Alvaro Bautista 17th in rain affected Qualifying

The Australian Grand Prix Qualifying, which took place this afternoon at Phillip Island, lasted only three laps for Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini riders, Alvaro Bautista and Scott Redding: respectively 14th and 12th in the combined classification of the first three free practice sessions, both riders had to take part in the 15-minute Q1, that, however, was interrupted by a light rain just after their first fast lap attempt.

Alvaro Bautista, who tomorrow will take part in his 200th Grand Prix, will start from the sixth row with the 17th fastest time: in his only attempt, the Spaniard was not able to go beyond 1’30”635, still slowed down by rear grip issues.

ALVARO BAUTISTA (17th – 1’30″635)
“Today I had the same feeling of the whole weekend: there is no rear grip, I can’t feel the rear tyre and as a result I cannot push hard. Whether we use a new tyre or used, the situation doesn’t change. Honestly, even if the rain had not stopped play in Qualifying 1, I don’t think that we could improve and try to get into Q2. Unfortunately the tyres available for this race are very hard and we are not able to make them work properly. Too bad, this is certainly not the best way to celebrate my 200th Grand Prix, but that’s racing. Tomorrow we will give our best, as always, even though we will have to suffer”.

Source: Gresini Racing