Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista and Scott Redding will start tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Argentina from the fourth and fifth row of the grid respectively.
Bautista finished the breathless 15-minute QP2 to decide the top 12 grid positions in tenth, with a personal best time of 1’39”429: a result no doubt below expectations, however, mitigated by the fact by having found a good rhythm with the hard tyre during the fourth and final free practice session, thanks to some changes to the bike set-up shown to be very successful.
His team mate, Scott Redding, narrowly missed the entrance to QP2 for a few thousandths of a second, showing a great potential. The young Briton will start the race from thirteenth place with a time of 1’40”238.
Alvaro Bautista (10th - 1'39"429)
“The situation has improved a lot compared to yesterday: we made many changes to the bike set-up and already this morning I felt much more at ease than yesterday. Even the track conditions have improved a lot, but we made a big step forward regardless. Thanks to the good work done on the bike, during the last free practice session I managed to keep a good pace and I was very consistent with the hard tyre, so I’m very confident for tomorrow's race. Unfortunately, in qualifying I made some mistakes during my fastest lap and there was a lot of traffic, so I have not been able to set a reasonably good lap time. However, tomorrow we can do a good race: I would like to thank my team because they are working hard to help me”.
Scott Redding (13th - 1'40"238)
“I’m happy with my qualifying: we checked the split times and it’s clear that my ideal lap time would have been quicker than Hayden. When I went out on track I didn’t push hard enough with the new softer tyre in the beginning: it was my own fault, and it’s a good lesson for the future. Then, I lost the rear a couple of times in my last two fast laps, losing 0.5 seconds in only one sector. All in all, I’m satisfied, but also a little disappointed because Nicky is in front of us. During Free Practice 4 I felt really good and I was pretty consistent with the hard tyre, thanks to a set-up change made on the fron end, so today we made big improvements. Regarding tyres, I think that the only option for the race is the hard compound; anyway, the track is coming better, so is the tyre life, therefore tomorrow’s race could be really interesting for us”.
Go&Fun Honda Gresini Press Release
