Alvaro Bautista enjoyed mixed fortunes in the two opening free practice sessions at Sepang but overall it was a positive first day for the Spanish rider at the Malaysian Grand Prix. After setting a strong pace in the morning Bautista was improving his set-up and performance in the afternoon until a crash midway through the session put a halt to his progress. His team-mate Bryan Staring endured a difficult first day and has plenty of work to do to improve tomorrow.
Alvaro Bautista (5th 2’ 01” 659)
“We have worked well from this morning through to the afternoon to improve the grip, which initially wasn't allowing me to push as hard as I wanted. We have made constant progress and I am sure we could have dropped the lap time even more if I didn't crash midway through the session. Unfortunately we didn't have time to put the same setting into the second bike so the feeling wasn't the same, but anyway I am sure we can take another step tomorrow and be even more competitive.”
Bryan Staring (22nd 2’ 06” 538)
"A day to forget. I have struggled a lot here and never managed to get a good feeling. We have problems and we need to sit down and analyse the data to see if we can what is causing them so that we can try to turn the situation around tomorrow.”
Fausto Gresini
“We have made a good start here even though the crash set us back. I think the lap times today show that we are continuing to improve and I expect that trend to continue tomorrow so for the moment I am satisfied. Bryan is having problems at this track so he needs to have a close look at the data with the technicians and do whatever it takes to improve.”
Go&Fun Honda Gresini Press Release
