San Marino GP - Alvaro's Friday Quotes

"With the exception of Héctor, who had a great session today, everybody else we pretty close. The track was obviously slower today than it was last year because the pace in all three classes wasn't as fast. We have worked well using last year's set-up and I felt more or less comfortable throughout, apart from in a couple of corners in the final sector. We can't afford to back off and we have to squeeze the most out of every session to prepare for the race. We have a full day tomorrow and we need to fight to improve at all cost. I did a practice start today and if I get chance I'll do one at the end of each session to make sure I'm ready for Sunday."

San Marino, Friday Practice - Alvaro 4th

Pos | Rider | Team | Lap time | Gap

1 Hector BARBERA Pepe World Team 1′39.212
2 Mattia PASINI Team Toth Aprilia 1′39.684 0.472
3 Hiroshi AOYAMA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1′40.048 0.836
4 Alvaro BAUTISTA Mapfre Aspar Team 1′40.189 0.977
5 Mike DI MEGLIO Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc 1′40.262 1.050
6 Hector FAUBEL Honda SAG 1′40.790 1.578
7 Marco SIMONCELLI Metis Gilera 1′40.851 1.639
8 Alex DEBON Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens 1′41.071 1.859
9 Jules CLUZEL Matteoni Racing 1′41.097 1.885
10 Ratthapark WILAIROT Thai Honda PTT SAG 1′41.106 1.894
11 Roberto LOCATELLI Metis Gilera 1′41.238 2.026
12 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1′41.490 2.278
13 Thomas LUTHI Emmi – Caffe Latte 1′41.628 2.416
14 Raffaele DE ROSA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1′41.759 2.547
15 Alex BALDOLINI WTR San Marino Team 1′42.090 2.878
16 Lukas PESEK Auto Kelly – CP 1′42.348 3.136
17 Balazs NEMETH Balatonring Team 1′43.242 4.030
18 Valentin DEBISE CIP Moto – GP250 1′43.523 4.311
19 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP Moto – GP250 1′43.714 4.502
20 Imre TOTH Team Toth Aprilia 1′44.351 5.139
21 Axel PONS Pepe World Team 1′44.621 5.409
22 Vladimir LEONOV Viessmann Kiefer Racing 1′44.780 5.568
23 Bastien CHESAUX Racing Team Germany 1′45.079 5.867
24 Aitor RODRIGUEZ Matteoni Racing 1′45.980 6.768

Alvaro Quotes Ahead Of Misano

“We’ve been on the podium at the last four rounds but that doesn’t look like being enough. The championship is very finely balanced, with three riders very close together, and nobody wants to concede any ground. As far as we’re concerned we’ll just have to work even harder because third-place finishes are not going to close the gap. We have five races left and we’re likely to lose points in some but make them up in others – I can see it going that way until the end of the season. The important thing is that we stay in the fight for the championship and give everything we have to make sure we’re still in it by the time we get to the final race at Valencia.”

San Marino GP - TV Schedule

Practice, qualifying and the races will be shown at the following times on British television:


BBC
Saturday 5 September
Qualifying: 1150-1500, BBC Red Button/online

Sunday 6 September
125 and 250cc race: 0950-1205, BBC Red Button/online

MotoGP Race: 1230-1400, BBC Two/online
MotoGP Extra: 1400-1430, BBC Red Button/online


EUROSPORT 2

Friday 4 September
1140 – 1515: Live Free Practice 125cc, MotoGP, 250cc Live

Saturday 5 September
1200 – 1500: Live Qualifying 125cc, MotoGP, 250cc Live

Sunday 6 September
0945: 125cc race live
1115: 250cc race live
1530 : MotoGP race (delayed)

San Marino GP - Event Schedule

Friday 4 September

12.40 – 13.40 125cc Free Practice 1
13.55 – 14.55 MotoGP Free Practice 1
15.10 – 16.10 250cc Practice 1


Saturday 5 September
09.00 – 09.40 125cc Free Practice 2
09.55 – 10.55 MotoGP Free Practice 2
11.10 – 12.10 250cc Free Practice 2
13.00 – 13.40 125cc Qualifying
13.55 – 14.55 MotoGP Qualifying
15.10 – 15.55 250cc Qualifying


Sunday 6 September
08.40 – 09.00 125cc Warm Up
09.10 – 09.30 250cc Warm Up
09.40 – 10.00 MotoGP Warm Up

11.00 125cc RACE (23 laps)
12.15 250cc RACE (26 laps)
14.00 MotoGP RACE (28 laps)

Alvaro - Post Race Quotes; Misano

"Alongside my mechanics and Aprilia we found a really good setting in the warmup, and I was very excited about the race. The only setback was the fact that I was starting from far back and the race was shaping up to be difficult. With the high temperatures the physical effort involved was enormous. In the end I tried to catch up with the leading group, and they were bothering each other so much that I was able to do it. At the end of the race Hector and Marco touched and that allowed me to reach the line more comfortably. I'm really happy because the result takes us closer to the top of the standings, and because this weekend looked to be a difficult one. I would also like to dedicate this victory to the victims of the recent Spanish air disaster."

Bati Takes Superb Win At Thrilling Misano Race

For the second race in succession Alvaro’s gone and reminded us why we love and support him, with a phenomenal run at Misano which saw him move from 11th on the grid to 6th on lap one and to an eventual win.
Stonking stuff really; full-on gutsy riding, totally unfazed by all the Simoncelli / Barbera nonsense going on around him - and the pure balls-out riding style to carve through the field and the calm clarity to not get involved in any reckless moves taking him to a thoroughly deserved and spectacular victory.
Both Kallio and Simoncelli did themselves no favours in the overall championship standings through their performances, with Alvaro now moving up to third with a nicely reduced points margin (Simoncelli leads with 190 to Kallio's 164 and Bati's 163).

