Alvaro Bautista takes 12th away from Qualifying after early crash
It’s been a day of mixed fortunes for the Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini at the Gran Premi de Catalunya: with Alvaro Bautista was only 12th fastest following a huge high side crash during the decisive Qualifying 2 session.
Bautista was on his second flying lap of his first exit when he had a huge high side crash at turn 6: although battered, he went again out on track in the final stages, posting his best lap time, 1’42”024.
The Spaniard was then taken to the medical centre for additional checks, wich fortunately excluded fractures but highlighted only a few bruises, particularly in the chest and right ankle.
ALVARO BAUTISTA (12th – 1’42″024)
“It’s been a big crash and now I’m sore, especially in the chest and right ankle, but fortunately nothing is broken. Today the feeling with the bike was better than yesterday, although everything is not yet in place as we would like: during the third free practice session we were not far from the fastest riders, and it was a shame not to be entered directly into Q2. In any case, we faced the Q1 calmly, then in Q2 I fell while I was on my first attempt, with the tyres already used in Q1. At least I had time to get back on track with the other bike in the end, in order to forget soon what happened… As I said we are not one hundred percent but I am confident for the race, because our pace is not very far from that of the other riders. We’ll have to keep an eye on the weather, and in any case we will give our best, as always”.
Source: Gresini Racing