MotoGPMotorcycles

Bautista Wraps Up Comeback At Estoril Test

1 Mins read

After a hard fought race finish the day before, Rizla Suzuki‘s Álvaro Bautista returned to the Estoril circuit for the official MotoGP test. Despite only completing 17 laps in the morning session, Bautista’s fastest lap was over a second faster than his fastest race lap and 0.3s faster than his qualifying lap.

This was mainly down to a brand new chassis which has performed well in tests in Japan, and performs so well that Bautista will be using it in the next race in Le Mans.

Speaking after the session, Bautista said,“My leg was really sore today as I expected, but it was good enough to do four laps at a time and I really wanted to understand this new chassis, so I have to forget the pain and do some work, this is the life of a racer!”

He continued, with an assessment of the new updates, “Anyway, I am happy I tried it because  at least at this track  the step was quite big. The turning of the bike is improved a lot, this means I can open the gas much quicker and improve my corner speed and acceleration. The lap-time came a lot more easily with this chassis and when I followed Lorenzo, who was making low 1.38 at this point, we were really similar on the whole lap until we arrived in the slow chicane at the end of the circuit, then he disappeared because it's just too painful to throw the bike through this direction change like I need to. But apart from the actual position in the race I achieved everything I wanted to here in Estoril so I am happy, and I will be stronger in Le Mans.”

He finalized, “Thanks again to everyone at Rizla Suzuki for supporting me so well, and thanks to Suzuki in Japan for working so hard to improve the bike. It's been a difficult few weeks but I am looking forward very positively – there are many races left to show what we can do!”

246 posts

About author
Scott is TCF's 2 wheeled nut in a 4 wheeled world. You can follow the calamity on Twitter at @thescottwilkes
Articles
Related posts
Circuit NewsMotorcycles

Pol Tarres breaks own bike altitude world record

1 Mins read
Yamaha’s rally raid ace Pol Tarrés set the world record for the highest altitude climb on a bike when he ascended 6,677 metres up Ojos del Salado on his Ténéré World Raid.
MotoGPNASCAR Cup Series

Trackhouse Racing Team entering MotoGP in 2024

1 Mins read
NASCAR Cup Series team Trackhouse Racing will become a MotoGP team in 2024 as they partner with Aprilia to field bikes for Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez.
Circuit NewsMotorcycles

FIM ban on Russians, Belarusians to continue into 2024

2 Mins read
As Moscow’s three-day war on Ukraine extends into its 651st day, its riders as well as Minsk’s will remain barred from competing in FIM-sanctioned events through at least the start of 2024.