Here’s the results in full...


CLASSIFIED:

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 43:15.831
2. Yuki Takahashi Honda + 2.088
3. Hector Barbera Aprilia + 3.752
4. R.Locatelli Gilera + 7.472
5. Julian Simon KTM + 10.862
6. Marco Simoncelli Gilera + 21.180
7. Thomas Luthi Aprilia + 29.440
8. R.Wilairot Honda + 33.882
9. Lukas Pesek Aprilia + 35.051
10. Karel Abraham Aprilia + 45.405
11. Fabrizio Lai Gilera + 47.260
12. Federico Sandi Aprilia +1:10.664
13. Manuel Hernandez Aprilia +1:10.882
14. Toni Wirsing Honda +1:33.332
15. S.G.Giorgi Gilera + 1 Lap
16. D.T.Pradita Yamaha + 1 Lap


NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

Rider | Bike | Laps
Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 19
Eugene Laverty Aprilia 14
Imre Toth Aprilia 12
Mattia Pasini Aprilia 11
Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 3
Mika Kallio KTM 3
Hector Faubel Aprilia 2
Alex Debon Aprilia 2
Alex Baldolini Aprilia 1

Quote from Alvaro; post-qualifying San Marino GP, Misano

"I'm struggling to find a set-up that allows me to have fun on the Aprilia. I'm lacking confidence on the way into the corners. We've improved today but we're still a long way off a good feeling. We'll see what we can do with the engineers tonight and try to take a step forward in the warm-up. I'm not happy with this result but we just have to work harder - especially at a time when things are tricky. It's going to be tough to stay with the lead group if the pace is high but we'll give 100% to try and catch them and never give up."

San Marino GP - Misano - 250cc Grid

Sorry for lack of postings; am away this weekend.
Nonetheless, here's the grid for tomorrow - Bati a troubling, lowly 11th... :(
Still - if anybody knows how to do comebacks... ;)


Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Hector Barbera Aprilia 1:38.047
2. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 1:38.124 + 0.077
3. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1:38.813 + 0.766
4. Yuki Takahashi Honda 1:38.822 + 0.775
5. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 1:38.869 + 0.822
6. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 1:38.961 + 0.914
7. Julian Simon KTM 1:39.009 + 0.962
8. Hector Faubel Aprilia 1:39.058 + 1.011
9. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 1:39.130 + 1.083
10. Mika Kallio KTM 1:39.165 + 1.118
11. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 1:39.217 + 1.170
12. Alex Debon Aprilia 1:39.402 + 1.355
13. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 1:39.749 + 1.702
14. Roberto Locatelli Gilera 1:39.828 + 1.781
15. Ratthapark Wilairot Honda 1:39.875 + 1.828
16. Fabrizio Lai Gilera 1:39.963 + 1.916
17. Eugene Laverty Aprilia 1:40.317 + 2.270
18. Karel Abraham Aprilia 1:40.360 + 2.313
19. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 1:40.732 + 2.685
20. Federico Sandi Aprilia 1:41.205 + 3.158
21. Manuel Hernandez Aprilia 1:41.513 + 3.466
22. Toni Wirsing Honda 1:42.620 + 4.573
23. Simone Grotzki Giorgi Gilera 1:42.756 + 4.709
24. Doni Tata Pradita Yamaha 1:42.992 + 4.945
25. Imre Toth Aprilia 1:43.841 + 5.794
26. Alen Gyorfi Honda 1:46.446 + 8.399

San Marino GP - Misano - Event Schedule

Friday August 29th

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 August 30th

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 August 31st

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: GMT +1)

Quote from Alvaro Ahead Of Misano

“We come to San Marino with a lot of desire and especially after the race in Brno, where we were close to the victory, we will try to win here at all costs. Misano is the track where I tested the Aprilia RSA for the first time last season, so we already have references and that is a very positive aspect.
In 2007 we were fast from the first day on, our intention is to repeat that and to continue improving. We must continue to cut down points and therefore we will have to get out our best weapons. It will be a very difficult task because we are on the home turf of the "enemy", but that doesn't mean we won't try.”

Enemy???? ;)

Alvaro drops the bike but fights back to 8th at Misano

Another learning experience for Bati - a shame really, I was screaming when he went off on lap 10, whilst in 3rd, up from 6th on the grid - a real "Noooooooooo!!!" moment - he was so completely on the case and up for a podium it was immensely frustrating - but he still put in an excellent job to pull back a bunch of places to finish up 8th.
Shame that it could have been another podium though. :(

Still, very good to watch, and I hope he's even more up for it come Estoril...

Here's the final standings for the race:
1. Jorge Lorenzo Aprilia 42:54.427
2. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM + 3.578
3. Hector Barbera Aprilia + 7.041
4. Thomas Luthi Aprilia + 7.213
5. Alex de Angelis Aprilia + 7.664
6. Shuhei Aoyama Honda + 36.234
7. R.Locatelli Gilera + 36.918
8. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia + 36.936
9. Yuki Takahashi Honda + 37.142
10. Julian Simon Honda + 40.293
11. Jules Cluzel Aprilia + 51.72
12. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia + 56.62
13. R.Wilairot Honda +1:00.060
14. Karel Abraham Aprilia +1:01.500
15. Eugene Laverty Honda +1:09.950
16. Efren Vazquez Aprilia +1:10.059
17. Imre Toth Aprilia + 1 lap
18. Omar Menghi Aprilia + 1 lap

That leaves Bati 4th in the overall championship standings.