Quote from Alvaro; post Chinese GP

A typically balanced view from Alvaro, keeping things in perspective and looking to put disappointment behind him...

"This wasn’t what we were expecting from this race. We dominated the practice sessions and were the stronger team over the weekend. This morning in the wet warmup I was comfortable, and in the race I put myself in the lead, but the wet is a lottery and this time it was my turn to lose out I suppose. It’s a pity, because I was sure that we could have done well, it was just a case of losing the front and being unable to avoid the crash. I was able to get four points. My team and Aprilia are doing a great job, and I feel strong on the bike. I just have to hope that we are a bit luckier in the future."

Lap 9 Fall Costs Alvaro Dear...

Well, not a good race :(
Although Alvaro got a bit swallowed up off the start, he soon got back into the lead in the drying - but still partially wet and greasy conditions - and was looking pretty fine until on lap 9 he fell at the first corner.
Thankfully a long slide left him in good enough shape to get back on the bike and continue the race (down in 13th).
The bike looked pretty compromised but he never gave up and came home an eventual 12th.
Still, with Mika Kallio taking what was then a pretty easy win and pocketing a fat load of points, it was a pretty grim day and leaves Bait waaaaaaaaay down on points as the season carries on.
Bah! Too down to do any more than cut and paste the results now...

CLASSIFIED:

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Mika Kallio KTM 48:12.217
2. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM + 3.238
3. Mattia Pasini Aprilia + 13.811
4. Marco Simoncelli Gilera + 18.474
5. Alex Debon Aprilia + 21.066
6. Hector Barbera Aprilia + 25.158
7. Yuki Takahashi Honda + 29.99
8. R. Wilairot Honda + 39.871
9. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia + 48.344
10. Hector Faubel Aprilia + 55.47
11. R. Locatelli Gilera + 55.832
12. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia +1:00.442
13. Eugene Laverty Aprilia +1:00.732
14. Fabrizio Lai Gilera +1:36.975
15. D.T. Pradita Yamaha +1:37.080
16. Imre Toth Aprilia +1:45.018
17. Russell Gomez Aprilia +2:13.718


NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

Rider | Bike | On lap
Alex Baldolini Aprilia 14
Julian Simon KTM 5
Thomas Luthi Aprilia 5
Karel Abraham Aprilia 4
Lukas Pesek Aprilia 2
Manuel Poggiali Gilera 0

FASTEST LAP: Kallio, 2:15.834 on lap 19

Alvaro Bautista: Post-Qualifying Quote, China

Here's Bati sounding deservedly please post-quali and looking ahead to tomorrow's race...

"I think that we have a good pace and things are pretty clear for the race. Today’s result has boosted my morale, and even if it rains then I feel strong and I’m going to have fun with the bike. The track conditions were worse than yesterday, with more heat and humidity, so I am very happy even though we could have gone faster. I wasn’t able to pick up the pace with so many people waiting for a draft. If the race is dry then we have the pace, so my intention will be to go at 100% and ride on my own, as it is in the wet."

I'm still hoping for NO rain, but we'll see what happens...

Pictures of Alvaro in China

Chinese GP: 250cc Final Qualifying - Alvaro On Pole

Bit of a boring session for the most part, but of course the good news is that Alvaro maintains the pole position he provisionally took yesterday; only bettering that time in the closing minutes of the session.
Tomorrow may yet be a lottery however, with rumours of torrential rain.
Let's hope it holds off and Alvaro gets the chance to use his pace, unhindered, to completely take charge...

Good luck Bati! :)


Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 2:04.882
2. Hector Barbera Aprilia 2:05.317 + 0.435
3. Mika Kallio KTM 2:05.402 + 0.520
4. Julian Simon KTM 2:05.651 + 0.769
5. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 2:05.724 + 0.842
6. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 2:05.853 + 0.971
7. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 2:06.119 + 1.237
8. Manuel Poggiali Gilera 2:06.192 + 1.310
9. R. Locatelli Gilera 2:06.216 + 1.334
10. Yuki Takahashi Honda 2:06.245 + 1.363
11. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 2:06.276 + 1.394
12. Alex Debon Aprilia 2:06.279 + 1.397
13. Hector Faubel Aprilia 2:06.283 + 1.401
14. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 2:06.428 + 1.546
15. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 2:06.559 + 1.677
16. Fabrizio Lai Gilera 2:07.083 + 2.201
17. Karel Abraham Aprilia 2:07.101 + 2.219
18. R. Wilairot Honda 2:07.114 + 2.232
19. Eugene Laverty Aprilia 2:07.665 + 2.783
20. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 2:09.063 + 4.181
21. D.T. Pradita Yamaha 2:10.254 + 5.372
22. Imre Toth Aprilia 2:10.509 + 5.627
23. Russell Gomez Aprilia 2:11.624 + 6.742

