Ahead of double World Superbike champion’s Alvaro Bautista much anticipated return to MotoGP as a wild-card at Sepang this weekend, here are the occasions when a one-off ride has resulted in a surprise podium finish.
as a wild-card at Sepang this weekend, here are the occasions when a one-off ride has resulted in a surprise podium finish.
"Honestly, it's been a fairytale weekend, I'm still pinching myself," admitted Bayliss."I've had a great year, winning the World Superbike championship was a good start! Then just when I was kicking back I got a phone call asking if I was interested in doing this ride. Rossi, riding the new RC211V, finally made it past in the closing stages but Ryo was still only 1.5s behind the reigning champion at the finish.
After moving up to third, Nakasuga looked set to miss out on a rostrum when he was overtaken by Cal Crutchlow - but Lorenzo and later Crutchlow both crashed out, promoting Nakasuga to second."I'm so very happy with this result, the conditions were very difficult today," he said."It was a tough race but the team were amazing and I have to thank them for making the best choice for my set up for the race.
Despite little prior knowledge of the ZX-RR and its Bridgestone tyres, Jacque used the soaking conditions to his advantage as he carved forwards from 15th on the grid. "I still don't really understand myself how it all happened. It's magic, better than winning the world title… When I arrived as a replacement rider on Thursday, I said I felt like 'a hair on the soup' but today I felt like a ‘fish in water!’"Damp or wet conditions aside, the challenge of jumping into MotoGP and instantly fighting at the front has proven almost impossible since Bayliss in 2006.
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