Alvaro Quotes: Estoril, Sunday

"The weekend was going pretty well; we'd done a good job and I was feeling comfortable on the bike. I had a good start and was up at the front, with the idea being not to push too hard and to preserve the tyres. This morning we had experienced some tyre wear issues. My goal was to keep calm at the start and then push on later in the race, and things were going perfectly when I was up front and Aoyama was not progressing.
The problem came when I had an engine issue and had my rear wheel jammed on the back straight -I couldn't do anything. The title seems a big ask now after this setback, we will need a little bit of luck, but I have nothing to lose and can go all-out in the final races to at least say that we gave it our best shot and left nothing behind."

Portuguese GP: 250cc Race Result

CLASSIFIED:

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 44m04.298s
2. Mike Di Meglio Aprilia + 5.317s
3. Hector Barbera Aprilia + 5.317s
4. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda + 12.024s
5. Jules Cluzel Aprilia + 14.349s
6. R.Wilairot Honda + 18.256s
7. Thomas Luthi Aprilia + 27.631s
8. Mattia Pasini Aprilia + 34.667s
9. Alex Debon Aprilia + 45.410s
10. Karel Abraham Aprilia + 45.891s
11. Lukas Pesek Aprilia + 46.204s
12. Shuhei Aoyama Honda + 57.641s
13. Valentin Debise Honda +1m21.309s
14. Alex Baldolini Aprilia +1m35.277s
15. Axel Pons Aprilia + 1 lap
16. Balazs Nemeth Aprilia + 1 lap
17. Bastien Chesaux Aprilia + 1 lap
18. Imre Toth Aprilia + 1 lap
19. C.Moretti Aprilia + 2 laps


NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

Rider | Bike | Laps
Vladimir Leonov Aprilia 24
Shoya Tomizawa Honda 12
R.Locatelli Gilera 9
Raffaele De Rosa Honda 7
Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 4
Hector Faubel Honda 4

FASTEST LAP: Simoncelli, 1m40.863s on lap 17

Portuguese GP: Alvaro's Post-Quali Quotes

"It has been a long time since we've been on the front row and since we showed good pace in practice so I think we needed this. When you qualify up front you know you have the pace, you have good references and everything is more 'easy', so to speak. I'm happy to be on the front row but more for the fact that I feel comfortable and I'm riding the Aprilia how I want to, with a good set-up for the race.
We have been strong and made progress all weekend so I think we're in the right shape for a good race tomorrow, especially because this is a circuit that has brought us luck for the past three seasons so I hope that run continues tomorrow. I want to fight to win with everything I have. Unfortunately I ran into traffic at the end of the session and the three final laps were pretty much wasted but the important thing is the feeling I have with the bike, my confidence and my pace."

Portuguese GP: Bautista Second In Qualifying

Pos | Rider | Team | Lap time | Gap
1 Hector BARBERA Pepe World Team 1′40.596
2 Alvaro BAUTISTA Mapfre Aspar Team 1′40.654 0.058
3 Marco SIMONCELLI Metis Gilera 1′40.684 0.088
4 Hiroshi AOYAMA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1′40.879 0.283
5 Alex DEBON Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens 1′41.008 0.412
6 Raffaele DE ROSA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1′41.169 0.573
7 Mattia PASINI Team Globalgest 1′41.182 0.586
8 Ratthapark WILAIROT Thai Honda PTT SAG 1′41.190 0.594
9 Jules CLUZEL Matteoni Racing 1′41.205 0.609
10 Mike DI MEGLIO Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc 1′41.353 0.757
11 Hector FAUBEL Honda SAG 1′41.537 0.941
12 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1′41.728 1.132
13 Thomas LUTHI Emmi – Caffe Latte 1′41.764 1.168
14 Roberto LOCATELLI Metis Gilera 1′41.794 1.198
15 Shuhei AOYAMA Racing Team Germany 1′42.194 1.598
16 Alex BALDOLINI WTR San Marino Team 1′42.312 1.716
17 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP Moto – GP250 1′42.348 1.752
18 Lukas PESEK Auto Kelly – CP 1′42.659 2.063
19 Valentin DEBISE CIP Moto – GP250 1′43.427 2.831
20 Axel PONS Pepe World Team 1′43.445 2.849
21 Balazs NEMETH Balatonring Team 1′44.305 3.709
22 Vladimir LEONOV Viessmann Kiefer Racing 1′44.583 3.987
23 Bastien CHESAUX Matteoni Racing 1′45.605 5.009

Out of limit time
88 Christopher MORETTI ITA Matteoni Racing Aprilia
10 Imre TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia Aprilia

Alvaro Quotes: Estoril, Friday

"I'm pretty happy with everything, I just couldn't get a fast lap in during the last fifteen minutes because I kept getting held up by slower riders. It's annoying because we could have set a better lap time but at least we have an idea what our ideal setting is. We started out with the base from 2007, when the race took place at more or less the same time of year, and we don't want to make too many drastic changes to it because it works.
Apart from Barberá, the rest of us are pretty close and there is still a lot of time to get laps in and prepare for the race, so I feel calm - the track isn't even in perfect shape yet so there's no need to worry about our position at this stage. My objective is to have as much fun in the race as possible and cut back the gap to Aoyama."