Bautista Takes Provisional Pole in Quali 1

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 2:05.035
2. Mika Kallio KTM 2:05.402 + 0.367
3. Hector Barbera Aprilia 2:05.531 + 0.496
4. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 2:05.853 + 0.818
5. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 2:06.119 + 1.084
6. Julian Simon KTM 2:06.238 + 1.203
7. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 2:06.337 + 1.302
8. Hector Faubel Aprilia 2:06.675 + 1.640
9. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 2:06.684 + 1.649
10. Yuki Takahashi Honda 2:06.958 + 1.923
11. Manuel Poggiali Gilera 2:07.179 + 2.144
12. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 2:07.213 + 2.178
13. Alex Debon Aprilia 2:07.316 + 2.281
14. R. Locatelli Gilera 2:07.349 + 2.314
15. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 2:07.831 + 2.796
16. R. Wilairot Honda 2:07.885 + 2.850
17. Karel Abraham Aprilia 2:08.284 + 3.249
18. Eugene Laverty Aprilia 2:08.938 + 3.903
19. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 2:09.063 + 4.028
20. Imre Toth Aprilia 2:10.509 + 5.474
21. Fabrizio Lai Gilera 2:11.716 + 6.681
22. D.T. Pradita Yamaha 2:12.102 + 7.067
23. Russell Gomez Aprilia 2:14.742 + 9.707

Alvaro Looks Ahead To Shanghai

Here's some quotes from Alvaro, looking ahead to the coming weekend's race in China, translated by Tamara - thanks ;)

"I come to China after we made the best of the weekend in Portugal and snatched the victory, and after being with my friends and family. I also I fulfilled some team duties. The triumph of Estoril has given me much tranquillity and this really is what matters to me the most, facing the GP in Shanghai.
During the past weeks I have been training hard to come to China in the best shape possible. It is not one of my favorite circuits, but in the last two years I have been on the podium in 125 and in 250. So hopefully this year we will be able to repeat that result or even improve it. It is a quite an atypical circuit with its curves, but if we continue working like we did so far, we will surely be able to find the best setting."

Chinese Grand Prix - TV Schedule

As always we recommend you follow the weekend's Grand Prix practice, quali and racing in the company of Julian Ryder and Toby Moody on Eurosport. (And of course Randy for the main MotoGP class).
You know it makes sense.
Er, even at some ungodly hour of the morning...
So set your alarm, fill the kettle, get yourself a brew and curl up on the sofa for this weekend's early morning action.
Here's the TV schedule for both Eurosport and Eurosport 2...


Friday May 2nd

EUROSPORT
6.00am - MotoGP :: China :: 125cc Practice
7.45am - MotoGP :: China :: Moto GP Practice
8.00am - MotoGP :: China :: 250cc Practice
9.00am - MotoGP :: China :: Moto GP Practice

EUROSPORT 2
15.00 - MotoGP :: China :: 125cc Practice
15.30 - MotoGP :: China :: 250cc Practice
16.00 - MotoGP :: China :: Moto GP Practice
21.15 - MotoGP :: China :: Moto GP Practice

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

Saturday May 3rd

EUROSPORT
6.00am - MotoGP :: China :: Qualifying 125cc
6.45am - MotoGP :: China :: Qualifying MotoGP
8.00am - MotoGP :: China :: Qualifying 250cc
23.30 - MotoGP :: China :: Qualifying MotoGP
00.15 (Sun) - MotoGP :: China :: Qualifying 250cc

EUROSPORT 2
16.30 - MotoGP :: China :: Qualifying MotoGP
17.30 - MotoGP :: China :: Qualifying 250cc

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

Sunday May 4th

EUROSPORT
4.45am - MotoGP :: China :: 125cc Race
6.00am - MotoGP :: China :: 250cc Race
7.15am - MotoGP :: China :: Moto GP Race
10.00am - MotoGP :: China :: 250cc Race
11.00am - MotoGP :: China :: Moto GP Race

EUROSPORT 2
16.15 - MotoGP :: China :: 250cc Race
16.45 - MotoGP :: China :: Moto GP Race
21.15 - MotoGP :: China :: Moto GP Race

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


(*All times: BST, GMT +1)

Looking Ahead To The Chinese Grand Prix

Right, well after such a seemingly long break after that terrific Estoril weekend, we move onto China for the next round; which was one of Alvaro's top races last year, coming home 3.904 seconds behind Jorge Lorenzo and over 5 seconds ahead of third place man Andrea Dovizioso (de Angelis, Kallio and Barbera making up the top six).
It was a strong and spirited performance - and with a memorable "hard but fair" pass on Dovi, and it'll be good to see him pull another great race out of the bag this time round. I think, on balance, given how the season started, another runaway victory would be more than welcome - though it'd be equally cool to see some excellent dicing again.
Here's the weekend event schedule...
(*All times are local, of course)

Friday May 2nd
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 May 3rd
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 May 4th
125cc :: Warm-Up :: 09:40-10:00
250cc :: Warm-Up :: 10:10-10:30
MotoGP :: Warm-Up :: 10:49-11:05
125cc :: Race :: 12:00-11:45
250cc :: Race :: 13:15-13:00
MotoGP :: Race :: 15:00-15:00


Oh, and if you click on the picture at the top of this post, you can download it as a 1280x1024 desktop wallpaper. How lovely, smashing and generous are we????