Alvaro Bautista may have returned to the podium at Portimao, but his weekend ended in disaster as he crashed out of a battle for the lead.

This weekend Alvaro Bautista returned to the podium for the first time since Donington Park. Bautista finished Race One in second place and sixth place in the Superpole Race. However, in Race Two when fighting with Toprak Razgatlioglu he crashed out of victory contention.

When reflecting on the three races Bautista felt good and was happy with the overall feeling of his Ducati.

"It is strange because I feel good," Bautista said after the weekend. "I am happy because the feeling with the bike is coming back. Yesterday we did a really good race. In the Superpole Race, we had a very bad start and it was more difficult to recover the distance in 10 laps, but I was the second fastest on track."

In the first two races Bautista was comfortably matching or beating his team-mate Nicolo Bulega. After a dominant showing last season this has been a rare sight in 2024. Bautista's good feelings continued into the final race of the weekend as he challenged Razgatlioglu for victory.

"In Race Two the conditions were very tricky. I did not make a good start, but not as bad as in the Superpole Race so I could recover positions sooner. The feeling with the bike was good, I could catch Toprak which was the first time this season that I could do that. So I felt strong."

However, whilst battling with Razgatlioglu Bautista made a mistake. The two-time WorldSBK Champion ended up crashing during his battle for the lead. Bautista admitted to his mistake and explained that he was wanting to put on 'a show' for the fans.

"In that moment maybe I could have relaxed and waited for some laps and then attacked. But it had been a long time since I had been fighting for the victory and I wanted to make a show. At Turn Five he passed me and he went a bit wide, I tried to cross the lines but I lost the front. It is a big pity because the performance was really good."

Despite his crash Bautista insists that the feeling with his Aruba.it Racing - Ducati is close to being back to how it was in 2023.

"I felt really strong, and because of that I say that I feel good because I can ride the bike as I want," Bautista concluded, adding that "it has started to feel more like last year, a bit more on the limit, but similar. I am happy. Now we have to reset to zero and start from here with the bike."