Alvaro Bautista Column, Catalunya: Always looking forward

Alvaro’s newest column for AS has been published today, giving his impressions of the weekend in Catalunya. This is the full translation.

Thanks. Hello again my friends. Here I am after the Catalan GP, my first in Spain this year where there’s been everything, but unfortunately two injuries and some absences. But let’s start at the beginning. I was looking forward to this race to try to be a hundred percent physically and with a good feeling with the bike, because last year I achieved a good result (fifth) and wanted to race in front of the fans, who are the best there are. I take this opportunity to thank you for the support you give us and which motivates us a lot: THANK YOU. And also to enjoy riding again, without having to think about the leg anymore and concentrate on riding.

Now rain, now sun. Gradually I got better in every training session, which were difficult because as soon the sun came out, it started to rain and it was difficult to get a good pace, although we tried different settings to give me more confidence with the bike. At the end we used almost the same as at the beginning and I devoted myself to keep improving my feeling. To be honest in the qualifying it went really well, in fact with just a few minutes left I was in seventh place, but still I did not feel entirely comfortable.

The race. For the race I thought I could fight to be even among the top seven, but I don’t know if it was a little colder or because in the morning the circuit was very wet and it was still drying, but I didn’t have the same grip in the tyres than on the previous day. I started from ninth and did everything I could, fought with the group but could not brake hard because I could not get into the corners well, I eventually I had to give up and take 12th place. Clearly we have to work harder in the next few races to maintain the same feeling as in practice.

The Hondas dominate. Again it was demonstrated that Honda is still one step ahead, in the practice they were always at the top and moreover Stoner appears to be more consistent while Lorenzo tries to hold on but lacks a bit still. And the Ducati, with Rossi, is fighting to get close to the podium in every race, although I think they’re working more towards next year, to build a good 1000cc.

Support for Julito. The worst of the weekend, well, we started already without Dani (Pedrosa) able to ride (we hope he returns as soon as possible), were the injuries. First Colin (Edwards) on Friday – this crazy guy wanted to race on Sunday, only recently operated on the collarbone! He probably still was affected by the anesthesia because otherwise no one would think of that, at least not a normal person, haha! And in Moto2 the dramatic crash of Julito (Simon), helped by Sofuoglu, in which he has broken his tibia and fibula, a very serious injury. All the best to Julito, who is now in Madrid, recently operated on by Ángel Villamor. I am sure that soon we shall see him at the circuits, because they did a good surgery. Now he will have to work hard and be consistent to recover as soon as possible, but he is a “bull” physically and mentally and he will achieve that.

Aleix and Silverstone. Lastly, my congratulations to the Spaniards who made it on the podium, special mention for Aleix Espargaro who took his first world championship podium. He is a great rider and hopefully this is the first of many. Greetings to everyone and we’ll see us again soon, because next weekend we have the British GP at Silverstone, a circuit very new to us. It’ll be the second time we race there and it is quite complicated, with very fast areas. I hope to improve a little more and work my way up in the positions. Bye!

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Source: AS.com