After progressing to Q2 with his Aprilia Racing Team Gresini machine at the manufacturer's home race at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Alvaro Bautista fought back after a tough Lap 2 to cross the line in the top ten and move up from his P12 grid position. With progress with the RS-GP made and a good few points in the bag, Bautista heads home to MotorLand Aragon satisfied with a good San Marino GP.
Alvaro Bautista (P10): “I am happy because we rode a good race and had a good weekend. We knew that, despite going through to Q2, it would be a hard battle to get into the top ten and that is our goal. I started well, but in the second lap I lost a few positions because of contact with another rider, so I had to push hard to come back. Then, in the first laps, I had a strange feeling with the rear tyre. We don't know why, but the bike slid around a lot. Then the situation went back to normal and I was able to maintain a good pace. I battled with Bradl and Petrucci, but once I overtook them I was able to pull away without any problems and I held my pace until the end. This was a decidedly positive weekend. We did a lot of good work finding new solutions for the bike and we improved, so I would like to thank Aprilia and the entire team for that. Now we want to continue moving in this direction to improve even more in the next portion of the season."