Álvaro Bautista Column, Áragon: The cold was bad for us

 In Blog, MotoGP, News

I liked racing at home again, with the amazing fans at MotorLand. After a nice fight with Barbera and Hayden I finished sixth: It’s not bad, but I am ambitious and I want more. Stoner has the MotoGP title in his hands and there are no words to describe Marc Marquez in Moto2.

Great fans. I love racing at home! I like that the fans are nice to us, they ask you to take pictures with them, sign an autograph, although sometimes you can not be there for the whole world, because for us it is a weekend of work and we’re always short in time. And especially on track they give us extra motivation, it was a pleasure to do a practice or the race and wave to the stands and it looked like it would explode. There’s a reason why you’re the best fans in the world!

Power Cut. This weekend was a little strange. On Friday morning the track was not very good, I think because of the rain that fell some days before, and also the afternoon sessions were canceled because of a power cut, the first time I’ve seen this happen. So on Saturday morning we had more time in the practice, but it’s not the same. After the two practice sessions on Friday you have more time to study the data with your team and make changes to improve the setup, but in a longer practice session you don’t have the time to make major changes. Anyway, we improved the feeling a lot for the qualifying session and had a good pace, although ultimately I had to start from eleventh, but the laptimes were close. With the exception of the Hondas of Stoner and Pedrosa, who were from another world, I was six tenths behind Spies in third.

Fight with Hayden and Barbera. I said it was strange, because suddenly on Sunday the temperatures dropped a lot and the track conditions were not the same as during practice, not to mention the strong wind we had. Again the cold, the conditions that the Suzuki likes best… ironically speaking. But I wanted to do well in front of the fans. I didn’t start too well, because in the first corner I was boxed in and also had to be careful with the crash of Abraham to avoid him. I lost a bit of time, but was able to make up positions. The feeling with the bike was not the same as in practice, I had less grip and could not ride like I did on Saturday. Eventually there was nice battle of Hayden, Barbera and myself, with passes of all types. The rear tyre was almost done and in the last few laps I had to change my riding style, because I was sliding a lot into and out of the corners. I was able focus on riding less aggressively and got a few metres of distance to finish sixth.

Stoner does with the bike what he wants. It’s not a bad result, but I am very ambitious and we need to improve, especially in cold conditions. Because with our bike we notice it a lot, it’s not like the Honda or Yamaha which seem more consistent when there are changes in temperature. Although the guy who’s consistent was Stoner, I think if nothing strange happens this championship is already his, he is very strong mentally and does with the bike what he wants.

Spectacular Moto2 race. The Moto2 race was spectacular, it reminded me of one in 250cc at Jerez in 2007 – passes and more passes. And it worked well for Marquez, there are no words to describe how he’s doing this year, because every race he improved himself, he has a good chance for the championship and is just six points behind Bradl. Amazing how he made up points in just a few races. The trip to Asia will be so much fun. As I’m talking about Moto2, I want to send best wishes to my friend Julito (Simon), who’s going through a difficult time, but always showing that he’s a great rider. In 125cc things are clearer and as in MotoGP if nothing strange happens this championship is Nico’s (Terol), who is having a great season.

Spanish ham, tortillas and… on to Japan. And now a week in Spain and yes, we will race in Japan, so we will be on the other side of the world for one month. Last year I finished seventh there and I’m motivated to race at Suzuki’s home, I will try to continue the work we’ve done so far and see if we can be closer to the other factory riders. I’ll put some Spanish ham and tortilla in my bag, just in case, haha! By the way, before I finish, did you like my umbrella girl in Aragon, eh? That was my girlfriend and it was one of the gifts I gave her for her birthday. Not bad, huh? Have a nice week!

Source: AS.com

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