Happy New Year / Feliz Año Nuevo

2008? Well it was a bit frustrating wasn't it...
Still pretty excellent for Bati despite some poor luck and reliability, but let's hope he does just one step better in 2009 and truly gives Sideshow Bob the stuffing he so richly deserves for riding like a total cock for most of 2008.
So - a very happy new year to you Alvaro ("Feliz Año Nuevo"), and also to all the readers of this blog, the members of BatiFans.com and to Alvaro's fans all over the world.
Hope you all have a great 2009 - and that Alvaro has the best of all.

Happy New Year! :-)

gb

BatiFan Blog 2009 Coverage To Include Juanjo Nuñez

Just to let you all know about a slight extra/tangetial piece of motos we're going to be following on this blog in 2009...
We'll be bringing you news on the career of Juanjo Nuñez - a young, up and coming rider (he won the 2008 Madrid Minimotos Championship) who, like Alvaro, hails from Talavera de la Reina. He's also a member of Alvaro's fanclub and so in the spirit of the Peña and also taking any Talaverans under our wing, we're happy to root for him and to add him to our roster of Bati-related newsworthiness.

Buena suerte por la 2009 temporada Juanjo :-)

*FYI: We have affiliated his website Juanjo29.com on our various blogs and Alvaro fansites, and you can also often find mention of his activities on Alvaro's official website.

Happy Christmas Everyone!

Downloadable 2009 BikeSport Calendars

I've made a bunch of iCals to help keep tabs on all the important dates next year. iCal is an application on the Mac, which uses the open .ics calendar format - which means that you can also use these in various Windows and Linux applications such as Microsoft Works (Version 8 or higher), WinDates, Mozilla Calendar, Sunbird and Zimbra.

MotoGP 2009 Calendar
Click here to subscribe in iCal...

CEV Buckler 2009 Calendar
Click here to subscribe in iCal...

SBK: World Superbikes 2009 Calendar
Click here to subscribe in iCal...

BSB: British Superbikes 2009 Calendar
Click here to subscribe in iCal...


More information about how to use these calendars on Windows PCs here at iCalShare...

Hope they're useful.
Enjoy :-)

gb

OFFTOPIC: "De Personas A Personas"

Again, only posted here on the tenuous rationale that Alvaro is a fan of El Canto Del Loco here's some shots of the fab "De Personas A Personas" boxset from the band - a limited edition that's just recently come out.
Grabbed this off the Spanish eBay the other day - very swiftly delivered and in perfect nick. A beautiful package of text and pictures, featuring a new nudey shoot - and a CD of the Personas album but with a bunch of extra songs, and also a DVD featuring 3 versions of promos for "Eres Tonto", the video for "Peter Pan", plus a 45 minute documentary and also a couple of other goodies like a film about the nudey photoshoot.

It's Christmas and I deserve it! :-)

End Of Year Number Crunching

The finale to this season saw Alvaro taking part in his 100th Grand Prix in the World Championships.
It's a fitting time to take stock of his record since he first contested a WC race at Jerez in 2002 as a wildcard (entering the championships properly in 2003) and to knock out a few figures.
Lurking in these stats are his fab 2006 season, comprising the title, 8 victories and 14 podiums; and also this year's excellent 4 victories and 11 podiums (10 of which were consecutive)...

Here we go:

125cc
Races: 67
Victories: 8
Poles: 8
Fastest Laps: 9
Podiums 18

250cc
Races: 33
Victories: 6
Poles: 6
Fastest Laps: 8
Podiums: 18

TOTAL
Races: 100
Victories: 14
Poles: 14
Fastest Laps: 17
Podiums: 36


Great stuff, eh?
Hopefully plenty more cool stats to come next year - including another world title! :-)

Alvaro Bautista Mosaic Poster (A1 Size)

