Alvaro's British GP: "I Went With Prudence"

"After the crashes on Friday and Saturday I wasn't fully confident, so second is a good result. This morning I felt much more comfortable in the warmup, as my arm wasn't so stiff under braking. The race was strange and hard, as at the beginning we went out with wet tyres and after three laps the asphalt was dry. We then carried on riding. The rain came back at certain points, which was less painful for my arm, even though the bike was moving around a lot. I saw that I was the leader of the chasing pack and went to pull away. I was slowly catching Aoyama, but I risked losing twenty points if I made a mistake, so I went with prudence. On the final seven laps I was really hurting from my arm, so after this complicated weekend taking home twenty points was a good achievement. We will see if I can recover quickly and be back on form for Brno."

British GP, Donington: 250cc Race Result

CLASSIFIED:

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda 45m17.516s
2. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia + 5.723s
3. Mattia Pasini Aprilia + 36.161s
4. Marco Simoncelli Gilera + 36.776s
5. Mike Di Meglio Aprilia + 41.418s
6. Alex Debon Aprilia + 41.938s
7. Raffaele De Rosa Honda + 57.483s
8. Hector Barbera Aprilia + 59.975s
9. Thomas Luthi Aprilia +1m14.852s
10. Hector Faubel Honda +1m16.927s
11. Jules Cluzel Aprilia +1m21.356s
12. Lukas Pesek Aprilia +1m21.665s
13. R.Locatelli Gilera +1m29.576s
14. Karel Abraham Aprilia + 1 Lap
15. Shoya Tomizawa Honda + 1 Lap
16. Alex Baldolini Aprilia + 1 Lap
17. Imre Toth Aprilia + 1 Lap
18. Luke Mossey Aprilia + 1 Lap
19. Valentin Debise Honda + 2 Laps
20. Axel Pons Aprilia + 2 Laps
21. Aitor Rodriguez Aprilia + 2 Laps
22. Bastien Chesaux Honda + 2 Laps
23. Toby Markham Aprilia + 4 Laps


NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

Rider | Bike | On lap
R.Wilairot Honda 18
Ralf Waldmann Aprilia 5
Balazs Nemeth Aprilia 0

Alvaro 3rd in FP1 Despite Crash

Alvaro suffered a bit of a setback after a comfrotable start to FP1, when negotiating a chicane. He was thrown from his Aprilia due to a problem with the engine, and there was little that he could do to avoid a crash. He finished the session in third place after returning to the garage, assessing his condition and waiting for the second bike to be set up, although he is suffering from a strong ache in his right elbow.
Here's what he said...

"I had a problem with the bike at the end of the back straight. The rear locked up and I was spat off the bike. I took a hard hit on my arm, but I was able to continue and ride the second bike. However, at the end of the session the bruising stiffened up, and it was hard to brake and move the bike. We hardly tried anything today, as we already had a good setting from last year. We wanted to work on this year's setting, but we were about to use it just as I crashed. The track was dirty and that meant that the times weren't so good, but we're not far from the top spot and we were able to pick up the pace again after the crash."

British GP, Donington - BBC TV Schedule

If you're not at Donington this weekend , then don't miss the coverage on the BBC...


Saturday 25 July

Qualifying
1250-1600, BBC Red Button/online

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


Sunday 26 July

125 and 250cc race
1220-1435, BBC Red Button/online

Race
1500-1630, BBC One/online

MotoGP Extra
1630-1700, BBC Red Button/online

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

Alvaro Looks Ahead To Donington

An upbeat Alvaro looks forward to a full length GP to make the most of his favourite circuit, making a cute little reference to Simoncelli's ludicrous move last year which gifted Mika Kallio the win and the championship lead (D'oh!)...
We're certainly hoping for a top run from our guy, an a cracking race overall...

"Donington is a circuit I love and I had a great race there last year, despite another rider making what you could call an unorthodox pass on me at the end! Anyway, this is another year and I think things have changed for the better. We're up there and we're prepared to go head to head with anybody in any race. We're doing our job well at every circuit and the fiasco at Assen aside our hard work is paying off. Let's hope that nothing weird happens this weekend, that the weather is on our side, even though it could easily rain on at least one of the days, so that we can have another nice battle like the one for third place on Sunday - except this time over full distance!"

