Photos From Alvaro's MotoGP Test; Day One

We sstayed on after the Valencia GP at the weekend for the testing sessions, where Alvaro made his debut on a MotoGP bike over three days with his new team Suzuki.
There's more pics on our other sites, but enjoy these anyway...

Qatar Test - Day Two - Tuesday

1. Alvaro BAUTISTA APRILIA 2:00.496
2. Hiroshi AOYAMA HONDA 2:00.873
3. Mike DI MEGLIO APRILIA 2:00.946
4. Hector BARBERA APRILIA 2:01.061
5. Karel ABRAHAM APRILIA 2:01.094
6. Raffaele DE ROSA HONDA 2:01.129
7. Thomas LUTHI APRILIA 2:01.152
8. Roberto LOCATELLI GILERA 2:01.203
9. Mattia PASINI APRILIA 2:01.391
10. Ratthapark WILAIROT HONDA 2:01.479
11. Lukas PESEK APRILIA 2:02.026
12. Gabor TALMACSI APRILIA 2:02.207
13. Alex BALDOLINI APRILIA 2:02.249
14. Hector FAUBEL HONDA 2:02.293
15. Shoya TOMIZAWA HONDA 2:02.781
16. Imre TOTH APRILIA 2:03.733
17. Alex DEBON APRILIA 2:03.788
18. Axel PONS APRILIA 2:05.293
19. Vladimir LEONOV APRILIA 2:07.115
20. Aitor RODRIGUEZ APRILIA 2:08.559

Qatar Test - Day One - Alvaro Quotes

2nd - Alvaro Bautista 2.01.121 (58 laps):
"This first day has been a little complicated because the track didn't have much grip and it has taken us a little to get a good rhythm. While we were riding we finally found a solution for the front part of the bike, which really caused us the most problems.
With some small variations we made great improvements, and progressively I've been able to ride more comfortable and the conditions of the track also improved. If we continue this line of work tomorrow then I am convinced that we will improve and I will gain confidence.
Most important thing about today is that little by little I have found some feeling on the Aprilia, although there is still room to improve with the suspensions."

Qatar Test - Day One - Monday

250cc
1.H.Barberá 2.00.545
2.A.Bautista 2.01.121
3.K.Abraham 2.01.406
4.H.Aoyama 2.01.685
5.T.Luthi 2.02.805
6.R.Locatelli 2.02.252
7.G.Talmacsi 2.02.279
8.A.Debon 2.02.442
9.M.di Meglio 2.02.469
10.L.Pesek 2.02.575
11.R.Wilairot 2.02.580
12.R.de Rosa 2.03.522
13.M.Pasini 2.03.708
14.H.Faubel 2.03.959
15.A.Baldolini 2.04.410
16.I.Toth 2.04.889
17.S.Tomizawa 2.05.051
18.A.Pons 2.06.151
19.A.Rodríguez 2.12.536

Jerez Test Times - Day Three - 27/03/09

Session 1

1 Alvaro BAUTISTA MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 1:43.205 -
2 Hector BARBERA PEPE WORLD TEAM 1:43.306 +0.101
3 Alex DEBON AEROPUERTO-CASTELLO-BLUSENS 1:43.397 +0.192
4 Marco SIMONCELLI METIS GILERA 1:43.417 +0.212
5 Roberto LOCATELLI METIS GILERA 1:43.702 +0.497
6 Hiroshi AOYAMA SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc 1:43.793 +0.588
7 Mattia PASINI TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:43.877 +0.672
8 Gabor TALMACSI BALATON RACING TEAM 250cc 1:43.954 +0.749
9 Mike DI MEGLIO MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 250cc 1:43.985 +0.780
10 Ratthapark WILAIROT THAI HONDA PTT SAG 1:43.995 +0.790
11 Karel ABRAHAM CARDION AB MOTORACING 1:44.012 +0.807
12 Thomas LUTHI EMMI - CAFFE LATTE 1:44.160 +0.955
13 Hector FAUBEL HONDA SAG 1:44.254 +1.049
14 Alex BALDOLINI WTR SAN MARINO TEAM 1:44.359 +1.154
15 Lukas PESEK AUTO KELLY - CP 1:44.421 +1.216
16 Jules CLUZEL MATTEONI RACING 1:44.746 +1.541
17 Raffaele DE ROSA SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc 1:44.816 +1.611
18 Imre TOTH TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:45.355 +2.150
19 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP MOTO-GP250 1:46.269 +3.064
20 Bastien CHESAUX RACING TEAM GERMANY 1:47.379 +4.174
21 Vladimir LEONOV VIESSMANN KIEFER RACING 1:48.138 +4.933
22 Axel PONS PEPE WORLD TEAM 1:48.295 +5.090


