VOLUME 57 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 25, 2020 P37
Bautista Confident Ahead Of
Honda WorldSBK Debut
A
lvaro Bautista believes it won't be long before
he returns Honda to the top step of the
WorldSBK podium, as the powerhouse HRC
outfit returns to the championship as a full fac-
tory team in 2020.
Bautista joins ex-Kawasaki man Leon Camier
in the revitalized outfit, with this year marking
the first official HRC team in WorldSBK since
Colin Edwards took the title for Castrol Honda in
2002.
The last race won by Honda was piloted by
Nicky Hayden in Sepang, 2016.
"To be part of Team HRC in World Superbike,
there is no pressure," said Bautista. "It's a guar-
antee, because I'm in the best team in the world,
so I feel a lot of support and a lot confidence.
For sure the team is quite new, the bike is quite
new, we need to fix everything. But I think we
have the potential, we have the tools to make a
good bike; I'm sure we will arrive.
"HRC wants to win, I want to win, I won a lot
of races in my first year in World Superbike, so
I know I have the speed and we have to fix ev-
erything. Maybe we need more time before the
first race; we will do our best at the start of the
championship. But I don't feel more pressure.
"We have only one target, to win. Everybody
wants to win. First of all we have to fight to win
races, and then think about the championship.
It's just a question of time." CN
Alvaro Bautista
feels confident that
he can help Honda
return to the top in
WorldSBK. PHOTO:
GOLD & GOOSE
