I’ve picked the top shot just because from an arty-farty design point of view I think it’s a great shot – nothing more, nothing less. The others are all just to show the deserved elation on our happy little chappy… 
japanese grand prix
Alvaro Bautista: Post-Race Quote, Moetgi, Japan
Here’s Alvaro’s post-race quotes…
“It was a rather difficult race for us, because we had nearly no practice time on Friday and Saturday. I started quite badly and had some riders on top of me on the opening corners, but soon I managed to get past and knew that I couldn’t let Simoncelli escape. When I got up to third myself, Simoncelli and Aoyama were all together, and it was then that the wind picked up. Marco had a problem and that left myself and Aoyama, and I gave it my all to pass him. I am very satisfied with this result, and I think that it is an important victory that allows us to arrive at Jerez with our heads high. We have some good data for the race from preseason, and I hope to continue this way to give a win to the home fans.”
An excellent race, despite another shaky “swallowed-up” start, but totally on the case and in control thereafter, relentlessly chasing everyone down and reaping some sweet benefit from Sideshow Bob’s self-inflicted puncture and going on to take a splendid and utterly deserved win.
Triffick!
Alvaro Takes Victory In Japan
More words, pics and stats to come – but for now here’s how it all panned out…
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 44:06.488
2. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda + 5.889
3. Mattia Pasini Aprilia + 21.832
4. Gabor Talmacsi Aprilia + 25.906
5. Alex Debon Aprilia + 30.785
6. Shuhei Aoyama Honda + 33.788
7. Lukas Pesek Aprilia + 36.972
8. Thomas Luthi Aprilia + 41.018
9. Karel Abraham Aprilia + 41.649
10. Shoya Tomizawa Honda + 52.863
11. Hector Barbera Aprilia +1:00.888
12. Raffaele de Rosa Honda +1:06.347
13. Imre Toth Aprilia +1:53.149
14. Kazuki Watanabe Yamaha + 1 lap
15. Vladimir Leonov Aprilia + 1 lap
16. Bastien Chesaux Honda + 1 lap
17. Marco Simoncelli Gilera + 1 lap
18. Aitor Rodriguez Aprilia + 1 lap
Retirements:
Rider | Bike | Laps
Ratthapark Wilairot Honda 18
Alex Baldolini Aprilia 17
Hector Faubel Honda 6
Mike di Meglio Aprilia 5
Axel Pons Aprilia 3
Jules Cluzel Aprilia 2
Roberto Locatelli Gilera 2
Alvaro 3rd On Grid After “non” Qualifying Session
The wisdom of planning GPs into countries’ crap weather seasons has once again come into focus with the piss-poor joke of qualifying being null and void in Japan due to torrential downpours, after rain in the desert at Losail.
As such, Alvaro starts from 3rd spot on the grid; “qualifying” being based on the timings from yesterday’s Free Practice sessions.
Here’s what he had to say…
“Whenever this happens you always regret not pushing harder in the first session but we’re on the front row and that will be important for us to make up positions in the first part of the race. I think we have a good setting for any condition so we just have to wait now and see what state the track is in tomorrow.
I felt good in the wet practice this morning – I just had a visibility problem towards the end and couldn’t continue to improve my lap time, but the feeling with the bike was good. The objective will be to go out and give 100%, run at the front and take care to judge the track conditions correctly.”
Good luck for the race, Bati
Japanese GP – 250cc Friday Practice Times
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Diff Previous
1 58 Marco SIMONCELLI GILERA 1′53.093
2 4 Hiroshi AOYAMA HONDA 1′53.695 0.602 0.602
3 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA APRILIA 1′53.836 0.743 0.141
4 75 Mattia PASINI APRILIA 1′53.940 0.847 0.104
5 40 Hector BARBERA APRILIA 1′54.497 1.404 0.557
6 35 Raffaele DEROSA HONDA 1′54.584 1.491 0.087
7 28 Gabor TALMACSI APRILIA 1′54.594 1.501 0.010
8 63 Mike DIMEGLIO APRILIA 1′54.595 1.502 0.001
9 15 Roberto LOCATELLI GILERA 1′54.757 1.664 0.162
10 6 Alex DEBON APRILIA 1′55.103 2.010 0.346
11 52 Lukas PESEK APRILIA 1′55.158 2.065 0.055
12 14 Ratthapark WILAIROT HONDA 1′55.208 2.115 0.050
13 12 Thomas LUTHI APRILIA 1′55.453 2.360 0.245
14 16 Jules CLUZEL APRILIA 1′55.538 2.445 0.085
15 55 Hector FAUBEL HONDA 1′55.588 2.495 0.050
16 17 Karel ABRAHAM APRILIA 1′55.724 2.631 0.136
17 73 Shuhei AOYAMA HONDA 1′55.929 2.836 0.205
18 25 Alex BALDOLINI APRILIA 1′56.017 2.924 0.088
19 59 Kazuki WATANABE YAMAHA 1′57.274 4.181 1.257
20 10 Imre TOTH APRILIA 1′58.727 5.634 1.453
*Not qualified (Out 107%) 2′01.009
7 Axel PONS APRILIA 2′01.044 7.951 2.317
56 Vladimir LEONOV APRILIA 2′01.447 8.354 0.403
8 Bastien CHESAUX HONDA 2′01.953 8.860 0.506
77 Aitor RODRIGUEZ APRILIA 2′03.437 10.344 1.484
48 Shoya TOMIZAWA HONDA 2′03.878 10.785 0.441
Alvaro Talks About Friday Practice, Japanese GP
3rd Álvaro Bautista 1.53.836 (18 laps):
“At the start I didn’t feel too good on the bike and I couldn’t brake hard in the slow corners. We improved in this area but on the cold track it was difficult to get a rhythm together. It was really cold today and we’ll have to wait and see what happens tomorrow but we have to stay focused and put in 100% effort regardless of the conditions, there are no excuses.
The lap times aren’t as fast as last year so there is plenty of room for improvement. It’s the second race of the year and the goal is to pick up as many points as possible. With just one session on a Friday you have to work well, and quickly, and not take your eye off the ball otherwise you soon run out of time.”
