Álvaro Bautista enters the 2024 World Superbike season as a two-time champion, but judging by his words, a third title will be complicated – admitting that he lacks confidence and is far from being in top form.
After this week’s tests in Portimão, the Aruba.it Ducati rider mentioned to the championship’s official website that he felt improvements compared to the Jerez tests, but it’s not enough: ‘Basically, I can say that it was better than in Jerez, but not enough. On the first day, I felt a lot of improvements in my physical condition compared to Jerez, but on Tuesday, I felt a bit worse than on Monday. Maybe this track is more demanding. It’s not too painful, but it’s always here and it’s not easy. We also worked with the bike and I think we chose the wrong setup because, at the end of the day, we saw how we started from day one, maybe not at 100 percent and I can’t push to the limit. Maybe that path wasn’t correct, but we realized it at the end of the day. I’m not at 100 percent, but I think we’re missing something in the bike’s setup.’
There are only two more days of testing before the WSBK season, and Bautista admitted that confidence is still not at an ideal level: ‘I don’t have confidence, but I have confidence. I will try to work as hard as possible at home, I think this is the only way. Confidence doesn’t matter. If we work hard, it’s the only way we can arrive in better physical conditions.’
