Pull&Bear Aspar Team MotoGP™ rider Álvaro Bautista finished his 250th Grand Prix with a tenth spot in Silverstone at the weekend. The Spanish rider is now the 13th rider in the history of the World Championship to get to the milestone - after he made his debut as a wildcard at Jerez on a 125cc machine in 2002.
Bautista had some difficulty with qualifying at the British track, with soaring temperatures testing the limit of both rider and machine on the fast and technical circuit. Starting out from the 5th row, the MotoGP™ veteran made up a few spots once the lights went out - and picked up a handful of points with his top ten finish.
Crossing the chequered flag three positions in front of Pull&Bear Aspar team-mate Karel Abraham, the Spaniard will contest the remaining six rounds from 11th position on the leader board – currently sitting between fellow Ducati riders Octo Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci and Scott Redding. Misano will be important for the Spanish rider, who will aim for similar results to earlier races this year, including a 5th in Mugello and a season best finish of 4th at the Argentine GP.
Álvaro Bautista, P10: "I could have celebrated my 250th Grand Prix in a better way. During this weekend we had problems with the setup as we looked to improve my feeling. Today, besides this there was the fact that the temperature rose significantly. Yesterday we tried out the hard front and I didn't like it much, so I went out with the medium compound. There was a point in which I had to lower my pace and just try to get to the line, because the front end was moving about a lot. In the end we finished the race, we've taken some points and we have to work better ahead of Misano and try all the available tyres. We weren't able to do that here, and I think that was a mistake on our part, but you learn from everything."