Bautista: I’m angry at myself for Misano crash

Alvaro Bautista feels being “too confident” after winning the Superpole race potentially led to his crash while leading the final Misano race which saw his World Superbike championship lead eroded by Jonathan Rea.

The Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider endured a day of mixed emotions at Misano having won the morning Superpole race with Bautista looking set to repeat the feat in the final full-distance race having taken an early lead from pole position.

But at the start of Lap 2 his race was undone by a low-side off at Turn 4, re-joining the race in last place.

Despite scrambling back to 14th place at the chequered flag, Bautista’s championship lead has been slashed to just 16 points coupled with Rea’s victory in the same race.

While Bautista is eager to analyse his Ducati V4 R’s data to understand the cause of the crash he has held his hands up at rider error.

“I’m happy but at the same time very angry with myself about the results of today’s two race,” Bautista said. “It went well in the morning’s Superpole Race because we were on really top form. After a good start I immediately took the lead and set the pace right down to the chequered flag.

“In Race 2 it was very hot and the track didn’t have as much grip. On Lap 2, I didn’t do anything strange at Turn 4, but just lost the front and crashed. Pity because our potential was obviously to fight for the win.

“Maybe the error came about because I was too confident after the win in the Superpole Race, but in any case we must have a good look at the data because I’ve made two similar mistakes in the last two races, and that’s not good. We have to understand why so as not to repeat the same mistakes and lose more points.”