BatiFans At The British GP

Right - well, BatiFans is off to the British GP at Donington this weekend.
We'll be keeping you updated with all the news, stats, quotes and info as usual - plus we'll be having our second annual meet-up of the BatiFans international fan group.
There'll be an HQ on the infield all weekend and there will also be daily meet-ups for those who just want to drop by and say Hello (or possibly Ola, or something else...)
We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible and we've got some information up on the forum already as to the wheres and whens of the weekend. Click here to check maps and notes...

In the build-up we'll continue with team and rider previews etc and we'll be aiming to be online with you if you're not at the track, and with you if you are!

Vamos Bati! Suerte :-)

Hermann Tilke's New Donington Design? We Like!

Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd submitted plans for the first phase of the re-development of Donington Park with North West Leicestershire District Council on Friday 5th September.
The Parkland circuit faces massive re-development in preparation for the British Formula One Grand Prix that will be staged at the circuit in 2010. An agreement was signed between Donington Park Leisure and the FIA in July to stage the British Grand Prix for ten years, starting in 2010.

"The submission of these plans heralds the start of a massive re-development project and a new era for Donington Park. It's an incredibly exciting time for everybody involved," explained the circuit's Chief Executive Officer Simon Gillett. "We are delighted with the plans and when the work is completed we will have a facility that will be the pride of World Championship motorsport."
The 2009 programme of major events at Donington including the British Motorcycle Grand Prix and the World Superbike Championship will be unaffected by the re-development.

Donington Park will not be issuing any more releases or making any comment about the re-development until the North West Leicestershire District Council announces their decision on planning in early November.


******************************************

WE SAY: Well, the plans look pretty good actually. Although it'll be strange not to have Redgate and the run down to Craner and the Old Hairpin as the opening corners, it has to be said that the new long straight looks good, and there could well be a very very interesting piece of track in that new infield section - turns 2, 3, 4 and 5. (Look at the second graphic where we have overlaid Tilke's plan onto a satellite shot of the current circuit...) Turn 2 will run down the bank that overlooks Starkeys, and by the looks of it Turn 3 will be a neat switchback that also points uphill as the track curves up and round to 4 and 5 and then runs off down what is currently the main stright. Given the inclines in that part of the infield, it may be a rather exciting piece of tarmac...
We like - and we have to say that we're suprised Hermann Tilke hasn't made a complete bollocks of things like he usually does (apart from most of the Istanbul Park circuit.)

The most important thing, if the track is going to be this good, is to ensure that public facilities and all the main road and traffic services are up to scratch. That's where the real problems may lie...

Some Photos From Donington

Here's a small selection of my photos from the British GP weekend (for a much fuller set, join up at BatiFans.com and go check out the "Members Only" area)...
Here though, we have Alvaro's scooter in the paddock (where I met him and was able to get him to sign a copy of his photo-biography and a printout of the BatiFans.com website, and also a couple of shots of him during Friday afternoon's session, taking on the Melbourne Hairpin...

Bautista Third At Donington - British GP

Mika Kallio took another gifted win this season, when a ludicrously optimistic and basically impossible move by the reckless Marco Simoncelli pushed Alvaro Bautista wide in avoiding a coming-together and let Kallio through.

Kallio's rise through the field was impressive certainly - but this was just such an annoying, frustrating and unnecessary end to the GP weekend. You always feel nervous when Simoncelli's around (as the commentators at the track said - "at least when he's in front of you, you can see what he's doing...") and today proved the truth of it again.
Although the outcome wasn't as downright dangerous or ugly as his Mugello move on Hector Barbera, it was still hugely crass. And to what effect? He still came second, pissed a few more people off, and let Kallio continue to lead the table (which he wouldn't if Alvaro had come first!)
At least Alvaro rode really well (and professionally) all weekend, taking an excellent pole on his Friday times, the Saturday being a bit piddled on...

Apparently Alvaro 'had words' after the race - and I'm not a bit surprised.
Here's his official quotes:

"I adapted very well to the wind, and felt progressively more comfortable on the Aprilia, riding hard. It is important that we have two consecutive podiums under our belts, something that we hadn’t achieved up until now this year.
We will see if in Holland we can continue this way and fight for the win.
I was going for victory today, but Simoncelli cut me off. You can pass a rider, but you have to brake a little harder to do it, and it’s not normal to pass if you aren’t able to and throw whomever is in your path into the grass. I think that some action will be taken on the matter.
He is a different rider to the rest, very aggressive and one for whom what he wants to do exceeds what he can do. The slow pace of the race meant that Kallio could catch us."

