DNF for Alvaro Bautista at Valencia
A tense battle for the MotoGP World Championship reached its climax today, with a crash for Andrea Dovizioso and third place for Marc Márquez deciding the title in favour of the Spaniard – his fourth in MotoGP and his sixth in total.
The Spaniard was ahead of his rival for virtually the whole race, apart from one lap when he ran wide after almost crashing and lost the lead. Shortly after Dovizioso himself crashed out, ending any hopes he had of claiming the title. Márquez cruised home to third place behind Dani Pedrosa and Johann Zarco to become champion once again.
Pull&Bear Aspar Team riderÁlvaro Bautista endured a difficult weekend and was never able to get going in the race, crashing early on after contact with another rider before remounting, only to crash again.
Álvaro Bautista (DNF):
“Two crashes is not the best way to finish a season. On the first one I felt another rider make contact with my front wheel. I had the bike leaned over and I couldn’t do anything to save it. I was running the hard front tyre and I didn’t like the feeling, I was getting a lot of vibrations. In the end, I didn’t do anything unusual on the way into turn one but I lost the front and crashed. We started the year really well but we have struggled a little in the second half of the season. Now we have to reset and in a couple of days get ready to start working towards the new season with renewed energy and keep fighting like always.”