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World Superbike champion Alvaro Bautista says he hid the real reason behind his disappointing MotoGP return outing at Sepang not just from the media, but from his team
Reigning World Superbike champion Alvaro Bautista has revealed that a hidden neck injury was the cause of his disappointing performance during his MotoGP wildcard appearance at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Bautista, who had been concealing the injury from the media and his Ducati test team, struggled to match his usual pace throughout the weekend. Despite completing three tests on the Desmosedici leading up to the event, Bautista finished second-to-last in every session, only outperforming his teammate and being comfortably beaten by fellow WSB racer Iker Lecuona. The 38-year-old admitted to not accepting the problem until after the sprint race on Saturday, explaining that he had crashed during the Jerez test after the last race of the World Superbike season. He experienced pain in his neck and a loss of power, especially in left corners, which worsened over time. Bautista expressed frustration at not being able to ride to his maximum potential and acknowledged that the injury was the primary cause of his performance, accounting for 90% of the issue. He indicated the need for further medical evaluation to determine if there was an underlying problem with his vertebrae.
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