Session 2

1 Marco SIMONCELLI METIS GILERA 1:42.477 -
2 Alvaro BAUTISTA MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 1:42.674 +0.197
3 Jules CLUZEL MATTEONI RACING 1:43.078 +0.601
4 Alex DEBON AEROPUERTO-CASTELLO-BLUSENS 1:43.189 +0.712
5 Hiroshi AOYAMA SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc 1:43.244 +0.767
6 Roberto LOCATELLI METIS GILERA 1:43.425 +0.948
7 Gabor TALMACSI BALATON RACING TEAM 250cc 1:43.470 +0.993
8 Thomas LUTHI EMMI - CAFFE LATTE 1:43.611 +1.134
9 Karel ABRAHAM CARDION AB MOTORACING 1:43.658 +1.181
10 Ratthapark WILAIROT THAI HONDA PTT SAG 1:43.744 +1.267
11 Lukas PESEK AUTO KELLY - CP 1:43.837 +1.360
12 Mike DI MEGLIO MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 250cc 1:43.847 +1.370
13 Mattia PASINI TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:43.912 +1.435
14 Raffaele DE ROSA SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc 1:43.926 +1.449
15 Alex BALDOLINI WTR SAN MARINO TEAM 1:43.928 +1.451
16 Hector FAUBEL THAI HONDA PTT SAG 1:43.982 +1.505
17 Imre TOTH TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:45.994 +3.517
18 Axel PONS PEPE WORLD TEAM 1:46.767 +4.290
19 Bastien CHESAUX RACING TEAM GERMANY 1:47.233 +4.756

Jerez Test Times - Day Two - 26/03/09

1.Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia), 1.43.068
2.Héctor Barberá (Aprilia), 1.43.093
3.Marco Simoncelli (Gilera), 1.43.196
4.Mike Di Meglio (Aprilia), 1.43.358
5.Lukas Pesek (Aprilia), 1.43.467
6.Gabor Talmacsi (Aprilia), 1.43.515
7.Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda), 1.43.545
8.Roberto Locatelli (Gilera), 1.43.749
9.Alex Debón (Aprilia), 1.43.819
10.Rattapark Wilairot (Honda), 1.43.951

Some Pics From Jerez Day One

Jerez Test Times - Day One - 25/03/09

1. Héctor Barberá – Aprilia – 1.43.156
2. Marco Simoncelli – Gilera – 1.43.438
3. Alvaro Bautista – Aprilia 1.43.596
4. Ratthapark Wilairot – Honda – 1.43.785
5. Gabor Talmacsi – Aprilia – 1.44.005
6. Hiroshi Aoyama – Honda – 1.44.127
7. Thomas Luthi – Aprilia – 1.44.199
8. Mike Di Meglio – Aprilia – 1.44.273
9. Héctor Faubel – Honda – 1.44.644
10. Roberto Locatelli – Gilera – 1.44.821
16.Alex Debón – Aprilia – 1.46.154
20.Axel Pons – Aprilia – 1.49.114

Estoril Test - Day Two - 16/03/09

1. Hector Barberá (Aprilia) 1.41,113
2. Álvaro Bautista (Aprilia) 1.41,119
3. Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) 1.41,139
4. Gabor Talmacsi (Aprilia) 1.41,636
5. Mike Di Meglio (Aprilia) 1.41,703
6. Alex Debon (Aprilia) 1.41,851
7. Ratthapark Wilairot (Honda) 1.41,980
8. Roberto Locatelli (Gilera) 1.42,000
9. Lukas Pesek (Aprilia) 1.42,027
10.Tom Luthi (Aprilia) 1.42,298

Estoril Test - Day One - 15/03/09

1. Marco Simoncelli (Gilera), 1.41,282
2. Hector Barbera (Aprilia), a 0,017
3. Mike Di Meglio (Aprilia), a 0,730
4. Alex debon (Aprilia), a 1,387
5. Gabor Talmacsi (Aprilia), a 1,522
6. Roberto Locatelli (Gilera), a 1,526
7. Lucas Pesek (Aprilia), a 1,669
8. Thomas Lüthi (Aprilia), a 1,697
9. Karel Abraham (Aprilia), a 2,084
10. Álvaro Bautista (Aprilia), a 2,405

Alvaro's times (over some 65 laps) are not going to be particularly indicative at this stage; not only was he apparently taking things pretty gently on his collarbone, but also there are reports of his transponder not working much of the time either.