In a determined effort to put my Alvaro-related picture library (or "The Stash" as it is known in these parts...) to some good use, I've made one of those cool Mosaic posters, where you create a single (or apparently single) large image out of a vast quantity of smaller images.
In my initial experiments I found that shots in the box and ones that involved too much general detail didn't really work out and that a cleaner, simpler image with a dulled-off background and a distinct foreground image worked out best by far.
So the result is an image of Alvaro leaning it in - from one of the Aspar Team's excellent high resolution race images - made up of some 7,396 tiles comprising 2,685 individual pictures from Alvaro's entire career, Talavera de la Reina, and other random Bati-related pics such as helmets on eBay etc!
The result, as shown above, is now available as a huuuuuuuuuuuuge high-resolution file that will gladly print out at A1 size (and probably even A0) and is a special Christmas prezzie for all the members of the BatiFans.com Avaro Bautista Fan Forum and which you can get by clicking here... (*Members Only)

Enjoy :-)

Test Your MotoGP Knowledge With The 2008 MegaMoto Quiz

Fancy testing your knowledge of MotoGP 2008?
Then go see our special 2008 MegaMoto Quiz over at BatiFans.com, where we've set up a nice big quiz to keep you occupied over the Christmas break - 30 questions; 10 for each class -125cc, 250cc and MotoGP.
To actually enter the quiz you need to be a member, but that also brings with it the opportunity of winning some pretty cool Valentino Rossi diecasts, an Avlaro Bautista documentary on DVD, official Bati '19' stickers...
(*And of course, other exclusive downloads and competitions. And the priceless benefit of being a member of the friendliest MotoGP forum there is...)

Go on, go on.... ;-)

Well, What Else Did You Expect Me To Do?

It was bound to happen really - as soon as the 2008 250cc Season Review DVD arrives in the hands of a total BatiNerd with a copy of Handbrake and an iPhone...

Well, I've got to have something to help make those tube journeys a tiny bit less miserable ;-)

It would be easier of course if you could just buy the season reviews on the iTunes Music Store...
Maybe next year...

New Alvaro Desktop Icons For Mac OSX & Windows PC

(*Preview of the new set of 9 fabby Bati icons)

On a genuine piece of Bati-related news (and certainly Bati fan news) I've just published a new set of Alvaro Bautista desktop icons for Mac OSX and Windows PC.
These are great for replacing drab system icons for your folders, applications and drives; and I've done a mix based around a nice shot of Alvaro on the 2008 bike (with the 19 on it, unlike my last icon set which featured the pre-season bike) - and created 9 variants based around drive, netowrk and folder symbols. They are all nicely detailed and feature everything you'd expect from a state-of-the-art icon set, including alpha-channeled drop shadows so they look gorgeous on your desktop.

How do you download these?
Simple - Join up on the BatiFans.com Alvaro Bautista Fan Forum and you can get the links from our "Members Only" downloads area.
Not a member?
You should be... ;-)

OFFTOPIC: More El Canto Del Loco In UK iTunes Music Store

Okay, slightly offtopic - but there's not a huge amount of MotoGP news at the moment, and it's still vaguely Bati-related as Alvaro is a fan of El Canto Del Loco...
British fans who also use the *UK* iTunes Music Store will be interested to know that a second ECDL video has cropped up; although it's actually a song called "Me Gustas Cuando" by Lucas Masciano. It has to be said that it's not anything profoundly special, but it's nice enough - and you can see and hear the guys, and overall I'd say that hte song has a slight hint of the same vibe as "Gigante" off the album Personas.


I have to admit that I still can't get "Peter Pan" out of my head (although to be honest I do listen to it a lot anyway!)
It's kind of become the soundtrack in my head to the trip to Talavera de la Reina; it was played so often on the radio, in bars and on TVs there. I particularly remember being huddled round a table in a packed bar with Tamara, Michaela, and a bunch of the Peña guys and gals sometime around 2am with it blaring out over our heads, and everybody joining in... :)
Good times.
Though I have to laugh at myself for getting a bit maudlin whilst watching it on my iPhone on the return flight, having necked some G&T and a couple of bottles of red!
What a total wuss! ;-)

It's a lovely video - and you deserve to buy it for yourself!!! Click here to go check it out... (and buy it if it grabs you, of course...)
Hopefully this means we will see more and more ECDL videos on iTunes very soon....

What Would Steve Jobs Say????

