Alvaro Bautista: ‘Maybe I win because I’m a good rider’ - Exclusive

Alvaro Bautista says his dominance at the top of WorldSBK is underestimate🅘d and that the complaints made prior to the new weight limit rule indicate that.

Alvaro Bautista, MotoGP race, Malaysia MotoGP, 12 November
Alvaro Bautista, MotoGP race, Malaysia MotoGP, 12 November

A new minimum weight limit rule for rider and bike will debut in WorldSBK𓄧 t♔his season and it should bring the field closer together.

But it’s come at a cost for 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Alvaro Bautista as the two-time 🦂wor🦹ld champion has had to adjust more than any other rider.

It’s clear that Bautista feels as though the new rule has brought his level of performance down, rather than aid 🌜other riders and teams to 𓃲get closer.

Bautista put together the most dominant season ever in Wo🎉rldSBK last year, but when he was riding for Honda and struggling for success, the former MotoGP rider felt as though nothing was done to bring the grid closer.

Instead, Bautista believes the new rule has been created with🀅out realising that maybe🌺 his success is because he’s riding better than his competitors.

Speaking exclusively to Crash, Bautista said: “When I was riding for Honda nobody complained about the weight. But when we started winning a lot they began compla♒ining about the bike’s performance and saying it was too high, that Ducati is too good a bike and that it was impossible to fight against Ducati, they have to cut their RPM’s.

“Then they said, ‘ok but the only Ducaꦦti wi♋nning is Alvaro’ and that I’m too light. But it’s just an excuse.

“It’s like they don’t think I can be a good rider as well. So not ꩲbecause of the weight or the bike, but maybe I can win🃏 because I’m a good rider.

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“I wonꦰ in 125cc and fought for the podium in MotoGP. Maybe I’m a good rider as well. It’s like they try to find an excuse instead of me maybe being a bet𓄧ter rider than them. If you see, more-or-less the average weight and height for every rider is not too big, not too strong.

“There are strange cases like Valentino [Rossi] who is tall b🌱ut in the normal rider configuration we are not too big or too strong. The problem in WorldSBK is that there are a lot of tall riders who are very strong.

“If you want to be a rider you have to work to be a rider. For examplไe, Aleix Espargaro in MotoGP is a tall rider but he works to be a rider and does a lot of training to be fit.

“But the problem like I said is, instead of the rider working on themselves to be a better 🅘rider or more in shape, theꦓy penalise a rider that makes that worth.

“For me, it is not fair and it’s an excuse to say I can not be🐼 good.”

What is likely to happen as a result of the new rule is a closer world champiꦯonship in 2024.

Bautista expec💙ts rivals such as Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathওan Rea to be very strong, despite both men changing manufacturers.

But when I asked if his team-mate Nicolo Bulega should be considered, the Spaniard said: “For sure, in fact, I remember last year when ൲many journalists asked me about the rivals - Toprak to BMW and Jonathan switching to Yamahaꦰ - but no one asked me but I always said Nicolo.

“I said be careful because Nicolo is a really good rider, very young and a very talented rid💙er.

“His approach every weekend in Supersport was very professional and the way to work is very si♔milar to mine.

“I put him as one o🐭f the names fighting for the championship. For me i🔯t is not a surprise.

“I expect him to be fight༺ing from the first race even if he is a rookie rider, I think he can fight for the title in his first year.”

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