Excellent start to Australian Grand Prix for Álvaro despite small crash

Alvaro Bautista continued his excellent recent form at Phillip Island despite a crash this afternoon at the start of the second free practice for the Australian Grand Prix.

The Spanish rider reported a positive feeling for the new asphalt here and after getting some good feedback from both his machines today Alvaro is confident of taking another big step tomorrow.

Alvaro Bautista (2nd 1’29”438) “It has been a positive day despite the crash this afternoon. I felt good on the new surface straight away, it is much better than last year. In the afternoon we worked hard to take another step forward, but after just four laps I had a crash in turn two when I got too tight to the inside and caught a bit of dirt, which caused me to crash. It was a stupid crash, but luckily without any serious consequences and I was able to go out on the second bike with the same setting and establish a good feeling again. We made some small changes to the setting from there and improved even further, so I am happy and hopeful of more progress tomorrow.”

Fausto Gresini “It has been a good start to the weekend and we are making progress again. It was just a shame about the crash, but these things happen and the important thing is that Alvaro was able to quickly get his feeling back and show his confidence with the bike. With a few small changes to the setting I am sure we can be competitive again tomorrow and for the rest of the weekend.”

Source: Gresini Racing