Good setup for dry and wet conditions keep Bautista confident for race despite late crash
After impressing during free practice yesterday and this morning it was understandable that Alvaro Bautista felt some disappointment at qualifying on the third row of the grid in eighth place this afternoon. Track conditions certainly did not help the Spaniard, with light rainfall making for a damp but drying surface throughout the session, and any hopes of late improvements were dashed with a crash in the crucial final few minutes although he remains confident that he has a good setting for the race tomorrow.
Alvaro Bautista (8th 1β 34β 922) βIt was a shame about the crash, because we worked well again this morning and my pace was good. Unfortunately the session this afternoon was affected by the weather. At the start the track was wet and then when we were able to go out on slicks I was trying to get comfortable but the conditions were less than perfect. Eventually I crashed in turn nine and it ruined qualifying for us, because we had another couple of laps in us and the potential to go half a second quicker. These things happen in racing, but tomorrow we will aim to make up for it, because we have a good setting for the dry and wet.
Fausto Gresini βThe crash was not something we wanted after such a positive couple of days and it was a shame because Alvaro had found a good feeling with the bike but the conditions today didn’t help. Maybe without the crash he could have found another half second and moved up a row but that’s not important now – we need to focus on the race tomorrow. He has a good set-up for wet or dry conditions so it will be important to get a good start.”
Source: Gresini Racing
Photo: Honda Pro Images