After his problems yesterday and a third crash in as many sessions this morning Alvaro Bautista recovered his composure this afternoon as he tried to rebuild his confidence and pace in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix. The Spaniard qualified in eleventh place, below his normal expectations but with at least the sense that he can improve significantly on that position in tomorrow's race. Michele Pirro also crashed this morning but rode well in the afternoon to close the gap to the top CRT and suggest that he may be able to at least put up a strong challenge in tomorrow's race.
Alvaro Bautista ( 11th 1’ 48” 894 ) “Again it wasn't an easy day today because I had another strange crash no sooner had I gone out this morning. We were still having problems with the brakes and we practically lost the entire session. I came back in and this afternoon everything was working well. At that point I did as many laps as I could on used tyres to work on our race pace, which is decent, but I just didn't have the confidence still to push for a fast lap so I'll have to make do with a fourth row start. We'll try to get a good start tomorrow and try to finish off a difficult weekend in a positive way.”
Michele Pirro (14th 1’ 50” 263) “It was a shame that we had another crash this morning on the final lap, which caused quite a bit of damage to our number one bike. With so little time available we preferred to use the other bike for qualifying and even though I didn't have the same feeling I was able to reduce the gap to the Aprilia. They are still too far ahead for our liking but the guys will have a close look at the data tonight and no doubt give me a good bike for the race tomorrow. Once again they have done an amazing job and skipped lunch to make sure I had two bikes available. I want to give them and the sponsors a result to be proud of tomorrow.”
Fausto Gresini “It hasn't been our easiest weekend so far, with four crashes to contend with in total. Everything and more seems to have happened over the past two days and it doesn't help. We are behind and I am disappointed for the riders, the teams, our fans and of course our sponsors and a everybody that supports this project. We still have tomorrow morning to try and turn things around and we will give it our best to do so. ”
San Carlo Honda Gresini Press Release
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