WSBK Weekend in Most

30.07.2023

Saturday

It was a tough Saturday for the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati team at the Autodrom Most (Czech Republic). At the end of a Superpole session that once again was affected by many yellow flags, Michael Rinaldi and Alvaro Bautista found themselves in third and seventh position on the grid, respectively.

The starting positions, however, were changed within minutes after leaving the pits, forcing Rinaldi and Bautista to drop back to eighth and fourteenth places. The light rain that fell earlier in the day further complicated the situation. Both riders started on wet tyres and then returned to the pit garages to mount the slicks after a few laps. The accumulated gap, however, was too big for them to make up positions.

Alvaro Bautista finished in 12th position while Michael Rinaldi was 14th under the chequered flag.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #1)
"It was a tough Saturday. Once again, the yellow flags affected Superpole, although I honestly don't understand why the lap was cancelled. We also had a small mishap during the tyre change that made me lose a few seconds, but the chance to stay within the leading group was compromised anyway. The positive side? I did a lot of laps on dry tyres to improve the feeling, and for that, I am satisfied".

Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #21)
"I want to see the positive side of a bad day. In FP3, we made a good step forward regarding my feeling with the bike, which gives me confidence ahead of tomorrow's two races. Finding yourself in eighth position after taking the bike to the parc fermé at the end of Superpole is something I struggle to understand. We have to think about tomorrow, though".

Sunday

It’s a Sunday that will long be remembered by all the Ducati and WorldSBK fans, with Alvaro Bautista protagonist of a real feat. After recovering 11 positions in the Superpole Race to finish in third place, the Spaniard gave life to a spectacular duel with Razgatliouglu (Yamaha), which ended seven laps to the end, when the Turkish rider crashed at the first chicane.

Bautista conquered his 50th WorldSBK victory and, at the same time, his 18th win of the season (an absolute record for the competition). Bautista reacted extraordinarily to a Saturday full of difficulties, increasing his championship lead over Razgatlioglu to 74 points.

It was a positive Sunday for Rinaldi, who finished fifth in Race 2 after being in contention for the podium until three laps from the end.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #1)
"I think this is the most beautiful victory of the season so far. I am sure: together with Toprak we have given a lot of entertainment to the fans here and all the fans watching from home. I'm sorry he crashed because I would have liked to have fought with him to the end even though I knew I probably wouldn't have had a chance. I am very happy, especially for the team. Let's go into the holidays calm".

Michael Rinaldi (Aruba. it Racing - Ducati #21)
"I can only be satisfied above all with the progress we showed over the weekend. The feeling has grown steadily and even today the sensations were good. In the final laps, however, I didn't feel I was in the ideal condition to be able to protect the podium and I congratulate Axel (Bassani) and Danilo (Petrucci) who seemed to have more. Five times in fifth position in the last six races: now it's time to take another step. See you at Magny Cours”

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