I've been asked many things since I got back from Talavera de la Reina... Did you have a good time? Did you get pissed? Did you meet Alvaro? What's the Batster like? Was he nice? How was the big dinner & party evening?
But possibly the thing I've been asked the most is "How old are you???" when people see my newly pimped MacBook Pro. I'll be the first to admit a whiff of the tragic about it, having spent the best part of 20 years refusing to put a single sticker on any of my Macs. I must have just got a bit into the mood of it all :)
The photo was taken with my iPhone which is of course also in danger of getting stickered-up if I get bladdered anytime soon too...

;)

My 2004 Aprilia Conversion Meets Its New Owner

Although a lot of the pictures and videos from the trip to Talavera de la Reina we want to keep special and exclusive to our Forum Members there's no way I can resist posting up this picture (by stv21 - thanks!) of Alvaro taking delivery of my 2004 NGS Aprilia 125cc conversion (based on Altaya's Hector Barbera model, re-worked with my own designed decals). He got a real kick out of it, and said how it was really special and how the actual 2004 bike was really special to him too, having taken his first podium on it.
I'm probably even more chuffed at his reaction than he was chuffed at the model, and can only say I hope he gets loads of pleasure from it :)

The full story and pictures covering the process of converting the model can be found here...

To Steal A Phrase.... "All Kinds Of Awesome!"

It's all been a bit hectic since getting back from Talavera de la Reina on Monday (a fantastic trip that even exceeded expectations - genuinely awesome, really); lots of work to catch up on and lots of photos and stories to post onto the BatiFan.som Forum...
There's loads of very special stuff up there - pics, videos - and more to come. I f you're a member of the forum you can see them just by logging in. If you're NOT a member of the forum, well what the hell is wrong with you????? ;)



Here's me with Alvaro's 2008 leathers.
More pics here (forum members only)...



Here's me on Alvaro's 2006 Championship winning 125cc bike.
More here (again, forum members only)...



Here's one of many lovely pics of a lovely city.
More here (froum members only)...



And purely randomly, when returing via Madrid - although we didn't go to many places it was astonishing how they didn't seem to pimp anything about either MotoGP or El Canto Del Loco... (We couldn't find *any* MotoGP DVDs at all! Honest!)
In fact this Converse posterboy panel was about the only special ECDL thing we saw. ("Peter Pan" is going to be stuck in my head for months after many emotional listening to it in bars late at night!)


Thanks Bati -thanks to your family - thanks to the Peña - thanks to all the new friends we made.
It was a very very very very special weekend...
Can't wait to come back in 2009. :)

Return To Talavera

Well, first thing tomorrow I'm flying off to Madrid and heading back to the fab Talavera de la Reina for the Alvaro Bautista Official Fanclub Winter Dinner.
I tell you, I can't bloody wait... it's a beautiful and friendly town and Alvaro, his family, friends and fans are the most lovely people I think I've ever come across.
There's a reality check in that I can't imagine it as ever being as special as the summer party in August, but I'm sure it'll be a great time nonetheless.

I have no idea if I'll be posting anything up here before I return on Monday... It's possible but by no means certain. For now I have to go check important stuff: Euros, passport, hair gel... ;)

Valencia Testing - Day 1

Team Aspar were at Valencia, running both 125 and 250 bikes.
Here's how the 250s fared...
1.- Álvaro Bautista ESP Aprilia 1.37.1 53 laps
2.- Gabor Talmacsi HUN Aprilia 1.38.1 41 laps
3.- Mike di Meglio FRA Aprilia 1.38.9 55 laps

Keep up with all the news, stats, pics and comment here...

Get This: "MotoGP - Riding Secrets" DVD

As someone who religiously gets the Duke MotoGP Season Reviews, another top tip for this year has to be their "MotoGP Riding Secrets" DVD which is out now...
The best part of two hours long, it's not unlike last year's "A-Z" title which was an excuse to pull together lots of the special features from the season's TV programming plus some excellent race and onboard footage to form a terrific (but paid-for) bonus disc.
This time around we have pretty much the whole top class talking about how a team operates across a GP weekend, mental and physical fitness (the mental bit includes a really nice interview with J-Lo... honest...) and lots of great stuff on starts, overtaking, cornering and of course crashing (that old DVD favourite) from the likes of Tony Elias, the Hopper, Colin Edwards, JT, Vale - all of 'em.

