The Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini leaves the United States with a bitter feeling as both Alvaro Bautista and Scott Redding didn’t manage to see the chequered flag of the Grand Prix of the Americas, being forced to retire after a crash respectively in the 6th and 20th of the 21 scheduled laps.
After a difficult qualifying, in the early stages of the race Bautista was keeping a pace similar to the riders fighting for the third position, until he lost the front at turn 6.
On the other hand, his team-mate Scott Redding suffered a problem with the right side of the front tyre, which dropped a lot after only a few laps, forcing him to slow down before the crash occurred in the final stages of the race.
The team will now look to forget this complicated weekend to face with the maximum concentration the Argentinian Grand Prix in two weeks time at the new Termas de Rio Hondo circuit.
Alvaro Bautista (DNF)
“We knew that it wouldn’t be an easy race: I got off the line pretty well and I found myself in the group battling for third place. I could keep a good rhythm and I was able to stay with them, so much so that I even overtook a few riders. Unfortunately, I continued to have the same problems encountered during practice and qualifying: at a certain point I lost the front and I couldn’t avoid the crash. It’s been a really difficult weekend for us, however in the race I might be able to get a top six finish. We will try to forget this weekend as soon as possible: we need to reset everything and start again from scratch, with the highest concentration ahead of the next round in Argentina, where the priority will be to finish the race”.
Scott Redding (DNF)
“I felt comfortable for the first 7-8 laps, but then I started to lose more and more grip on the front tyre and my rhythm started to drop a lot. I tried to resist, but after losing the front several times in the end I crashed: I’m okay, nothing serious, just a small crash. After the race, we checked the front tyre and we noticed that the right side was completely ruined: it’s strange because we already had a lot of laps with this kind of tyre during practice and we haven’t had any problems, so we need to investigate more if there’s been a problem with the tyre. The bike was fine, although the battle with Hernandez, who was passing me everytime on the straights, broke my rhythm, taking away the possibility to try to catch the group of riders in front of me”.
Go&Fun Honda Gresini Press Release
