Alvaro Bautista: Powerful Ducati - crashed because of the Carrasco / Superbike World Championship

World Superbike Champion Alvaro Bautista finished the first day of testing in Jerez second fastest. With the premiere of the new Ducati Panigale V4R and fall, he had an eventful day.

Only Yamaha star Toprak Razgatlioglu was 0.255 seconds faster than Alvaro Bautista, who raced the new Ducati Panigale V4R for the first time, on the first of two days of testing at the Circuit de Jerez.

“The new bike is very similar, I have compared both, there is no big difference,” the 38-year-old said in an interview with SPEEDWEEK.com. “The big difference is the behavior of the engine. The new engine is smoother, easier to drive, and the power delivery is smoother. And its running time is higher. I rode the old bike in the morning and did my fastest lap with the new one. I feel the new bike has a lot of potential. This was our first demonstration and we have work to do. But it is very easy to ride and gave me good feedback.”

Early in the afternoon, the Spaniard suffered a shock in the first corner: “I had Ana Carrasco about half a length on the straight in front of me, but in the braking zone I approached her very quickly. I had to stop the bike, I got to the dirty part of the outside of the corner and the front wheel slipped. Nothing happened. Ana has to ride with the actors, at the moment she is too fast to ride the bike with the supersport guys. It’s not very safe.”

And of course the question arose as to why his long mane had to give way. Bautista laughing: “I ate a lot in the winter and I had to lose weight, so I cut my hair.”

Times Jerez Test, January 25, 2023
space	category	Driver (Nat./Motorbike)	time/dif
1.	SBK	Toprak Razgatlioglu (TR/Yamaha)	1:38,597 minutes
2.	SBK	Alvaro Bautista (E/Ducati)	+ 0.255 sec
3.	SBK	Michael Rinaldi (I/Ducati)	+ 0.643
4.	SBK	Jonathan Rea (UK/Kawasaki)	+ 0.705
5.	SBK	Alex Lowes (UK/Kawasaki)	+ 1.087
6.	SBK	Danilo Petrucci (I/Ducati)	+ 1.193
7.	SBK	Xavi Vierge (E/Honda)	+ 1.282
of the 8th.	SBK	Iker Lecuona (E/Honda)	+ 1.286
9.	SBK	Dominique Aegerter (CH/Yamaha)	+ 1.337
10	SBK	Scott Redding (UK/BMW)	+ 1.401
11.	SBK	Garrett Gerloff (USA/BMW)	+ 1.469
12.	SBK	Andrea Locetelli (I/Yamaha)	+ 1,630
13.	SBK	Philipp Öttl (D/Ducati)	+ 1,637
14	SBK	Remy Gardner (AUS/Yamaha)	+ 1.954
15	SBK	Michael v Mark (NL/BMW)	+ 2.173
16	SBK	Tom Sykes (UK/Kawasaki)	+ 2.286
17	SBK	Loris Baz (F/BMW)	+ 2,443
18	SBK	Oliver Koenig (CZ/Kawasaki)	+ 3,034
19	SBK	Lorenzo Baldassarri (I/Yamaha)	+ 3,129
20	SSP	Nicolo Bulega (I/Ducati)	+ 3,857
21	SSP	Can Oncu (TR/Kawasaki)	+ 3,869
22	SSP	Federico Caricasulo (I/Ducati)	+ 3,941
23	SSP	Andrea Mantovani (I/Yamaha)	+ 4,469
24	SBK	Florian Marino (F/Kawasaki)	+ 4,618
25	SSP	John McPhee (UK/Kawasaki)	+ 7,657