Bautista feels the strain in ‘fight with bike’ at Donington

In a season that has seen him display an excellent affinity with the Aruba.it Ducati Panigale V4 R, Alvaro Bautista says he was simply pleased to get to the end of the Donington Park weekend with a podium finish after being ‘physically destroyed’ riding it.

The Spaniard came into the weekend having ceded a sizeable points’ advantage to Jonathan Rea but saw it overturned altogether over the three races after crashing in a wet race one and finishing behind his race-winning rival in the Superpole Race (4th) and Race 2 (3rd).

Struggling for stability on the bike to be able to keep pushing on, Bautista admits he found himself ‘fighting’ with the bike, causing him to lose his rhythm in the closing stages of the final race weekend.

“I tried to stay with the front group, I tried my best but for sure in the morning I was lucky because the race was shorter but physically it destroyed me.

“It was hard to keep the bike straight because it was moving a lot, so I had to give my best physically and also in the second race, I tried to stay with them but I lost a lot in terms of stability.

“I fought a lot with the bike so in the end I couldn’t keep the rhythm because physically I couldn't do more with the bike. In the end a poduum was not a bad result after yesterday’s crash.’

Bautista has slipped 24 points behind Rea in the overall standings, with the final round before the long summer break taking place at Laguna Seca in just a week’s time.