Whilst it's easy to snipe at it being an exercise in charing you for recycling, I don't honestly mind - it's a great film with Dorna and MotoGP's usual top quality behind it and it's an excellent way to pass a couple of hours.
My only serious gripe would have to be the fact that, unlike last year's "A-Z" it is totally focused on the top class, and completely excludes the 250s and 125s. That's a great shame, although I'd be the first to admit that it might end up a preposterously long film if they *were* included.

Get it now!

Incidentally, as a Mac geek and iTunes/iPod/iPhone addict I've been busy badgering Duke to get the Season Reviews put into the iTunes Music Store. Their response was pretty positive so keep an eye out next year :)

Happy Birthday Bati!

Happy 24th birthday to our guy - Alvaro Bautista - Feliz cumpleaños Bati - Best wishes form all of us who run BatiFans.com and AlvaroBautista.co.uk - We hope you have a brilliant day, a brilliant off-season and a brilliant 2009 :)

Saludos desde Londres,
(Cheers!)
Gareth

Alvaro Bautista Diecasts Campaign - UPDATE

(*Above: Who wouldn't buy this lot???? Our suggested "Collection"...)

Quick update on the Diecasts campaign.
I've found a couple more contact addresses that we can all write too, and I would suggest that you also send in the image above - or the PDF version of it which you can download from here...
We think it'd be good if a company just went and made either a couple of key bikes in 1:12 scale or perhaps a whole collection (as illustrated) in 1:24 scale.

Altaya have a suggestion page on their website: Click here...
And here is the page translated into English...
(It requires a 5-figure postcode - just put 11111)
You could also try sending an email to them at: info@altaya.es

Here's the contacts for IXO...
Trade inquiries: sales@ixomodels.com
Customer Service: cs@ixomodels.com

This is the email address for Minichamps...
info@minichamps.de

And here's the contacts for another Spanish company called Guisval...
info@guisval.es
sales@guisval.es

There's more about all this campaign here... if you want to find out all about it and get fully involved.
Cheers,
gb

Our Websites in Spain's "Motoracing" Magazine

Many thanks to Karina for scanning this superb clipping :)

Alvaro Bautista Diecasts Campaign - Level 2

We at BatiFans want to try and push the campaign for Alvaro Bautista diecast models further afield than Minichamps, and would appreciate your help in also filling up the Suggestion Boxes at Spanish company Altaya (who already produce some nice 1:24 MotoGP bikes) and Chinese manufactrer Ixo (who produced the 2005 Alvaro Honda in 1:24).
Obivously the 2006 and 2008 bikes are probably going to be the most important to suggest, but particularly with 1:24 scale why not push for a full "collection"...

Altaya have a suggestion page on their website: Click here...
And here is the page translated into English...
Please can you submit the suggestions to this site (pmaybe be courteous and write in Spanish if you can, using Google's translation page) - and on this occasion make sure you remind them that as a Spanish company they could use Alvaro's popularity in Spain to sell such a collection.
By the way - If you have problems submitting the form it is because it demands a postcode (Spanish I guess) - I just filled that field with 11111 and it worked.


As for IXO, they have a page also saying they welcome suggestions, so please don't be shy.
As ever let's campaign for all bikes from 2003 through to 2008 - including the red & yellow World Championship end of season 2006 livery. Here's the contacts for IXO...
Trade inquiries: sales@ixomodels.com
Customer Service: cs@ixomodels.com

Please write, and get other fans to write, and let's get some momentum behind this!
Thanks :)
gb

Alvaro Bautista 2009 Calendar Now Online

Okay - the 2009 BatiCal is now online for download.
As per last year, it's a special BatiFans.com design, completely chocca with great pics, and fully marked up with all MotoGP dates and the Batster's birthday.
All the info and pics you should need to go on your Mac/PC desktop or to print out onto some nice glossy stock for your walls or *real* desktop
I’ve done two versions; one high resolution top print quality, and the other screen quality (although it has to be said this will print out very well indeed anyway).
Just wanted to give you the option of a seriously quality version if you plan on outputting it onto some costly paper/stock.

