Mixed conditions & mixed fortunes for Alvaro Bautista

Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista and teammate Scott Redding kicked off the Malaysian Grand Prix today at the Sepang International Circuit, closing the combined classification of the first two free practice sessions with the thirteenth and fifteenth fastest time, respectively.

Both the Spaniard and the Briton set best lap times in the morning session, held on a dry asphalt, after the arrival of a heavy downpour forced the riders to take part to the FP2 session on a wet track, gradually drying out.

Bautista began the morning session using the set-up that last Februay allowed him to do positive winter tests: Alvaro, however, was once again slowed down again by rear grip issues, especially on corner exit.

The situation improved in full wet conditions, but then he struggled again in mixed conditions, at the end of the afternoon session, with a damp track.

ALVARO BAUTISTA (13th – 2’02″722)
“This morning the track conditions were not so bad, but here we are still struggling with rear grip, especially on corner exit. Therefore, in the first free practice session we worked to try to find a better grip, but with no reward: the setting we used here last February, during winter testing, actually is not working. Therefore, we were planning to try a different set-up solution in the afternoon, but this was not possible because of the rain. The situation on the wet is not bad, but in the final stages of the FP2, with mixed conditions and the track coming dry, I had a lot of spinning and even in the straight it was impossible to open full throttle”.

Source: Gresini Racing