BatiFan Blog | The Alvaro Bautista Fan Blog | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

A typically balanced view from Alvaro, keeping things in perspective and looking to put disappointment behind him…

“This wasn’t what we were expecting from this race. We dominated the practice sessions and were the stronger team over the weekend. This morning in the wet warmup I was comfortable, and in the race I put myself in the lead, but the wet is a lottery and this time it was my turn to lose out I suppose. It’s a pity, because I was sure that we could have done well, it was just a case of losing the front and being unable to avoid the crash. I was able to get four points. My team and Aprilia are doing a great job, and I feel strong on the bike. I just have to hope that we are a bit luckier in the future.”

Well, not a good race
Although Alvaro got a bit swallowed up off the start, he soon got back into the lead in the drying – but still partially wet and greasy conditions – and was looking pretty fine until on lap 9 he fell at the first corner.
Thankfully a long slide left him in good enough shape to get back on the bike and continue the race (down in 13th).
The bike looked pretty compromised but he never gave up and came home an eventual 12th.
Still, with Mika Kallio taking what was then a pretty easy win and pocketing a fat load of points, it was a pretty grim day and leaves Bait waaaaaaaaay down on points as the season carries on.
Bah! Too down to do any more than cut and paste the results now…

CLASSIFIED:

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Mika Kallio KTM 48:12.217
2. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM + 3.238
3. Mattia Pasini Aprilia + 13.811
4. Marco Simoncelli Gilera + 18.474
5. Alex Debon Aprilia + 21.066
6. Hector Barbera Aprilia + 25.158
7. Yuki Takahashi Honda + 29.99
8. R. Wilairot Honda + 39.871
9. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia + 48.344
10. Hector Faubel Aprilia + 55.47
11. R. Locatelli Gilera + 55.832
12. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia +1:00.442
13. Eugene Laverty Aprilia +1:00.732
14. Fabrizio Lai Gilera +1:36.975
15. D.T. Pradita Yamaha +1:37.080
16. Imre Toth Aprilia +1:45.018
17. Russell Gomez Aprilia +2:13.718

NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

Rider | Bike | On lap
Alex Baldolini Aprilia 14
Julian Simon KTM 5
Thomas Luthi Aprilia 5
Karel Abraham Aprilia 4
Lukas Pesek Aprilia 2
Manuel Poggiali Gilera 0

FASTEST LAP: Kallio, 2:15.834 on lap 19

Here’s Bati sounding deservedly please post-quali and looking ahead to tomorrow’s race…

“I think that we have a good pace and things are pretty clear for the race. Today’s result has boosted my morale, and even if it rains then I feel strong and I’m going to have fun with the bike. The track conditions were worse than yesterday, with more heat and humidity, so I am very happy even though we could have gone faster. I wasn’t able to pick up the pace with so many people waiting for a draft. If the race is dry then we have the pace, so my intention will be to go at 100% and ride on my own, as it is in the wet.”

I’m still hoping for NO rain, but we’ll see what happens…

Bit of a boring session for the most part, but of course the good news is that Alvaro maintains the pole position he provisionally took yesterday; only bettering that time in the closing minutes of the session.
Tomorrow may yet be a lottery however, with rumours of torrential rain.
Let’s hope it holds off and Alvaro gets the chance to use his pace, unhindered, to completely take charge…

Good luck Bati!

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 2:04.882
2. Hector Barbera Aprilia 2:05.317 + 0.435
3. Mika Kallio KTM 2:05.402 + 0.520
4. Julian Simon KTM 2:05.651 + 0.769
5. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 2:05.724 + 0.842
6. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 2:05.853 + 0.971
7. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 2:06.119 + 1.237
8. Manuel Poggiali Gilera 2:06.192 + 1.310
9. R. Locatelli Gilera 2:06.216 + 1.334
10. Yuki Takahashi Honda 2:06.245 + 1.363
11. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 2:06.276 + 1.394
12. Alex Debon Aprilia 2:06.279 + 1.397
13. Hector Faubel Aprilia 2:06.283 + 1.401
14. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 2:06.428 + 1.546
15. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 2:06.559 + 1.677
16. Fabrizio Lai Gilera 2:07.083 + 2.201
17. Karel Abraham Aprilia 2:07.101 + 2.219
18. R. Wilairot Honda 2:07.114 + 2.232
19. Eugene Laverty Aprilia 2:07.665 + 2.783
20. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 2:09.063 + 4.181
21. D.T. Pradita Yamaha 2:10.254 + 5.372
22. Imre Toth Aprilia 2:10.509 + 5.627
23. Russell Gomez Aprilia 2:11.624 + 6.742

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 2:05.035
2. Mika Kallio KTM 2:05.402 + 0.367
3. Hector Barbera Aprilia 2:05.531 + 0.496
4. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 2:05.853 + 0.818
5. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 2:06.119 + 1.084
6. Julian Simon KTM 2:06.238 + 1.203
7. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 2:06.337 + 1.302
8. Hector Faubel Aprilia 2:06.675 + 1.640
9. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 2:06.684 + 1.649
10. Yuki Takahashi Honda 2:06.958 + 1.923
11. Manuel Poggiali Gilera 2:07.179 + 2.144
12. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 2:07.213 + 2.178
13. Alex Debon Aprilia 2:07.316 + 2.281
14. R. Locatelli Gilera 2:07.349 + 2.314
15. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 2:07.831 + 2.796
16. R. Wilairot Honda 2:07.885 + 2.850
17. Karel Abraham Aprilia 2:08.284 + 3.249
18. Eugene Laverty Aprilia 2:08.938 + 3.903
19. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 2:09.063 + 4.028
20. Imre Toth Aprilia 2:10.509 + 5.474
21. Fabrizio Lai Gilera 2:11.716 + 6.681
22. D.T. Pradita Yamaha 2:12.102 + 7.067
23. Russell Gomez Aprilia 2:14.742 + 9.707