Full information and downloads are here at the BatiFan.com Fan Forum...

Hope you enjoy it, and I hope you'll pass the links around so that other fans and friends can enjoy it too. As well as a nice piece of Bati fanart and a useful calendar it also helps pimp our website and forum so anything you can do to spread the word in that respect is *always* appreciated... :)

2008 Stats

Here's a few stats form the season which were gathered to use in a recent 'end of season' desktop wallpaper design. Although I know so many of us wished Bati had clinched the title this year, a reading of some of these reminds you that he had a pretty impressive time of it anyway...


Championship Position: 2

Championship points: 244

Wins: 4

2nd places: 4

3rd places: 3

Podiums: 11

Consecutive podiums: 10

Fastest laps: 7

Pole positions: 5

Consecutive pole positions: 3

Laps in first place: 130

Km covered in races: 1669.863

Highest speed: 278.1 km/h (Mugello)

First win: Estoril

Last win: Sepang

(*Thanks to Tamara)

MotoGP Round In Singapore In 2011?

(*Above: Artist's impression of the Changi circuit in Singapore)

MotoGP boss Carmelo Ezpeleta told Singapore newspaper Today that the country could hold a MotoGP race in 2011.
"We have signed an agreement with a promoter to stage a round of the motorbike world championship in Singapore," he said.
"But it depends when the permanent track will be completed. I understand it will be up in three years' time, so there could be a race as early as 2011, if not 2012.
"Asia is important to MotoGP's growth and Singapore is at the centre of it, that's why we want to hold a round there. But my agreement is subject to the track being built."

The track is nothing to do with the 'Grand Prix' street circuit used by F1, but a purpose built facility at Changi, set to be built on a plot next to Changi Airport.
The artist's impression above isn't too helpful on judging the exact layout so if anybody has seen a genuine circuit plan I'd be very happy to share it up here...

Riding As Alvaro Bautista In Moto GP 08 On PS3

Many thanks to Richard Goodbourn for posting this youtube clip of himself riding as Bati on a few laps of Donington in the Moto GP 08 game for PS3...



And here's his talk-through of how the game feels and responds, using this clip for reference...

“This is a 3 lap quick race on the latest Moto GP game for the PS3. Basically, the race is setup on the easiest setting round Donington Park riding as the one and only Alvaro Bautista. As you can see quick race automatically puts you at the back of the grid from the brief look back view. As the lights turn green, obviously you’re gonna shoot off on the easy mode and scythe through the field I clip either Lucas Pesek or Yuki Takahashi and spear off. Upon returning to the track, Manuel Hernandez rear ends me, throwing Bati off the bike.

The games respawn is very quick and your off away again. The graphics mind are near realistic with Capcom, just missing out minor noticeable details.

Being the easiest AI, I quickly catch up with the pack, cutting my way through. The handling of the bikes make the lower class bikes very nimble, hence barging past Espagaro like the Flying Hairball would. Upon entry to the Esses, Kallio is put off by me passing for the lead and falls off screen (could have been Barbera, don’t know). I loose the lead by entering the Melbourne Loop too hot, but quickly out drag Barbera into Goddards. Braking on these bikes are confidence provoking as the front and rear brakes are independent. From then on I pull away to take the win by 5 seconds over the rest of the 3 laps.

Moto GP 08 is a real step up from last years disappointment on the PS2, with the intro of the 125cc & 250cc classes and fields up to 35 riders. Track and Bike wise, there a lot of photo realism and noticeable gradient changes for the bike to twitch over and the rain effect on the lenses add another brilliant challenge to the racing.
Career mode allows you to earn points unlocking teams, helmets and upgrades for the bike to make it more competitive at the start.

Now the bad news. Sound wise, the 250’s are more 4-stroke-ish and the 125cc doesn’t quite sound right. The Moto GP bikes are still heavy to turn and corner speed is compromised, because of that. It is also irritating on difficulty settings as there is a significant gap between the 2nd & 3rd hardest settings also with going off the track being a major punishment as you will loose significant speed, which could cost you the race and possibly points overall.
In conclusion, This game is a must have, but be patient when things get tough."


