Bautista working to fix front end chatter for better confidence on corner entry

The first day of the 2012 MotoGP World Championship took place today under the impressive floodlights of the Losail Circuit in Qatar. Alvaro Bautista spent the opening free practice session on the same tyre throughout and although he has yet to find full confidence with the Honda RC213V around this track he is not too far from the top times.

Alvaro Bautista (7° 1’57.512) “The 2012 season is finally underway on a track that always has grip problems in the first session. We have tried to work to find a good feeling for the bike, but I had some problems in corner entry with a little front end chatter that prevented me from being able to push. We used the same hard rear tyre for the whole session and with the track in these conditions that gave us a lot of spinning that made it difficult to get on the gas, so tomorrow we will work with the electronics and the chassis geometry and try to improve my overall confidence with the bike.”

Fausto Gresini “The first session hasn’t gone badly. Bautista’s race pace is not far off the top guys and we still haven’t used the soft tyre so I’m pretty satisfied. We are working towards the race and we have some ideas that should help Alvaro gain confidence with the bike. Pirro’s performance was a nice surprise, with just three tenths separating him from the best of the CRT bikes, which is incredible considering how new our bike is. Overall a positive start.”

Source: Gresini Racing