Maintaining his focus in the difficult conditions of the Motul TT Assen, Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) picked his way forward and was soon inside the top ten. With the track drying and conditions constantly evolving, Bautista put all of his efforts into simply staying upright. The race would eventually be cut short, the red flag displayed due to a torrential downpour of rain. Bautista was in tenth when the flag came out, giving him tenth on the grid for the restart.
Bautista was cautious off the line, trying to fully understand the conditions before beginning to attack. His caution proved correct as a number of high profile riders fell ahead of him. Slowly Bautista picked up his speed and found himself in sixth by the fourth lap. The Spaniard did all he could to close down Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) for fifth place; unfortunately this ambitious quest would result in a fall on the last lap. Sixth place would have been Bautista’s best result with Aprilia.
Alvaro Bautista: “In the first part of the race I was riding well, despite the difficulties. At the restart I stayed calm, trying to figure out the track conditions lap after lap and setting my pace. I felt good, even when Iannone overtook me, opening up a little gap, I managed to close it back down. In the last lap I was very close to Andrea. His line went slightly wide on a turn and I moved in to overtake him. Unfortunately I fell, but in those situations the rider's instinct is always to aim for the best possible result. I'm sorry, first of all for the guys on my team and for Aprilia. Now the only thing to do is to look forward and keep on growing.”