Cheers for the lowdown Richard; much appreciated :)

Two Special Season-End Alvaro Bautista Wallpapers

At Least One Thing Was A Piece Of Cake This Weekend...

Alvaro of course celebrated his 100th Grand Prix start this weekend.

So here he is with Gino Borsoi, Armando Guerrero and Jorge Martinez.

And a whopping great cake.

Alvaro Bautista: Post-Race Quote, Valencia

"It has been a difficult race because I couldn't brake hard and the front end was bouncing a lot. I went wide on a few occasions, and didn't have any other choice but to try and hold on to as high a position as possible.
At the end of the race Kallio fell and we had a little bit of luck to get on the podium, which we haven't had on a few occasions this year! Third place is not what I wanted, but neither did I expect to get it after the problems of the weekend.
The year hasn't gone as we had planned, and the slow start was what really hit us hard. We continued to work hard, and we have ended the season with some incredible performances. It was a tough year, but next season we have to continue with the confidence that we have shown at the end of 2008."

MotoGP - 250cc Valencia Grand Prix - Results

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 43:29.003
2. Yuki Takahashi Honda + 5.164
3. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia + 8.648
4. R.Locatelli Gilera + 15.605
5. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM + 20.991
6. Hector Faubel Aprilia + 22.212
7. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia + 23.199
8. R.Wilairot Honda + 23.321
9. Mattia Pasini Aprilia + 37.424
10. Thomas Luthi Aprilia + 38.887
11. Mika Kallio KTM + 44.065
12. Alex Baldolini Aprilia +1:10.999
13. Imre Toth Aprilia +1:31.950
14. Daniel Arcas Aprilia +1:39.110
15. S.G.Giorgi Gilera +1:41.209
16. Manuel Hernandez Aprilia + 1 Lap
17. Karel Abraham Aprilia + 1 Lap
18. Federico Sandi Aprilia + 1 Lap
19. D.T.Pradita Yamaha + 1 Lap



NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

Rider | Bike | Laps
Alen Gyorfi Aprilia 24
Alex Debon Aprilia 21
Julian Simon KTM 19
Fabrizio Lai Gilera 12
Lukas Pesek Aprilia 11
Toni Wirsing Honda 11

Bati 6th On Valencia Grid

Alvaro lines up 6th on the grid for tomorrow's Valencia GP - the last race of the 2008 season.
Here's what he said about the final quali session...

"The truth is that today was pretty much our first session in the dry but I had a problem with my first bike and had to take the second one. At the end of the session I ran into a bit of traffic and wasn't able to get a good lap together. I'm not too pleased with sixth place but I'm confident we can improve the engine and set-up of my number one bike. This is our home race and we can't let Simoncelli win here. I'll be going out tomorrow to beat him and win the race. It's an important one and the tactic is to win it whatever way we can. I'll be doing my part with that. The KTMs are also going really well at this track and I think it will be a group race. It is difficult to escape here so we'll try and run with the front group and I'm sure it will be a scrap."

And here's the final quali sheet in full...


Pos | Rider | Nation | Team | Lap time
1 M. SIMONCELLI ITA Metis Gilera 1'35.408
2 A. DEBON SPA Lotus Aprilia + 0.010
3 J. SIMON SPA Repsol KTM 250cc + 0.556
4 M. KALLIO FIN Red Bull KTM 250 + 0.786
5 H. AOYAMA JPN Red Bull KTM 250 + 0.859
6 A. BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team + 1.011
7 R. WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT SAG + 1.160
8 R. LOCATELLI ITA Metis Gilera + 1.165
9 H. FAUBEL SPA Mapfre Aspar Team + 1.227
10 Y. TAKAHASHI JPN JiR Team Scot 250 + 1.246
11 T. LUTHI SWI Emmi - Caffe Latte + 1.424
12 A. ESPARGARO SPA Lotus Aprilia + 1.433
13 L. PESEK CZE Auto Kelly - CP + 1.484
14 M. PASINI ITA Polaris World + 1.639
15 F. LAI ITA Campetella Racing + 1.992
16 A. BALDOLINI ITA Matteoni Racing + 2.047
17 S. GROTZKYJ ITA Campetella Racing + 2.395
18 I. TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia + 2.837
19 F. SANDI ITA Zongshen AOS Racing + 3.184
20 K. ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing + 3.233
21 M. HERNANDEZ SPA Blusens Aprilia + 3.466
22 D. ARCAS SPA Blusens Aprilia + 3.774
23 D. PRADITA INA Yamaha Pertamina Indonesia + 5.185
24 A. GYORFI HUN Team Toth Aprilia + 5.667
25 T. WIRSING GER Racing Team Germany + 6.566

