Alvaro Bautista: ‘I cannot push to the limit, I don’t have confidence…’
Alvaro Bautista has not lost hope of being competitive at the season-opener despite admitting he can’t push to the limit.
Alvaro Bautista has dominated the last WorldSBK championships, but testing for the 2024 campaign has looked anything but dominant for the Spaniard.
The factory Ducati rider struggled with pain and is lacking the same confidence we normally see from him.
Bautista’s team-mate Nicolo Bulega has been the star of pre-season testing, but Bautista admits he’s not where he needs to be heading into next month’s opening weekend at Phillip Island.
“Basically, I can say that it has been better than Jerez but not enough,” Bautista told WorldSBK.com. “On Day 1, I felt a lot of improvement from Jerez about my physical condition, but on Tuesday, I felt a bit worse than Monday.
“Maybe this track is more demanding. It’s not too painful but it’s always there and it’s not easy.
“Also, we worked with the bike, and I think we took the setup that wasn’t the best because, at the end of the day, we saw the way we started on from Day 1, maybe I’m not 100% and I cannot push to the limit.
“Maybe that way wasn’t correct, but we realised at the end of the day. I’m not 100% but I think we miss something on the bike setup.
“A difficult two days, but now we have some time to think about the setup of the bike and try to recover a bit more for Australia.”
Bautista will be expected to fight for wins from race one of the season, thus putting to one side the new minimum weight limits rule.
However, there hasn’t been any sign from an on-track perspective that 2024 will be plain-sailing from that regard.
Bautista added: “I don’t have confidence, but I have confidence. I’ll try to work as hard as possible at home, I think this is the only way.
“It doesn’t matter about confidence. If we work hard, it’s the only way we can arrive in better condition.
“Let’s see. I have to go day by day and then, when we arrive in Australia, I will see what my physical condition is like, and we’ll try to do our best.”