Friday Practice Times, Estoril

Pos | Rider | Team | Lap time | Gap
1 Hector BARBERA Pepe World Team 1′40.777
2 Alex DEBON Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens 1′41.327 0.550
3 Mike DI MEGLIO Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc 1′41.483 0.706
4 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1′41.721 0.944
5 Marco SIMONCELLI Metis Gilera 1′41.729 0.952
6 Alvaro BAUTISTA Mapfre Aspar Team 1′41.750 0.973
7 Hector FAUBEL Honda SAG 1′41.780 1.003
8 Raffaele DE ROSA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1′41.890 1.113
9 Roberto LOCATELLI Metis Gilera 1′42.104 1.327
10 Hiroshi AOYAMA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1′42.135 1.358
11 Ratthapark WILAIROT Thai Honda PTT SAG 1′42.346 1.569
12 Thomas LUTHI Emmi – Caffe Latte 1′42.695 1.918
13 Lukas PESEK Auto Kelly – CP 1′42.778 2.001
14 Alex BALDOLINI WTR San Marino Team 1′42.923 2.146
15 Jules CLUZEL Matteoni Racing 1′43.049 2.272
16 Shuhei AOYAMA Racing Team Germany 1′44.273 3.496
17 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP Moto – GP250 1′44.487 3.710
18 Valentin DEBISE CIP Moto – GP250 1′44.871 4.094
19 Balazs NEMETH Balatonring Team 1′45.439 4.662
20 Axel PONS Pepe World Team 1′45.603 4.826
21 Vladimir LEONOV Viessmann Kiefer Racing 1′46.204 5.427
22 Imre TOTH Team Toth Aprilia 1′46.344 5.567

Not classified
75 Mattia PASINI ITA Team Toth Aprilia Aprilia Lap

Out of limit time
8 Bastien CHESAUX SWI Matteoni Racing Aprilia
88 Christopher MORETTI ITA Matteoni Racing Aprilia

Portuguese GP: BBC & Eurosport TV Schedule

BBC

Saturday 3 October
Qualifying - 1250-1600, BBC Red Button/online

Sunday 4 October
250cc race - 1105-1205, BBC Red Button/online
MotoGP Race - 1230-1400, BBC Two/online
MotoGP Extra - 1400-1430, BBC Red Button/online
125cc race - 1430-1530, BBC Red Button/online

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

EUROSPORT 2

Friday 2 October
1240 – 1615 Live Free Practice 125cc, MotoGP, 250cc Live

Saturday 3 October
1300 – 1600 Live Qualifying 125cc, MotoGP, 250cc Live

Sunday 4 October
1100    250cc Race Live
1430    125cc Race Live
15.45   MotoGP Action (delayed)

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

Portuguese GP: Event Schedule

Friday 2 October

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

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

Saturday 3 October

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 4 October

09.00 – 09.20              250cc Warm Up
09.30 – 09.50              MotoGP Warm Up
10.00 – 10.20              125cc Warm Up
 
11.15                           250cc RACE (26 laps)
13.00                           MotoGP RACE (28 laps)
14.00                           125cc RACE (23 laps)

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

Alvaro Looks Ahead To Estoril

"Estoril isn't one of my favourite circuits but I have won there for the last three years so you could say it is our talisman track. Hopefully luck is on our side again this year so that we can fight for the victory once more. I've done a bit of everything over the last three weeks, mainly training hard to make sure I'm fit and ready for this final sprint to the end of the season. I had a week off relaxing in Mallorca and it was nice to get a total break from racing.
It has been a positive thing to have a month off to focus on these last four races and get over all the fuss that came on the back of the announcement about my future. It has also been good to have a month of training and I think I'm in the right shape to finish the season at full power. Estoril is a circuit with a lot of hard braking, where you need good acceleration to get out of the corners well, and in some areas it will favour the Honda whilst in others - like the long straight - it will be better for the Aprilia. It will be difficult to win but that won't stop us from trying."

More Quotes From Alvaro At Estoril

(*with thanks to Pringle for the translation, here's some fuller words from Bati...)

“Estoril is like racing at home, I have won three consecutive times here, but this is the most important victory for me. In the last races we have had very bad luck, we always worked well but one reason or another, we could never get the desired result. As much for me, as for my team, this result gives us a very important touch of morale, because finally we have been able to finish the weekend with a victory. I needed a good result to convince myself that we could stay on top. Today’s race was a bit difficult, because the track conditions were different to those at the practices. Overnight it rained and so there were some parts partially damp and the grip wasn’t the same.

