Upbeat first day for Bautista despite more weather disruptions

Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista took full advantage of the favourable weather this morning to post a competitive time and put him in a position to make further advances at Mugello this weekend.

Bautista was regularly in the top-10 during the morning free practice session that was held in bright sunshine and temperatures of 26ºC – a stark contrast to the last two races at Silverstone and Assen. Unfortunately this afternoon’s practise was heavily influenced by a short, sharp downpour of rain that dampened the whole of the 5,245m Italian circuit just before the session began. The damp, but drying track made conditions very difficult and most riders chose not to venture out until very late in the session.

After the chilly conditions of the previous two races it a pleasure for all concerned to be greeted with much warmer weather here in Italy. The new surface on the Mugello track was praised by all riders as many of the bumps that hampered stability have now been removed, making the track much smoother.

Álvaro Bautista:
“It was a bit like my first time at a MotoGP at Mugello here today because I could not ride like I wanted to last year as I was still recovering from the injury to my shoulder. This morning I felt quite good on the bike and I think the track is much better now as well! It is a lot flatter and most of the bumps have gone, the grip is still as good, but without the bumps it makes it more fun to ride. We tried to get a better feeling in the front this morning because I didn’t quite have the stability I wanted in the corners and for this afternoon we wanted to try something else, but that was impossible because of the rain. I did a couple of laps in the afternoon session, but it was very difficult out there, because the track was not completely dry. We will have to work hard tomorrow morning to get the best setting for Sunday’s race, but I’m sure we can do a decent job here.”

Rizla Suzuki press release