Alvaro Recovering From Surgery On Collarbone

Although I´m still abroad and on holiday I had to post up a quick note to cover the fact that Alvaro has had surgery to fix a broken collarbone following a crash in testing at the weekend.
As always the best thing to do to get all the latest news updates and comment is to go over to the BatiFans.com fan forum where it is being covered in out topic on the Valencia Test.

All that remains for me to say for now is thanks to Miguel for sending me on the news, and of course best wishes to Bati himself for a speedy recovery.
Get well soon Alvaro - Abrazos :-)

gb

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...

Bati Happy With Estoril Test

Alvaro continued testing at Estoril on Monday, following his victory on the Sunday.
The tests were primarily to assess Dunlops ahead of the forthcoming Chinese GP on May 4th.
Alvaro did 38 laps with a best time of 1:41.20 - and here's what he said...

"We tested three front compounds and another rear compound. The rear gave us plenty of grip but we will continue to work on its durability.
The findings have been very positive and should help Dunlop with further improvements.
It has been a very complete weekend, because apart from the test we finished the race with the best possible result, which has motivated us a lot. In any case, our ambition is always to work towards each race, making more small improvements..."

Qatar Testing - 250cc: Day Three

DAY THREE - 250cc

1. Mattia Pasini (Aprilia) 1.59.761
2. Hector Barbera (Aprilia) 2.00.163
3. Thomas Luthi (Aprilia) 2.00.229
4. Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) 2.00.274
5. Alex Debon (Aprilia) 2.00.444
6. Hiroshi Aoyama (KTM) 2.00.551
7. Mika Kallio (KTM) 2.00.595
8. Roberto Locatelli (Gilera) 2.00.606
10. Julian Simon (KTM) 2.00.974
11. Karel Abraham (Aprilia) 2.00.984
12. Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) 2.01.011
13. Lukas Pesek (Aprilia) 2.01.167
14. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) 2.01.270
15. Hector Faubel (Aprilia) 2.01.607
16. Alex Baldolini (Aprilia) 2.01.669
17. Manuel Poggiali (Gilera) 2.01.670
18. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) 2.01.900
19. Yuki Takahashi (Honda) 2.01.950
20. Fabrizio Lai (Gilera) 2.02.166
21. Ratthapark Wilairot (Honda) 2.02.373
22. Imre Toth (Aprilia) 2.03.128
23. Russel Gomez (Aprilia) 2.04.388
24. Doni Pradita (Yamaha) 2.05.567

And with Alvaro speaking in quotes about hopefully having "something extra" left, it's all pointing towards a very exciting season-opener don't you reckon?

250cc Tests - Qatar - Day Two

250cc - DAY TWO

1. Mattia Pasini (Aprilia) – 1.59.761
2. Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) – 2.00.516
3. Hector Barbera (Aprilia) – 2.00.719
4. Thomas Luthi (Aprilia) – 2.01.156
5. Aleix Espargarò (Aprilia) – 2.01.270
6. Hiroshi Aoyama (KTM) – 2.01.275
7. Alex Debon (Aprilia) – 2.01.367
8. Manuel Poggiali (Gilera) – 2.01.670
9. Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) – 2.01.680
10. Roberto Locatelli (Gilera) – 2.01.717
11. Hector Faubel (Aprilia) – 2.01.798
12. Julian Simon (KTM) – 2.01.824
13. Lukas Pesek (Aprilia) – 2.01.825
14. Mika Kallio (KTM) – 2.01.836
15. Karel Abraham (Aprilia) – 2.01.865
16. Yuki Takahashi (Honda) – 2.01.956
17. Fabrizio Lai (Gilera) – 2.02.166
18. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) – 2.02.713
19. Alex Baldolini (Aprilia) – 2.03.073
20. Imre Toth (Aprilia) – 2.03.128
21. Ratthapark Wilairot (Honda) – 2.03.568
22. Russell Gomez (Aprilia) – 2.05.062
23. Doni Tata Pradita (Yamaha) – 2.07.607

Jerez testing - 21/02/08 - Looking Good :)

Very encouraging time and position on day three...

1. Thomas Luthi – Aprilia – 1.43.208
2. Marco Simoncelli – Gilera – 1. 43.209
3. Alvaro Bautista – Aprilia – 1. 43.601
4. Julian Simon – KTM – 1. 43.802
5. Mika Kallio – KTM – 1. 43.859
6. Hiroshi Aoyama – KTM – 1. 43.869
7. Hector Faubel – Aprilia – 1. 44.183
8. Yuki Takahashi – Honda – 1. 44.333
9. Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia – 1. 44.373
10. Lukas Pesek – Aprilia – 1. 44.405
11. Mattia Pasini – Aprilia – 1. 44.626
12. Hector Barbera – Aprilia – 1. 44.777
13. Fabrizio Lai – Gilera – 1. 44.882
14. Karel Abraham – Aprilia – 1. 44.909
15. Alex Baldolini – Aprilia – 1. 44.977
16. Manuel Poggiali – Gilera – 1. 45.761
17. Alex Debon – Aprilia – 1. 46.046
18. Eugene Laverty – Aprilia – 1. 46.089
19. Russel Gomez – Aprilia – 1. 46.432
20. Ratthapark Wilairot – Honda – 1. 46.984
21. Doni Pradita – Yamaha – 1.49.900

Jerez testing - 20/02/08

DAY TWO...