Alvaro Joins In Celebrations Of 10 Years Of Valencia Circuit

Above: Alvaro joins Jorge Martinez and all the Team Aspar riders, amongst others, at the big 10th anniversary celebrations of the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Cheste on Thursday, ahead of this weekend's Grand Prix.

MotoGP - Valencia - Eurosport TV Schedule

Friday 24th October

24/10 12:00 - Eurosport
The Valencia Grand Prix 125cc practice session

24/10 12:45 - Eurosport
The Valencia Grand Prix MotoGP practice session

24/10 14:00 - Eurosport
The Valencia Grand Prix 250cc practice session

.................................................................


Saturday 25th October

25/10 12:00 - Eurosport
The Valencia Grand Prix 125cc qualifying session

25/10 12:45 - Eurosport
The Valencia Grand Prix MotoGP qualifying session

25/10 14:00 - Eurosport
The Valencia Grand Prix 250cc qualifying session

.................................................................


Sunday 26th October

6/10 07:45 - Eurosport
The Valencia Grand Prix warm-up session

26/10 08:15 - Eurosport
A look ahead to the Valencia Grand Prix

26/10 08:45 - Eurosport
The Valencia Grand Prix 125cc race

26/10 10:00 - Eurosport
The Valencia Grand Prix 250cc race

26/10 11:15 - Eurosport
The Valencia Grand Prix MotoGP race

.................................................................

Goodbye & Farewell To Eurosport's MotoGP Coverage

Well, this is it...

Goodbye Eurosport.

It’s with very mixed feelings that I’ll be watching your coverage this weekend.
I’m sure I’ll enjoy it as I always do, because it’s quality stuff - extensive live coverage of all classes and bags of informed opinion in the commentary box and pit lane.
At the same time, I’ll be watching it knowing that it’s going to be the last time. And I know that what the BBC have actually discussed so far isn’t going to measure up. Simple as that. If they poach Toby, Julian and Randy as their TV team then they’ll have made at least one smart move, but I doubt that.
Certainly inconsequential answers about *live* coverage, and coverage of the lower classes looking to get stuck behind the red button all suggest pretty dire times ahead.

Thanks for all the pleasure you’ve given me and many other fans - particularly those with an interest in 125cc and 250cc. You’ll be very very sorely missed.

If there *is* a god (which, let's be honest, seems extremely bloody unlikely given the horror of all the current wars, recession, global warming and the release of “High School Musical 3”) then somebody somewhere somehow will have the common sense and decency to bring you back to our screens.

Till then; goodbye and good luck Eurosport.
Toodle-pip.
gb

Petition Minichamps For Alvaro Bautista Diecast Models

(*Above: Bati's 2005 Honda by Ixo - currently the only proper diecast available)


SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM THE BATIFAN BLOGGER

I wonder if I can ask any of you reading this to spare a few minutes to write an email to Minichamps (a German company called Pauls Model Art) to petition them to produce Alvaro's Aspar Aprilia 125cc Championship Winning bike from 2006. And possibly more too?

This is the email address: info@minichamps.de

I have written to them asking if they would consider making Alvaro's 2006 Championship-winning Aprilia 125. My reasoning to them is that he is not only already hugely popular in Spain, but also gaining popularity quickly around the world and that he is without doubt going to be one of the sport's superstars, and that it would make sense to pick up on that and to start producing models of his rides.
I also asked them to consider doing his 2007 Aprilia 250, and perhaps more importantly this years Aprilia 250 - as vice champion.

