After establishing a good feeling for his bike yesterday Alvaro Bautista was hoping for better than the eighth place finish he managed in the Grand Prix of the Americas today. The Spanish rider was in the mix with the second group for the first half of the race but lost confidence with his bike in the later laps and dropped back. Bryan Staring produced a solid performance to pick up his pace from practice in a long race that will serve him well as a learning experience in his debut season.
Alvaro Bautista (8th)
“I was expecting a better race after the feeling I had with the bike yesterday in qualifying and honestly thought I could even improve my pace today but the bike was moving around and I didn't have the same confidence. I tried to stay with the group but couldn't manage it. In the end after pulling back two seconds on Dovizioso I got into a nice battle with him but in the last corner I made a mistake and he passed me. It's a shame but we have chance to make up for it in a couple of weeks in my home Grand Prix at Jerez, a place and circuit that I really like.”
Bryan Staring (20th)
“I am really happy to have finished the race here, which was important for me in terms of learning the lines from the other more experienced riders and the fact that we managed to improve on our best lap from practice. Overall I think this proves that we need more time o the bike to adapt and to become more competitive in this class.”
Fausto Gresini
“It was a difficult race and we struggled. The first half of the race went well and we were running in the second group and I honestly thought we could stay there but it wasn't possible. It is disappointing but it was also important to finish the race and for Alvaro to bring back some solid points to Europe, as well as a lot of data that will help us improve in the coming races. It was also important for Bryan to finish this race and he picked up valuable experience as well as improving his lap time, which is a positive sign for the future.
Fun&Go Honda Gresini Press Release
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