Alvaro Bautista missed out on a second row start at the final round of the MotoGP season at Valencia today, the Spaniard sliding from his Honda RC213V during qualifying practice this afternoon and dropping back to seventh place. After a solid first run Bautista ran into traffic on his second exit and was forced to slow down, meaning his tyres lost temperature and grip, causing him to crash. Bryan Staring made some improvements today but not enough to impact on his grid position and the Australian faces an uphill challenge tomorrow.
Alvaro Bautista
“Unfortunately qualifying wasn't as much fun today as it has been recently but to be honest we were already struggling this morning. We at least managed to make our tyre choice for the race and it looks like we'll go for the soft because it drops off less than the hard. This afternoon I improved my lap time on the first run but then on my second exit I ran into traffic, had to slow down and then on the next lap the tyre temperature had dropped and I lost the front. We start from seventh on the grid so hopefully we feel confident with the bike tomorrow so that we can make up some positions and finish the season with a good result.”
Bryan Staring
“The feeling with the bike and the track improved today but not enough to make up any positions. Anyway, hopefully we can make some more progress in the warm-up and finish the season off with a positive race.”
Go&Fun Honda Gresini Press Release
