“Happy, confident and thankful” Bautista takes first front row start of the season at Laguna Seca

Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini rider Alvaro Bautista more than met his objective at Laguna Seca today, clocking the third fastest time to qualify on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s USGP. Alvaro had done his homework in free practice, setting a strong race pace on used tyres and finding plenty of confidence with his RC213V machine before stepping up the pace in the warmer conditions this afternoon. Qualifying has been an achilles heel for Bautista since the start of the season, but now the Spaniard can look forward to making a strong challenge at the front from the start of tomorrow’s race.

Bautista’s first front row of the season came after steady improvement through the free practice sessions, where he was fourth fastest. He went one better with a series of improving laps in final qualifying. The Spanish former 125 World Champion has a dual role for Honda, race-testing Showa suspension, the only rider on the grid to use it. The team reports encouraging recent progress with this project.

Alvaro Bautista (3rd 1’21.373) “We did some more work this morning on our race pace and I felt really confident on the bike. This afternoon we finally got the front row position that we have missed out on in recent races. Qualifying has been our weak point, but I was on the pace from the start today and everything felt good. It means we have the opportunity to make a good start tomorrow and not lose time trying to pass riders over the early laps. I am happy, confident and thankful to the team for all the work they are putting in. Hopefully we can have a lot of tun tomorrow.”

Sources: Gresini Racing, Honda Racing