Who knows how it would have ended if it hadn’t been for that clash after a few laps from the start in Race 2? The question arises spontaneously and at the same time there remains the regret for a duel that took place after a few laps.
The only certainty we have about Sunday afternoon in Assen is the victory of Alvaro Bautista. A success that weighs on that of the Spaniard at the TT, so much so that he regained the top of the World Championship and trimmed in a single shot 19 points behind Rea and even 45 in Razgatlioglu.
On the occasion of the crime, Bautista was certainly lucky, as he himself admitted: “I have to thank God, because I didn’t end up on the ground ”. To confirm this are then the images that film the clash.
The fact is that once he regained his pace, the 19th showed an impressive pace on his Ducati. This is demonstrated by the fact that in a few corners he filled the gap that separated him from Lecuona, then he made a void on the competition, arriving at the finish line with an advantage of almost nine seconds over the first of his pursuers, Andrea Locatelli.
Looking at the chronology of the Aruba standard bearer, the consistency of performance is not a little surprising. Yes, because after the fall of Toprak and ReaAlvaro shows a pace on 1’34 “5 – 1’34” 6 to the point of never going above 1’35 “. He does so on only one occasion, namely on lap 18, when he can now comfortably pull the oars in the boat, given the wide margin. For a good 12 laps, Bautista turns out to be a compressed roller, giving the race a pace that no one is able to handle.
On the occasion of the ninth lap, he then sets his personal fastest lap at 1’34 ”217. Unfortunately for him it will not be the fastest lap in the race, since Rea was able to do better in the third, arriving even on 1’34 ”093. We were very close to the Cannibal not going under the 1’34 “wall.
In comparison with other opponents, taking for example into considerationand Locatelli, the latter never dropped below 1’35, except in the ninth session, when he printed 1’34 ”906. The same goes for Iker Lecuona, also at a low 1’35 “, except during the eighth lap, when he has 1’34” 748.
This is what Race 2 said. If on the one hand the accident between Toprak and Rea captured most of the spotlight on the scene, on the other Bautista and Ducati showed that they had an impressive pace, to say the least, revealing that that was the true potential of the Reds at the TT. Given her performance, we wonder if she preferred playing hole cards on Saturday, just like she did two weeks earlier in Aragon.
On the other hand Alvaro was very clear on the eve of this World Cup: to win the title it is important to be fast, but also to avoid risks and not go over the limit.