Anyway - please drop them a line, as much in your own words as possible as it doesn't want to appear to be some automated spamming!
But I'd certainly appreciate you helping me push them on this, and if you can encourage any friends to mail them too, that would be excellent.
There's more about all this here... if you want to find out all about it.

Cheers,
gb

Bautista Wins In Sepang

Well, Bati *did* do us proud, taking victory in a sweltering Sepang.
It couldn't stop Simoncelli from clinching the WC title, but nonetheless a great ride and a great win.
Congrats Alvaro :)
You may not be the champ this year but you *are* the best rider (and sportsman) in 250.

Here's the results in full...


Pos | Rider | Bike | Time

1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 42:56.428
2. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM + 2.586
3. Marco Simoncelli Gilera + 8.343
4. Yuki Takahashi Honda + 11.032
5. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia + 13.846
6. Alex Debon Aprilia + 14.274
7. Roberto Locatelli Gilera + 15.101
8. Ratthapark Wilairot Honda + 16.987
9. Thomas Luthi Aprilia + 25.356
10. Lukas Pesek Aprilia + 26.846
11. Fabrizio Lai Gilera + 49.907
12. Karel Abraham Aprilia + 50.088
13. Alex Baldolini Aprilia +1:05.816
14. Simone Grotzkyj Gilera +1:15.544
15. Imre Toth Aprilia +1:19.905
16. Manuel Hernandez Aprilia +1:35.890
17. Daniel Arcas Aprilia +2:00.717
18. Doni Tata Pradita Yamaha +2:28.842



NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

Rider | Bike | Laps

Mattia Pasini Aprilia 15
Julian Simon KTM 11
Mika Kallio KTM 5
Hector Faubel Aprilia 4

Weekend Coverage

I'm away this weekend so there won't be the usual updates across the GP.
Best bet to keep informed on all classes - 125, 250 and MotoGP, especially of course with respect to Alvaro - is to head over to BatiFans.com and check in with all our fab forum people.

I'll aim to post up cool pics, info and stats once I'm back on radar.

Go Bati! Do us proud :)

MotoGP - Malaysia: Schedule Of Events

Friday October 17

125cc :: Free Practice 1 :: 09:00-09:45 
MotoGP :: Free Practice 1 :: 10:00-11:00 
250cc :: Free Practice 1 :: 11:15-12:15 
125cc :: Qualifying 1 :: 13:10-13:40 
MotoGP :: Free Practice 2 :: 13:55-14:55 
250cc :: Qualifying 1 :: 15:10-15:55 

................................................................


Saturday October 18

125cc :: Free Practice 2 :: 09:00-09:45 
MotoGP :: Free Practice 3 :: 10:00-11:00 
250cc :: Free Practice 2 :: 11:15-12:15 
125cc :: Qualifying 2 :: 13:10-13:40 
MotoGP :: Qualifying 1 :: 13:55-14:55 
250cc :: Qualifying 2 :: 15:10-15:55

................................................................


Sunday October 19

125cc :: Warm-Up :: 08:40-09:00 
250cc :: Warm-Up :: 09:10-09:30 
MotoGP :: Warm-Up :: 09:40-10:05 
125cc :: Race :: 11:00-11:45 
250cc :: Race :: 12:15-13:00 
MotoGP :: Race :: 14:00-15:00

................................................................


(All times local: Sepang = GMT +8)

Pic Of The GP: Australia

I posted on the forum at the time - "Did anybody else just see that????"

Thankfully at least one photographer did...

Great shot.

Toby Moody Heaps Praise On Our "Pocket Rocket"

Toby - an admitted fan of Bati's - leaves no room for doubt about his opinion of our guy's skills and potential for going up into the MotoGP class...

"People bang on about Bautista needing to win the 250 title, but Andrea Dovizioso never did that and he's been one of two massive finds in MotoGP this year, Lorenzo being the other...
Surely the ever-smiling Bautista, a sponsor's dream, could mix it up there on a fifth Ducati or another Honda, or even the Ceccinello De Puniet ride?"

Full article here...
Subscribe to Autosport.

Lightbbox: Australian GP, Phillip Island