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Alvaro Bautista dominated the whole race, passing under the chequered flag with a wide margin over Rea (Kawasaki). A strong start for Michael Rinaldi who, after a mistake, recovered from 10th position finishing 4th.
An exciting Saturday for the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati team at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit.
Starting from fifth position, Alvaro Bautista took the lead at the first corner. After defending himself well against Razgatlioglu's attacks in the first three laps, the Spanish rider's race pace became untenable for his rivals.
After a very difficult qualifying (P10) at the first corner Rinaldi was already third. On lap 3, however, the Italian rider made a mistake and found himself in 10th position. From the middle of the race his comeback was relentless and allowed him to finish in fourth position ahead of Razgatlioglu.
P1 - Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #19)
"I am very very happy with this victory. It was great to win in front of so many fans, my friends, and my family. It's always a special feeling. However, it was not an easy victory. The key to the race was the tyres. That's why I tried not to push to the limit in the first laps despite the fact that Toprak was attacking with conviction. Tomorrow in the Superpole Race I won't have to worry about tyre management".
P4 - Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #21)
"It was a special day. I crashed on the first lap of the Superpole Race and thanks to the hard work of my team I was able to get back on track and start tenth on the grid. It was a great race though, despite the mistake that forced me to make a comeback. I managed the tyre well and I was able to make up positions in the second half of the race. It's a shame I wasn't able to get on the podium. I'll try again tomorrow".
Nicolò Bulega was unlucky. Starting from the sixth position, after two corners he was already in the lead but the race was stopped due to a red flag. In the second start, he stayed with the podium group but after six laps he made a mistake and crashed.
DNF - Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WSSP)
"There is little to say. I made a mistake and crashed. I was fighting with Caricasulo then he braked early and I didn't expect it. I went wide with a lot of speed on the dirty track. We'll try to forget this race getting a good result tomorrow".
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