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Translation of the first season interview with Álvaro Bautista…
Source: Aspar Media
Translation: stv21

1) Three podium finishes in five races, including one victory, how do you see the beginning of the season?
In general I feel that we’ve been very regular and we tried to adapt to the circumstances of each race, giving the maximum in each of them. It’s been three podium positions which just as well could have been three victories. We didn’t precipitate at any moment and that is something very positive. In the last GP we did a good race since we’ve never been fighting for the lead in a wet race before. It was a very nice round and if it wasn’t for the incident we had we certainly would have fought for the victory. There we demonstrated that we can be fast in any type of condition.

2) In France you seemed very prudent in the wet conditions, but in Italy you went for the win, what was different?
In France, after the infinity of falls happening in 125, we saw that the track conditions were very delicate and the smartest option was to just finish the race. Even though both were rain races, Le Mans has much less has grip than Mugello and the asphalt was much colder, therefore it was much easier to crash after the slightest error. In Italy despite the rain the track gave us much confidence, because there’s a good grip and it was possible to still go very fast. I knew that I could take the risk and that is what I did. In Le Mans I figured that if I took the risk I could lose more than I could win.

3) What championship analysis can you do after this crazy start with all the rain?
Each race was won by a different rider, therefore I believe that it is a very open championship with a very high level. And of course rare weather conditions shook things up in the beginning of the season, but I believe that it will be a hard fought season where in the end consistency will be the key to become champion. It is important to be ahead in all the races and not to lose the spirit.

4) Do you think that it’s easier to get confidence after a good season start?
Absolutely, to begin well gives you a lot of confidence and at the same time you have less pressure. To have a little point cushion allows you to take risks even when the track conditions are not the best, as we could see in Italy. You go on the circuit more confident and when you are leading the championship you feel a bit stronger than the rest of the riders, even when this is just a psychological perception.

5) Somehow you seem to have regained the aggressiveness of 2006, when you became world champion, and 2007, when you moved up to 250cc.
It is all a question of confidence. When you improve your riding and see that everything goes as you want, then in the end you are able to do anything. At the moment we are on a good way and I believe that we made a very important step when we showed in Mugello that we can be competitive in the wet as well. We did a very good job, in the training sessions we rode really fast and we finished almost always on top of the classification. I believe that this will progressively let us continue gaining confidence, the team as well as me. That is the security/confidence necessary to improve and be fast.

The rest of the translated interview can be found here at BatiFans.com – your source for all things Alvaro.

The Mapfre Aspar Team has released the transcript of an interview with Bati, covering a number of matters surrounding testing, his accident at Valencia, his return to fitness and his outlook ahead of the 2009 250cc MotoGP season.

Firstly Alvaro reflects on the preseason testing progress…

We began the preseason (testing) very well; riding fast, but mainly working with the beginning of the championship in mind. We wanted to try several things, to select the ones that will help us to do well and to discard the ones that don’t. I found I had a lot of confidence and it is clear that this year we are going to go “all out” (for the Championship). If we are able to begin with a good base the results will arrive earlier.
There are not too many new technical features to try, therefore we are trying to exploit what we already have. We’ve been busy testing adjustments to the bike which we did not have time for during last season. We will try to find solutions that make us just that little bit better than the past year.

He also explains the accident, and the operation and recovery…

Analysing in hindsight what happened (with the Valencia testing accident), I believe that the fall was foreseeable since the conditions were not the best. It was very cold and there was wind and rain, and in these conditions you always gamble and that day we lost. I fell, but the reason was the bad condition of the
track, therefore it does absolutely not worry to me. I know that when we ride in good conditions we return to being fast.
At first in the circuit hospital they said to me that it would need three weeks of absolute rest and that I could slowly start to work again after that. That complicated things because maybe I would not have been in
a position to start the year fully fit, so along with doctor Villamor we decided to operate. The week following the operation I began to do all types of excercise, and the truth is that this has much accelerated the recovery process. I hope that the next time I climb onto my bike I will be 100% fit.
After the operation I wasn’t allowed to do any excercise for one week, not because of the surgery as such, but to avoid that the wound opening up again. I could move the arm perfectly, and in fact doctor Villamor advised me to move it a lot so I wouldn’t lose any mobility. The following week I began to work in the gym and this week they will remove all stitches from the scar, and I will return to the training routine that I had before the fall.

Finally he looks ahead to the testing at Estoril and the start of the season proper…

I have the desire to return to maximum fitness and climb back onto my bike to carry on with the good work of Jerez. One has to see if the time is on our side and we can continue to improve. If we do not have any more misfortune, we will get to the first race with things quite clear and having done very encouraging preparartory work.
My confidence will be the same (as before the fall) and the only thing I will think is to try and enjoy myself as I have done up until now.
Mainly I want to see how I feel on the bike. I hope that this injury does not influence me much. I aim to be back to 100% fitness, and the idea is to continue working with the same confidence and optmism that we displayed during the test in Jerez. If we could improve the bike a bit more it would be perfect, but also just with having a good feeling for the bike and the collarbone not bothering me I would be satisfied.

Here’s some words form Alvaro at a press conference held in Talavera de la Reina, both about his collarbone injury and also about the season ahead…

“I have the normal pains and aches after surgery, but I can already ride a bike again, although I must follow the path of recovery. I hope to be without any problems at next the test.
No injury comes at the right time, but in my case we can speak of luck, since the crash and the collarbone fracture happend when we have enough time to recover, to continue with the training and to be prepared for the first test of the championship.

…The season looks to be very difficult and complicated when we have to try and be better than the guy with the number one and, in addition, better than strong riders who moved up a class and other riders who already had two seasons in 250cc and have the same goals we have. We are going to approach the season with calm, tranquillity and will go race by race and, mainly, we know that the pressure is on the rider who defends the title.

Last season we wanted too much too quickly, to be leaders as rapidly as possible and that made us commit errors. We have learned from that and we know more than last year – in my case among others things that I already know how to race against the present champion who I haven’t battled before.
We are all very determined, with much motivation and, mainly, optimistic after seeing the laptimes we managed to do in the tests. The whole team is in high spirits and, which is also important, having a good base in this moment of crisis”.

All very positive sounding on both counts, and we look forward to seeing him follow such positivity through very soon

This is a really nice clip, posted on Youtube by ruushki – it’s one of the “Extras” from the 2006 DVD of the MotoGP 250/125 season reviews.
Great little introduction to our guy…