Alvaro Bautista closed the first day of Superbike testing more than a second behind Jonathan Rea and teammate Leon Haslam. Then he talked about a physical problem, which the team didn’t know about
Alvaro Bautista arrived in Barcelona for the Superbike tests injured, and Honda HRC knew nothing about it. “I had a small accident while doing motocross last week, I hadn’t told the team about it because I first wanted to check what the impact of the problem was by riding the CBR-RR” confessed the Spaniard at the end of the first day of testing. “I was convinced that everything would be resolved. But I still feel a lot of pain. I have almost completed the work program that we had drawn up but I stopped a little early because I was not well“.
Honda HRC has brought several technical innovations, so a perfectly efficient Alvaro Bautista would have been needed to carry on the development. Instead, the former Ducati rider ended the day more than a second behind Jonathan Rea, in eleventh position. That is, in the queue of all the top Superbike riders. His teammate Leon Haslam, on the other hand, moved up to second place, just one tenth behind the world champion. A sign that the CBR-RR is growing a lot. But there was no verification by Bautista, which would have been particularly interesting given that Barcelona is one of the favourite tracks. Last September, in the World race, Alvaro crashed while leading the Superpole Race. In terms of performance, that was the best outing of a season that ended without a win and with a modest eighth-place finish.
Alvaro Bautista also provided very in-depth technical details. Who knows how much the HRC managers would have enjoyed on this side as well. “Now the electronics work in a homogeneous way in all the corners. Regardless of the pace you are holding and the lean angle, while last year it was not like that. The technicians also worked a lot on the balance of the bike, changing the riding position. We are also experimenting with new chassis parts. In Jerez, we have taken the right direction“. Okay, but now it’s his turn. Accidents (hidden) permitting.