Positive start for Alvaro Bautista in Austin

Alvaro Bautista’s first day at the stunning new MotoGP circuit in Austin, Texas, went better than expected, the Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini learning the track quickly and reducing the gap to the riders who came and tested here last month.

There is still a long way to go and improvements to be made but the signs are positive after just two sessions on track. Bryan Staring faced the double challenge of learning the circuit layout whilst still adapting to the rigours of MotoGP, the Australian rookie responding well as always to the team’s input.

Alvaro Bautista (8th 2’ 07” 256 )
“We spent today almost entirely on learning the track. There wasn’t much grip and it was so difficult to keep the bike upright it was like riding in the wet.In the afternoon the conditions improved and the lap times dropped notably. The track is special, technical with blind corners and a lot of direction changes that make it difficult because if you get one corner wrong it is very hard to recover. I still need to find some references and we need to work on the setting because this track is quite different to the others. Obviously the riders who have been here to Austin before are in a better position than us but we’re not far off them. We have improved our pace from the morning to the afternoon and that gives me optimism for tomorrow.”

Source: Gresini Racing