Fireblade back on WSB podium
HRC’s first World Superbike rostrum since THAT race at Imola in 2002
Alvaro Bautista will go down in history as the rider to bring Honda Racing Corporation their first World Superbike podium since the historic day on which Colin Edwards pipped Troy Bayliss to the title 18 years ago.
It was Sunday, September 29, 2002 when the ‘Texas Tornado’ Edwards celebrated his second and final WSB title before heading to MotoGP, as HRC pulled out of the production-based series to focus solely on Grands Prix. The special racing department of the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer was assembled with legendary Freddie Spencer at the helm in 1982, so the recent return to World Superbikes was always going to make the headlines. Overseen by Alberto Puig, the WSB outfit runs out of the same Barcelona premises as the Repsol Honda MotoGP squad. Bautista and Honda have been smart. Not only did they test at Aragon just under two weeks ago, but elected to run on just one day in order to save their eighth and final day of in-season testing for later in the year. This followed a raft of highly secretive tests in locations as far afield as Thailand and Honda’s native Japan from the back end of last year, although the recent scorching temperatures at Jerez and Portimao left them on the back foot through a lack of setup knowledge. Qualifying delivered seventh, one place behind teammate Leon Haslam, who appeared to be riding on rails. It was a big improvement for Bautista, the Spaniard having suffered engine gremlins in practice while rear brake issues hampered the Englishman. Chassis and electronics have been the biggest sticking points of late, while Bautista has tamed the aggressive power delivery of a straight-four following his many years of riding more user-friendly V4 engines. Haslam managed two tenth places, then seventh in Race 2 as he successfully fought to the front of a multiple-rider battle on the last lap.
Bautista crashed out of Race 1 while displaying competitive pace in eighth but a charge to fourth in the Sprint cemented a Row 2 start for the finale. On the second lap, he overtook Scott Redding when the Ducati ran wide, even sniffing victory as Jonathan Rea and Chaz Davies engaged in their tussle during the closing stages. The paddock is wary of Honda; Sunday’s performance further enhanced those fears.
“This project hasn’t been easy – this is the prize for all that work,” said Bautista, scoring the first WSB podium for any Honda since Michael van der Mark’s Ten Kate bike at Magny-Cours in 2016. “My clean start helped me maintain a rhythm. My aim remains the same: keep improving the bike, my feeling and my confidence. Our real target is to win.”