It wasn’t easy but when I started, I took the reference points well and in the first turn for the finish I was in the lead. I had to be cautious, but from the third lap I got in my rhythm and I distanced myself quite from Simoncelli. After a few laps, it started to rain in the chicane, and because of this I lowered the rhythm, as the gap to Marco was already large and I didn’t want to make any errors. I didn’t want to think of the bad results, here I started like in any other race, only today I had the luck that nothing went wrong. Now I only think of keeping this up and winning races. This result gives us much confidence for the next Grand Prix.”

Alvaro's Post-Race Quotes; Estoril

Here's a few words form Bati in the post-race press conference after securing his brilliant victory today in Portugal...

"It's a special track for me. I've won here for the last three years, but this victory is very special because of the bad luck I had in the past two races this season. And I'm happy to win here in Estoril, because a lot of my fans are here.
The race was difficult because of the track conditions, which weren't perfect. I tried to get a good race pace, then saw that I'd made a gap and was able to cross the line first."

Bautista Takes Dominant Win In Portugal

A great and dominant victory for Alvaro Bautista at Estoril, and a very much needed - and indeed - deserved lift after his problematic start to the 2008 season.
More info, pics and quotes to come, but for now here's the results...

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 44:34.257
2. Marco Simoncelli Gilera + 7.050
3. Mika Kallio KTM + 7.063
4. Thomas Luthi Aprilia + 12.998
5. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM + 14.666
6. Yuki Takahashi Honda + 18.498
7. Julian Simon KTM + 26.812
8. Hector Barbera Aprilia + 28.012
9. Hector Faubel Aprilia + 28.288
10. Lukas Pesek Aprilia + 36.966
11. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia + 38.296
12. Alex Baldolini Aprilia + 52.070
13. R.Wilairot Honda + 1:13.303
14. Federico Sandi Aprilia + 1:17.592
15. Eugene Laverty Aprilia + 1:21.363
16. Karel Abraham Aprilia + 1:26.355
17. Manuel Poggiali Gilera + 1:27.438
18. Imre Toth Aprilia + 1 lap
19. D.T.Pradita Yamaha + 1 lap

Portuguese GP - Event Schedule

(*Source - Autosport)

Friday April 11th
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 April 12th
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 April 13th
250cc Warm-Up :: 08:55-09:15
MotoGP Warm-Up :: 09:25-09:50
125cc Warm-Up :: 10:00-10:20
250cc Race :: 11:15
MotoGP Race :: 13:00
125cc Race :: 14:30

(*All times local)

AlvaroBautista.co.uk Gets TV Plug On Eurosport

Sunday really was a good day for us... Not only did Bati take Estoril by storm with a gobsmacking win in the MotoGP 250cc race, but Eurosport actually ended up namechecking our website.
In post race comments by the smashing Toby Moody and Julian Ryder, they were talking about how wide-ranging support for Alvaro Bautista is, and were talking about what a good reception he’d got at Donington.
Then Toby Moody (I think it was Toby Moody - I did go a little bit freaky for a second...) announced that there was now AlvaroBautista.co.uk for English speaking fans.

Whether he assumed that we were actually an ‘official’ site, or whether he had simply judged it to be a good site for Bati fans, I have no idea - but it was an excellent and unexpected moment. We exist for other fans and to have people of that calibre pointing them our way is brilliant.

Many thanks to our favourite commentators :)
We’ve mentioned you before on this blog (and on the BatiFans.com Fan Forum) but now you have truly entered our Hall of Fame!

Estoril Quotes From "Brilliant Bautista"

Yahoo / Eurosport refers to "Brilliant Bautista" - saying that his victory today in Portugal was as good as the one that saw him win the 125cc race at the same circuit by 15 seconds a year ago.
Today's race saw the 22-year-old Spaniard carve his way through the field relentlessly to pass Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo at mid-distance.

"I started worse, no, more than worse, and I tried to push as hard as I could," said Bautista.
"When I passed a few I saw the podium near, but then when I was third I thought I must push some more because I saw Lorenzo and Dovizioso were not so far ahead.
"I tried to push more than 100 per cent to keep the distance and I'm just so happy to win this race. We've worked very hard in the team and this is for them."

Alvaro Bautista Takes Brilliant Second 250 Win At Estoril

After a mediocre start - dropping from 6th to 12 in the first lap, Alvaro carved through the field in a gobsmacking display of genius and guts to take victory at Estoril today, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo.
Reports, quotes and pics to follow - but for now, Thank You Alvaro for giving us yet another stunning race :)
You are simply awesome!


Race results – Estoril:

1. Bautista (Aprilia)
2. Dovizioso (Honda) +4.367secs
3. Lorenzo (Aprilia) +6.148secs
4. Luthi (Aprilia) +12.685secs
5. Barbera (Aprilia) +13.411secs
6. de Angelis (Aprilia) +13.440secs
7. Simoncelli (Gilera) +13.322secs
8. Simon (Honda) +13.634secs
9. Lai (Aprilia) +1min 12.253secs
10. Abraham (Aprilia) +1min 12.319secs