Alvaro Bautista says he needed the full race distance to overcome Toprak Razgatlioglu in Sunday's Portimao WorldSBK finale, after losing out in Saturday's shortened opener:
Ducati rider Bautista beat Razgatlioglu to victory in what turned out to be the only race of the weekend in Portugal to run to its full 20-lap distance, as the opening race on Saturday was delayed and shortened to 14 laps owing to a major accident in a World Supersport 300 support race.
Reflecting on the final European weekend of the season before WSBK heads to three flyaways to complete the season, Bautista admitted preserving his tyres over the course of the 20-lap final race was key to winning. "I was very determined, and my plan was to stay with them because I can finish with them, that would mean I have the chance in [Race 2] to fight for the victory.
“I’m happy because in the last laps, even if Toprak tried to overtake me a couple of times, he was struggling more so in the last few laps he stayed away.”Razgatlioglu went into the final race aiming for his second treble win of the season after he had achieved the feat earlier this season at Donington Park, but came up 2.2 seconds short as his pace dropped off considerably in the closing laps after he lost the lead to Bautista.
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