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

“That was a really difficult race because the track was so slippery. I tried to gradually get a feel for the track because the bike was moving around a lot and wouldn’t hold the line. At the start I was trying to weigh up the race but the guys at the front pushed really hard and escaped. I gradually got into my rhythm and got faster and more comfortable. There were a lot of guys falling off in front of me so I decided the best option was to take it steady, finish the race and get some solid points on the board. Fourth place isn’t the result I was hoping for but under the circumstances scoring points was the most important thing here at Le Mans. If we keep going like this then I’m sure we can maintain our consistently good form over the next races.”

Well, in the end I suppose it wasn’t too bad a race.
The way Alvaro shrugged when he got back to the pits pretty much mirrored my feelings about how it had all gone.
It could certainly have gone better (especially with the end result being a top points haul for Sideshow Bob) but, to be fair, it could also have gone a lot worse.
It started out a lot worse of course, with Bati dropping places left right and centre throughout the first lap, crossing the line into lap 2 way down in 11th place.
And it was a happy mix of some top dicing in mixed conditions, coupled with a degree of attrition, that saw Alvaro back up in 4th spot by the end of the race.

And although Sideshow gets 25 points, it’s nonetheless kind of nice to see that Hiro Aoyama was way down and that the 4th spot actually sees Alvaro slip into the lead of the overall Championship table ahead of Aoyama.

Alvaro never seems to have really got it together at Le Mans – and certainly not in the wet; so let’s chalk it up as a decent if not brilliant day.
Here’s the results in full…

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 49m07.591s
2. Hector Faubel Honda + 18.128s
3. Roberto Locatelli Gilera + 21.642s
4. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia + 31.087s
5. Ratthapark Wilairot Honda + 50.497s
6. Raffaele de Rosa Honda + 56.366s
7. Lukas Pesek Aprilia +1m16.025s
8. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda +1m22.882s
9. Imre Toth Aprilia +1m35.556s
10. Vladimir Leonov Aprilia +1m47.990s
11. Hector Barbera Aprilia + 1 lap
12. Karel Abraham Aprilia + 1 lap
13. Valentin Debise Honda + 1 lap
14. Toby Markham Honda + 1 lap

Retirements:
Alex Debon Aprilia 21 laps
Alex Baldolini Aprilia 18 laps
Thomas Luthi Aprilia 18 laps
Mike di Meglio Aprilia 10 laps
Mattia Pasini Aprilia 4 laps
Axel Pons Aprilia 3 laps
Aitor Rodriguez Aprilia 3 laps
Angel Rodriguez Aprilia 2 laps
Shoya Tomizawa Honda 1 lap
Bastien Chesaux Honda 0 laps

“It was quite windy during qualifying but the track conditions were good. If it doesn’t rain or something strange then I guess the race will be between the same guys that were fighting for pole today. This is quite a short circuit so I can’t see anybody escaping and I’d expect a group race. Hopefully it can be as much fun as Jerez but with a win at the end of it!
The important thing will be to get a good start because it is more difficult to pass here than at a lot of other tracks and it will be crucial to be on the pace over the early laps so as not to lose touch with the lead group.
This circuit is more favourable to the Hondas but we’ll try and fight for victory. It is obviously important to be consistent but if I see an opportunity to go for the win then I will do so, I won’t be holding back. My pole time today was better than last year which shows that we have a good package.”

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap

1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 1m38.270s
2. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 1m38.652s + 0.382s
3. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda 1m38.682s + 0.412s
4. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 1m38.796s + 0.526s
5. Mike di Meglio Aprilia 1m39.003s + 0.733s
6. Alex Debon Aprilia 1m39.365s + 1.095s
7. Raffaele de Rosa Honda 1m39.367s + 1.097s
8. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 1m39.381s + 1.111s
9. Roberto Locatelli Gilera 1m39.511s + 1.241s
10. Hector Faubel Honda 1m39.517s + 1.247s
11. Hector Barbera Aprilia 1m39.596s + 1.326s
12. Ratthapark Wilairot Honda 1m39.667s + 1.397s
13. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 1m39.896s + 1.626s
14. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 1m40.066s + 1.796s
15. Karel Abraham Aprilia 1m40.462s + 2.192s
16. Angel Rodriguez Aprilia 1m40.620s + 2.350s
17. Shoya Tomizawa Honda 1m40.661s + 2.391s
18. Jules Cluzel Aprilia 1m40.852s + 2.582s
19. Imre Toth Aprilia 1m41.444s + 3.174s
20. Valentin Debise Honda 1m42.391s + 4.121s
21. Axel Pons Aprilia 1m42.654s + 4.384s
22. Vladimir Leonov Aprilia 1m42.812s + 4.542s
23. Bastien Chesaux Honda 1m43.342s + 5.072s
24. Aitor Rodriguez Aprilia 1m44.132s + 5.862s
25. Toby Markham Honda 1m45.322s + 7.052s

“It has been a good first day and even though it rained a little during MotoGP the weather has been good to us and we were able to work for the whole session. We had a few small problems with changing direction but we’ve worked well on that aspect and I was able to keep up a good pace. We can still improve corner entry and I’m not completely comfortable under hard braking.
The track temperature tends to be low here so we didn’t want to take any risks but if the weather stays decent tomorrow we’ll try a harder tyre. The key is to get the bike as stable as possible, which is what we’ll aim for tomorrow. It is important to have this result in the first session but we have to stay focused because everybody will improve tomorrow.”