The battle for third place within the World SBK Rider Rankings is gaining momentum within the fingers of Alvaro Bautista, who strengthened his momentum for the bronze medal spot in 2025 in Race 1 of the Spanish spherical.
The race for bronze within the Superbike World Championship has been between Alvaro Bautista and Andrea Locatelli since Danilo Petrucci was pressured to overlook the ultimate race in Jerez as a consequence of damage.
Bautista outperformed Locatelli in race one, with the Spaniard ending third, whereas the Italian solely completed seventh.
“It is positively necessary to not lose factors,” Bautista instructed WorldSBK.com after Race 1 in Jerez.
“At first I believed the rostrum was somewhat far-off, however at that second I believed: ‘My aim is to beat Locatelli’, which is unlucky for Danilo (Petrucci) as a result of ultimately he’s the one rider who can battle for third place.
“So the aim was there, and that was to beat Locatelli.”
He at the moment has a 15-point lead over Bautista and is able to defend, however he has been concerned in various accidents with different riders this yr and is cautious of the disruption that would lead to Sunday morning’s last Tremendous Pole race of the season.
“Tomorrow might be even crazier, particularly the Tremendous Pole race, so we now have to be very cautious and take a look at to not lose an excessive amount of,” he stated.
“Everybody right here for the final Superpole race needs to have their greatest days of the season thus far, so we now have to watch out. It may well get somewhat harmful.”
Race 1 was one other battle of the sector for Bautista, who appeared to have largely accepted the early race struggles which have plagued him all season.
Nonetheless, the Spanish rider completed the race feeling constructive concerning the really feel of the bike, due to the in a single day modifications he made after FP2.
“In comparison with final yr once I struggled loads and yesterday once I did not really feel one of the best, I am actually pleased with how I felt throughout the race,” he stated.
“My crew made some necessary modifications this morning and I positively felt loads higher in FP3.
“Then in Superpole I used to be in a position to set a not-so-bad lap time, however I made a couple of errors. I believe I might be a couple of tenths sooner, however in any case it wasn’t that dangerous of a place on the grid.”
“However this observe is somewhat difficult as a result of the primary sector, the corners are very shut. I did not have an excellent begin, so I misplaced a couple of positions. And as all the time, it is arduous to get on the bike on the primary lap since you really feel like an individual on the bike.”
“I attempted to play one of the best protection I may and take a look at to not lose too many gaps.”
