, Alvaro Bautista claimed his first podium of the 2020 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship season with a third place finish, in a race where he was able to match the pace of the leaders throughout the majority of the 18-lap duration.

Bautista had shown pace in the Tissot Superpole Race after starting seventh to finish in fourth place, the Spanish rider giving himself an excellent starting position for Race 2. Bautista was the only front runner to use the SCX tyre in Race 2 and he used the tyre differential to his advantage to move into third place, pressuring Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) for second place before finishing in third place.

Despite the podium success, it was not a smooth weekend for Bautista and Honda after issues struck during Friday practice. In Free Practice 1, Bautista crashed at Turn 1 before a mechanical issue with the engine later in the session impacted ended his session early. An engine change still caused issues during Free Practice 2 and limited Bautista’s running to just shakedown laps.

Bautista said: “This new project has not been easy. We are working a lot. I think we are making steps forward round by round and this is the prize for all this work. Every time I ride my bike I feel much better, getting more confidence and we are making small steps forward. Every time we improve some details. I’m happy with this podium because we are on the way to our target which is to win.

“We need to keep working. This will be a motivation for everyone, for HRC, for Honda, for my team. I want to dedicate the podium to my team because they worked a lot during this weekend. We had some problems and they spent a long time working on the bike, so they deserve this podium. Let’s enjoy this result but keep focused and keep working for next weekend.”

Having collected his first WorldSBK podium for Team HRC on Sunday at Aragon, the hope for Bautista will be to continue being on the podium; especially as WorldSBK action continues at MotorLand Aragon for the Pirelli Teruel Round in just one week. On a track Bautista won at three times, hopes will be high the Spaniard can use this week’s podium as a springboard for further success.

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