Bautista: I enjoyed myself sliding around

Alvaro Bautista says he “really enjoyed myself a lot with the bike” on his way to another dominant victory to maintain his 100% winning start to his World Superbike career.

The Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider pulled out a lead at around one second per lap to win the Aragon opener, becoming the first Spaniard to win a World Superbike race at the track, with a flawless performance to take victory by over 15 seconds.

With Bautista unchallenged throughout the race, he says he found time to concentrate on his riding style over the closing stages “sliding into and exiting the corners” and in the process underlined his control on the championship.

“It’s a fantastic feeling to win a race but to do it in your home race is even more special, and I’m so happy for all the Spanish fans,” Bautista said. “I tried from the beginning to set my pace and get some advantage from Lap 1, trying not to lose concentration.

“Although I had a comfortable lead on the others, I really enjoyed myself a lot with the bike today, sliding into and exiting the corners but I was always focussed on my riding.

“At the end to win the race and become the first Spanish rider to win in Aragón is truly a dream, especially with all my family and friends here.”

With Rea finishing in second place once again, Bautista has extended his championship lead to 31 points while he also claimed his second pole position of the season earlier in the day with a new lap record at Aragon.