Alvaro Bautista: It’s been a difficult year, but I gained a lot of experience

Alvaro Bautista visited the Gala del Deporte in Toledo yesterday to present sports prizes to young athletes, together with fellow countryman Julian Simon. The attending journalists of course did not let that opportunity slide to get a quick interview with Alvaro about his first season in MotoGP.

“It was difficult”, said Bautista, “but also very positive, because I gained a lot of experience and in the future this will help me. Even though the injury [when he broke his collarbone in motocross training] lost me several races and getting to know the bike better, I am satisfied, because in the last GPs we finished most of the races among the Top 10 and we also got two 5th places. So it was a good year, despite the injury, because we came back strong in the final part of the season. It helped me that I got to know the bike better, that the team knew what I needed to go fast and now we have to see if Suzuki can develop a more competitive bike.”

Next year Alvaro will be the sole rider for Suzuki and can’t rely on the help of his former teammate Loris Capirossi anymore to develop the bike.For him this has good and negative sides. “When we have new parts and there is a lot to test, then it always goes slower with only one rider. But at the same time Suzuki now puts all the focus on me and will try to improve the things I ask for. For me this has more positive than negative points.”

Looking forward to the next season, Alvaro mused that “the expectations will be different, because I have more knowledge, more experience and more references and at the moment, in the first official test of the preseason, things were very positive. We tested a lot of new things and we did well, we were much closer to the first positions. My aim will be to improve my feeling from last season and we’ll see if I can ride without injuries at 100% and improve myself.”

A helpful factor in it all is the treatment by Suzuki. “We are a good family. When I came into the team, I knew it was not the best bike, but I always had faith in the factory and they treated me exceptionally well from the first day on and I managed to finish in front of my teammate. Suzuki is very motivated, they work very hard, like me, though it’s not as easy as it might seem, but it’s clear that I have faith in them and they have faith in me.”