Alvaro – Czech GP – Saturday Quotes

Alvaro starts 8th on the grid… He found his best setting ten minutes before the end of the free practice – but also had a difficult afternoon, losing the front end of his Aprilia on turn five just minutes before the end of the session, leaving him on the asphalt and unable to get the bike back out in time for a final attempt at pole position. Luckily he suffered no injuries in the lowside crash, and will aim to challenge for the lead from eight on the grid. He predicts a tough battle on Sunday, in which he will be going all-out for points as the title race heats up and after losing ground to Aoyama in the standings.

“The crash was totally unexpected, as I had already put two laps on the new tyres. I got into turn five and everything seized up, causing me to fall. This morning we did various tests on the front suspension and found some things that worked, then we continued with the front end in the afternoon but lost our way.
The changes in place at the end of the practice are the ones that I would favour for the race and I am sure that if we had done more laps with this setting then we would have done better today. We will go back to it tomorrow in the warmup and try again. In the race I wil have to start well in order to be at the front and fight like I have done this season. I will have to take risks if necessary, because I can’t afford to lose more points.”