Alvaro Bautista takes tenth place in Argentina

At the end of an extremely tight race full of unknowns – from the weather to the tyres, the Aprilia RS-GP machines take home their best placement yet and, even more importantly, they continue improving, confirming excellent reliability for such a young project.

On a day marked by extreme conditions that took several bikes out of the race, the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini interpreted the race to perfection. In the first part of the race, before the pit stop, Alvaro Bautista’s pace increased lap by lap, allowing him to make up positions until arriving eleventh. Unfortunately, a misunderstanding with another rider on the first corner, in the lap when he was due to re-enter pit lane, caused him to crash and forced him to ride a comeback race. The compulsory stop was also not particularly fortunate for Bautista, who slipped in front of the garage on the damp cement. Back on the track, the number 19 bike set up a shrewd second half of the race on a treacherous track, finishing tenth.

Alvaro Bautista
“This was a very long and difficult day, with the schedule changed several times throughout the morning and then the decision to make the compulsory pit stop. In the first part of the race I really felt good. I got off the line well and I was battling for tenth place. Just in the lap when I was supposed to make the pit stop, on the first turn I almost made contact with another rider and I couldn’t avoid crashing. The bike was still running so I restarted straight away. Then in pit lane I was braking and went from the asphalt to the damp cement and there was nothing I could do to keep from hitting the mechanic that was waiting to take my bike. I checked to see how he was quickly and then got back in the saddle. At that point I set my sights on finishing the race and the track was really treacherous. It’s a shame because before the crash I was battling with Laverty, so I could have made a play for fourth place. Let’s just say that, all things considered, it was another positive result for me and for Aprilia.”

Source – Aprilia racing