Bautista: “It was 100% my mistake, I threw away a race I was enjoying a lot”

Bautista looked dominant and was on course to claim his 20th WorldSBK win of the year as he stretched away from Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu.

But as his lead grew beyond the one second margin, Bautista then lost victory when he lost the front-end in surprising fashion between turns eight and nine.

• 2023 Aragon World Superbike - Full Race (1) Results 
• 2023 Aragon World Superbike - Full Superpole Results

"I can’t say it’s a happy day, but these things are part of the game and can happen," the championship leader told WorldSBK.com. 

"It was a pity. It was 100% my mistake. I just threw away a race that I was enjoying a lot. The feeling with the bike was good and I was feeling good. 

"I was pushing a lot. I just lost the front a little bit more than other laps in that corner and I couldn’t save the crash. This is racing and it can happen. 

"Last time, we had a problem with the motorbike. This time, I made a mistake. We have to reset to understand why I crashed. In any case, I’m sorry for my team because they worked really hard and also Ducati and the sponsors. 

"It’s part of the game. We know we are competitive and fast so we just have to not make more mistakes. 

"I cannot believe that, at 38 years old, I can make this kind of mistake, but it’s part of racing. The important thing is to learn and try to be a better rider tomorrow."

Bautista also made another mistake as he crashed out of the race on the final lap when trying to overtake Loris Baz at turn 16.

While it was a nightmare day for Bautista, teammate Michael Rinaldi enjoyed his first win in over two years.

After closing in on Rea and Razgatlioglu, Rinaldi produced two overtakes in two laps before pulling clear of Razgatlioglu.

Rinaldi added: "It’s incredible! At Aragon, strange things happen, I had my first race win here and then this victory today is one of my best, as I fought! 

"It was a race where I had to manage the tyre and think a lot. There’s been some really dark moments this year but this is the best road to come back. 

"I decided to not give up and here I am, really happy and enjoying this moment."

Rinaldi was not in contention early on but used his better late-race pace due to saving more rear grip in order to make the win a possibility, shortly after mid-race distance.

"I think that the problem for them was at the beginning of the race; I was lapping in the 1’50s but they went away, and I think they were using too much tyre, so at the end, it was the key as I was able to catch them," said Rinaldi. 

"It’s what I thought at the beginning of the race. I’m sorry for Alvaro’s crash and I’m sure his pace was even better, but I took the opportunity and won the race. 

"These things happen and I wish him the best for tomorrow. My target is to always be there fighting for the victory and we’ll see tomorrow if we can repeat it with Alvaro."