Bautista looking for more front grip and stability after busy first day at Valencia

The first day of the final round of the season was an intense one for Alvaro Bautista at Valencia, where the Spaniard spent the opening two free practices looking for the ideal setting.

Bautista needs to find more rear grip and his cause wasn’t helped by a drop in the temperatures in the afternoon, when the wind also picked up significantly. However, the team know what area they need to improve and Bautista is confident of reducing the gap to the top tomorrow.

Alvaro Bautista (7th 1’31”873) “We have worked intensely from the first session this morning to try and improve the rear grip, which wasn’t good despite the new shock that Showa have brought here. There were some improvements, but it was only relative and after trying both the hard and soft compound tyres we think the hard offers more stability. But we need more grip and better stability on the front before we decide if we can use it for the race.”

Fausto Gresini “We have worked really hard today and tried a lot of different set-up solutions and I think we have some good potential to improve. We need to try and be more consistent in the first and final sectors and if we can do this we will take a big step forward. We will work hard on this tomorrow and hopefully close the gap to the front.”

Source: Gresini Racing