I couldn't agree with the comments more; in fact it's almost exactly what I said about Simoncelli before - that his ambition far exceeds his ability.


Here's the results in full...

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Mika Kallio KTM 42:14.410
2. Marco Simoncelli Gilera + 0.353
3. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia + 1.237
4. Hector Barbera Aprilia + 8.875
5. Thomas Luthi Aprilia + 11.359
6. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM + 16.124
7. Alex Debon Aprilia + 16.136
8. Julian Simon KTM + 18.007
9. Yuki Takahashi Honda + 33.271
10. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia + 49.681
11. R.Locatelli Gilera + 52.534
12. Karel Abraham Aprilia + 55.311
13. Lukas Pesek Aprilia + 57.399
14. Manuel Poggiali Gilera + 57.641
15. Hector Faubel Aprilia +1:04.329
16. R.Wilairot Honda +1:06.156
17. Fabrizio Lai Gilera +1:15.812
18. Russell Gomez Aprilia + 1 Lap
19. D.T.Pradita Yamaha + 1 Lap


NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

Rider | Team | On lap
Eugene Laverty Aprilia 20
Alex Baldolini Aprilia 14
Mattia Pasini Aprilia 13
Imre Toth Aprilia 12

I'm Away At Donington This Weekend :)

Okay - just a quickie - I'm off to Donington very early tomorrow morning for the GP weekend.
This means that I may not be able to update the blog over the coming days (I'm taking my MacBook Pro and camera, but simply don't know if I'll actually get online).
To keep up with all the chat on 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP for the British Grand Prix I couldn't do better than point you at BatiFans.com... (Of Course!)

Buena Suerte Bati! :)
Have a fab race, and go one better than Catalunya ;)

British Grand Prix - Donington - Event Schedule

FRIDAY, 20 JUNE 2008
09:00-09:45 125cc Free Practice 1
10:00-11:00 MotoGP Free Practice 1
11:15-12:15 250cc Free Practice 1
12:20-12:50 MotoGP2
13:10-13:40 125cc Qualifying Practice 1
13:55-14:55 MotoGP Free Practice 2
15:10-15:55 250cc Qualifying Practice 1
16:05-16:35 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Free Practice
16:40-16:55 Thundersport GB2 Cup Qualifying Practice 1
17:05-17:35 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Qualifying Practice 1
17:40-17:55 Aprilia Superteen Challenge Qualifying Practice 1
18:05-18:35 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Qualifying Practice 2
18:40-19:05 Suzuki & Yamaha Cup Qualifying Practice

SATURDAY, 21 JUNE 2008
09:00-09:45 125cc Free Practice 2
10:00-11:00 MotoGP Free Practice 3
11:15-12:15 250cc Free Practice 2
13:10-13:40 125cc Qualifying Practice 2
13:55-14:55 MotoGP Qualifying Practice
15:10-15:55 250cc Qualifying Practice 2
16:20 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Race (17 laps)
17:00-17:10 Aprilia Superteen Challenge Qualifying Practice 2
17:15-17:25 Thundersport GB2 Cup Qualifying Practice 2
17:30 Henderson R1 Cup Race 1 (10 laps)
17:55 ACU Suzuki GSXR Cup Race 1 (10 laps)
18:20 Thundersport GB2 Cup Race 1 (10 laps)
18:45 Aprilia Superteen Challenge Race 1 (10 laps)
19:10 Henderson R1 Cup Race 2 (10 laps)
19:35 ACU Suzuki GSXR Cup Race 2 (10 laps)

SUNDAY, 22 JUNE 2008
09:40-10:00 125cc Warm Up
10:10-10:30 250cc Warm Up
10:40-11:05 MotoGP Warm Up
12:00 125cc Race (25 laps)
13:15 250cc Race (27 laps)
15:00 MotoGP Race (30 laps)


*All times local - BST (GMT +1)

Alvaro Bautista: Quotes Ahead Of British GP

"Donington is my favourite circuit, in that I got my first track points and my first World Championship podium.
I also got the fastest lap in 2004 and in 2006 in 125cc.
For this event I can only hope that everything goes well; as well as in Montmeló and we can continue this streak, and have two consecutive good results.
I just have the desire to climb on the Aprilia and have fun on it as I have up until now."