Alvaro Bautista has seen his championship lead cut from 61 to 16 points in the space of two rounds, after another mistake in race two at Misano as pressure intensifies on the Aruba.it Ducati star.
What seemed like a one-sided championship after four rounds, has erupted into life since round five at Imola. In that time frame Bautista has won three out of seven races as opposed to his unbeaten record in the first eleven races.
His results over the last seven races in any other season would be considered very strong, but with Jonathan Rea’s spectacular consistency and Bautista crashing out twice from a winning position, it has brought the title battle much closer than the Spaniard would want, especially with some tough and new circuits coming up for Bautista.
Bautista has lamented the fact that having “too much confidence” could be a reason for his recent mistakes: “I’m happy but at the same time very angry with myself about the results of today’s two races. It went well in the morning’s Superpole Race because we were on really top form.”
“After a good start I immediately took the lead, and set the pace right down to the chequered flag. In Race 2 it was very hot and the track didn’t have as much grip.”
“Maybe the error came about because I was too confident after the win in the Superpole Race, but in any case we must have a good look at the data because I’ve made two similar mistakes in the last two races, and that’s not good.”
It will say a lot about Bautista’s character if he can come through the next two rounds with his championship lead intact, commencing on the weekend 5-7 July 2019 at Donington Park followed by Laguna Seca in the United States a week later, where Rea has been exceptionally strong at in recent years.
