The second day of Misano testing in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship concluded on Friday, with riders on the grid testing various parts and setups in anticipation of the next race weekend. One of those riders pushing the pace on Friday was Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), but the reigning World Champion had three tumbles on Friday and four during the test. With today’s action disrupted by rain, the Spaniard put his bike fourth overall in the spell of dry weather in the afternoon.

FOUR CRASHES IN TWO DAYS: “The morning crash was strange… second one was at the last corner when it was wet!”

Whilst enjoying a an extremely positive two-day test on the Italian coast, Alvaro Bautista somehow managed to crash his Ducati Panigale V4 R four times in just under two days. You can read the rest of Bautista’s thoughts from day one here. Speaking about his crashes on Day 2 of testing, Bautista said: “The morning crash was strange. I thought I was on SCX, but I was on SC0. The feeling was, s**t, no? So, maybe I forced it more than I had to, and I crashed. But then they told me that I was faster on the SC0! The second crash was at the last corner when it was wet. I lost the front passing over a patch. I didn’t expect it! Otherwise, not so bad!” Bautista explained that, on the last crash, he simply got sucked into the corner of turn 14 and couldn’t recover.

“I PREFER THE FEELING ON THE RACE TYRE”: Bautista talks testing, race setup for Misano

Aside from the frequency of his crashes across the two-day test, another hot topic of discussion was the potential improvement and discovery made by Bautista in preparation for the race weekend on the Adriatic. Speaking about this, Bautista said: “I prefer the feeling on the race tyre. I am happy, especially with the engine characteristics that we resolved here.” When asked about the overall state of his setup, Bautista explained: “I think the situation is the same. We have worked well on engine behaviour. We have not found anything for the setup, but I think what we have found in terms of the engine will help us a lot.”

DECISION COMING SOON? Bautista not drawn on decision yet; “After Misano, I will take a decision

Amidst the discourse and debate of silly season, one of the hot topics in the WorldSBK paddock has been the future of its current Champion. Bautista, when asked about his future plans beyond this season, had this to say: “I’m just focusing on this. My priority is to think about the Misano race and to do our best. I think after Misano I will take a decision.”

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