Bautista escapes injury in nasty FP3 highsider and takes painful 7th in qualifying

Alvaro Bautista will start the French Grand Prix from the third row of the grid after qualifying in a creditable seventh position this afternoon despite a heavy crash this morning in FP3.

The Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini rider was still in pain when qualifying practice got underway but he gritted his teeth to produce a fast lap and secure a good starting position for tomorrow’s race. The first three rows are tightly packed, with the top nine riders covered by just 1.035 seconds.

Alvaro Bautista (7th 1’33”984) “Today was a difficult day, especially this morning, because we tried some things with the set-up to resolve the issues we had yesterday, but they didn’t work. We made some progress with the electronics and then went back a step with the set-up, but at the end of the morning session I had a crash on cold tyres that was quite heavy. Thankfully I wasn’t really hurt, apart from a blow to my chest which was painful this afternoon. I couldn’t ride at 100% for qualifying, but I felt more confident with the front, so I am looking forward to riding it tomorrow. We have another thing to try in the warm-up with the electronics and then we will see what the weather does for the race. ”

Fausto Gresini “After the crash this morning Alvaro did well to improve his pace so much, but it wasn’t enough to secure the second row start that he would have been capable of if fully fit. Unfortunately it was a painful one, but he was strong and I think he can have a good race tomorrow if the conditions stay dry. Obviously it all depends on the weather, because if it rains then anything could happen.”

Source: Gresini Racing