Excellent 6th place for Bautista at Indy: “The best result we could have got”
Álvaro Bautista recorded his best dry race finish of the season so far at Indianapolis today as he raced to an impressive sixth on his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R.
Starting from ninth on the grid, Bautista got a good start and was in seventh at the end of the first lap. He then got involved in a local battle as he fought with the Americans on their home circuit over the next few laps. He got past Nicky Hayden and fought off the constant attacks of Colin Edwards, before resisting the Texan’s advances to leave him comfortably behind.
Today’s race was watched by 64,151 fans at trackside, and under the clear blue skies they saw another convincing victory from Honda’s Casey Stoner, as he took his seventh victory from 12 races to strengthen his championship lead.
Rizla Suzuki now heads straight back across the Atlantic for the next round of the 2011 season, when the San Marino Grand Prix takes place at Misano in Italy on Sunday 4th September.
Álvaro Bautista: “I am happy with today’s position because this weekend we didn’t have the same rhythm as we have done in the last couple of races. I had a good qualifying session, but I was not quite on par with the top guys and that meant I couldn’t really stay with them and fight in the race. I made a decent start and overtook a couple of riders, but I just couldn’t keep up with the front group. We struggled a bit more at this track because we just couldn’t get the bike to turn how we wanted it to and I think we were not quite at the same level as some of the others around here. I was consistent throughout the whole race and had a couple of good battles with other riders – especially with Edwards – but at the end I got a good rhythm and was able to get some distance on the riders behind. I think today was the best result we could have got – so we did the maximum. We now go to Misano and I think we can be more competitive from the beginning, so I am really looking forward to the race.
“One other thing that was very important was to finish the race as I have crashed in the last two, so I am very happy that I did that! It gives us more motivation and also the team needed a result. I want to say a big thank-you to the whole team for the passion that they showed this weekend and now we are in the best position to make another step forward.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager: “After showing so much potential in Laguna and Brno – and coming home with nothing – it was great to see Álvaro take the chequered flag today. It was a well won sixth place and it was richly deserved for him and the whole team. I don’t think this is one of the best tracks for us and we were only beaten by the three Repsol Hondas and the two factory Yamahas. This bodes well for the rest of the season, and we’re looking forward to Misano.”
Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
