Alvaro Bautista denied podium by Qatar crash

The first Grand Prix of the 2014 MotoGP World Championship at Losail International Circuit in Qatar saw Alvaro Bautista fighting for the podium in a thrilling race until two laps to go, when the Spaniard suffered a crash that forced him to retire.

After a good qualifying, the Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini rider was an absolute protagonist also during the race. The crash happened when Bautista was running in third position, closely folowing Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi, who then finished the race in the first two positions.

Despite Bautista’s crash, the performance shown by both the Spaniard and by his English team-mate confirms the high competitiveness of the entire team, which is now already focused on the next Grand Prix, scheduled in two weeks at the Circuit of the Americas, in Austin.

ALVARO BAUTISTA (DNF)
“Luckily I’m fine, but It was a strange crash: I entered corner number 2 in the same way as the previous laps but I suddenly lost the front. I had some problems with the brakes during the race: I don’t know if this has contributed to the fall, however I am very sorry for the team. Until the cras I was having fun battling for the first positions: my start was not so good, but gradually I was able to charge through the field. At one point I found myself in second place and surely we could get on the podium. Too bad we haven’t finished the race. I apologize to the team and my fans, and I hope to bring home the result next time”.

FAUSTO GRESINI
“Bautista’s race ended badly, and of course we are very disappointed: it’s a shame to close with a crash a very positive weekend, with just to laps to go, when we could think to get on the podium. Now we will check all the data to better understand what has happened. Until the crash, Alvaro’s performance has been very good: despite losing a few positions on the first corner, he made a good recovery and then he battled with the fastest riders”.

Source: Gresini Racing