Bautista eager to close gap to the front: “I am determined to get that positive feeling back”

 In MotoGP, News

Team San Carlo Honda Gresini riders Alvaro Bautista and Michele Pirro head to the fifth round of the MotoGP World Championship in Barcelona this weekend aiming to put behind them the disappointment of a wet weekend in France. Alvaro is confident that the good feeling he found with the front at Le Mans two weeks ago can help him enjoy a positive weekend at Montmelò on board the Honda RC213V.

Alvaro Bautista “We did a good job in the dry conditions in France to improve our feeling with the bike and close the gap to the top guys. Unfortunately the feeling wasn’t as good in the wet and we really struggled for grip so we know we have improvements to make if we get those conditions again. I also had some problems with my visor so it was just a case of coming home with as many points as we could manage. Now we go to Catalunya and a circuit that I like and feel at home at. We will continue with the work we started in France and try to close that gap to the front still further. Obviously we will have to wait and see what the weather does, but I am sure we will get normal conditions and be able to rediscover the confidence in the bike that we found at Le Mans. I am determined to get that positive feeling back and put the French race behind us. Montmelò is one of my favourite circuits on the calendar because it is fast and technical, with long sweeping corners where you can get the rear sliding. There are also some big braking zones so we’ll need to find a stable setting for the bike and the correct tyres because it is a circuit that works the right hand side very hard.”

Fausto Gresini “Catalunya is another home race for one of our riders and a track that should suit both our bikes well. We should benefit at Montemelò from the improvements we made at Le Mans and Alvaro will hopefully close the gap to the guys at the front, as he would have done in France. He loves the track and we have a good opportunity to get a lot of work done on the bike over the course of the weekend and in the test on Monday. The track should also suit the CRT bike and that should help us pick up with the progress we were making in France. We are on a par with the best of the CRT bikes and if the weather gives us the chance to work on the telemetry and gather some data we can make another big step forward. I am confident that both Alvaro and Michele can enjoy a positive Grand Prix.”

Source: Gresini Racing

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