1. Marco Simoncelli – Gilera – 1.44.602
2. Thomas Luthi – Aprilia – 1. 44.829
3. Hiroshi Aoyama – KTM – 1. 45.207
4. Alvaro Bautista – Aprilia – 1. 45.374
5. Mika Kallio – KTM – 1. 45.664
6. Julian Simon – KTM – 1. 46.068
7. Yuki Takahashi – Honda – 1. 46.118
8. Hector Faubel – Aprilia – 1. 46.183
9. Karel Abraham – Aprilia – 1. 46.246
10. Alex Debon – Aprilia – 1. 46.287
11. Lukas Pesek – Aprilia – 1. 46.374
12. Mattia Pasini – Aprilia – 1. 46.506
13. Alex Baldolini – Aprilia – 1. 46.743
14. Manuel Poggiali – Gilera – 1. 47.337
15. Eugene Laverty – Aprilia – 1. 47.364
16. Imre Toth – Aprilia – 1. 47.619
17. Hector Barbera – Aprilia – 1. 48.005
18. Fabrizio Lai – Gilera – 1. 48.449
19. Ratthapark Wilairot – Honda – 1. 49.079
20. Russel Gomez – Aprilia – 1.49.900
21. Doni Pradita – Yamaha – 1.50.031

Jerez testing - 19/02/08

Some rain today on the first of 3 days testing, but a little bit of running...

1. Mika Kallio (KTM) – 1’46”369 (12 giri)
2. Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) – 1’46”881 (10)
3. Hiroshi Aoyama (KTM) – 1’47”281 (14)
4. Julian Simon (KTM) – 1’47”296 (19)
5. Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) – 1’47”487 (12)
6. Imre Toth (Aprilia) – 1’48”339 (13)
7. Yuki Takahashi (Honda) – 1’48”605 (14)
8. Ratthapark Wilairot (Honda) – 1’49”027 (17)
9. Lukas Pesek (Aprilia) – 1’49”374 (9)
10. Karel Abraham (Aprilia) – 1’49”692 (13)
11. Hector Barbera (Aprilia) – 1’49”780 (23)
11. Mattia Pasini (Aprilia) – 1’49”840 (16)
12. Hector Faubel (Aprilia) – 1’50”156 (12)
13. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) – 1’50”773 (13)
14. Manuel Poggiali (Gilera) 1’51”288 (5)
15. Russel Gomez (Aprilia) – 1’52”844 (13)
16. Doni Tata Pradita (Yamaha) – 1’53”359 (14)

Quotes from Alvaro - Valencia Test

A few words from Bati following the Valencia testing at Cheste, courtesy of DailyMotos - and trasnlated with the help of Babelfish which kept insisting on translating Jerez as 'sherry'... ;)
"After three days in Jerez and three days here it is necessary to rest a little now. Here we have proven several things and mainly we have seen where it is possible to be improved further and that is very important. We have worked hard here but the feeling has not been as good as in Jerez although I go away satisfied... "

The overall tone of their piece was that things were basically going pretty well - and despite the odd note about not being as good as Jerez, it's nice to hear Bati sounding reasonably happy with things :)

Valencia Tests: Jan 29-31 2008: Day 3

DAY 3 (31/01/08)
250cc
--------------------------------------------------
1 Álex Debón Aprilia 1.35.537 28 laps
2 Mika Kallio KTM 1.35.556 32 laps
3 Julián Simón KTM 1.35.861 48 laps
4 Álvaro Bautista Aprilia 1.36.135 35 laps
5 Héctor Faubel Aprilia 1.36.145 36 laps
6 Héctor Barbera Aprilia 1.36.158 25 laps
7 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia 1.36.214 54 laps
8 Mattia Pasini Aprilia 1.36.383 63 laps
9 Roberto Locatelli Gilera 1.36.579 59 laps
10 Marco Simoncelli Gilera 1.36.635 34 laps
11 Alex Baldolini Aprilia 1.37.154 30 laps
12 Lukas Pesek Aprilia 1.37.288 32 laps
13 Fabrizio Lai Aprilia 1.38.026 49 laps
14 Eugene Laverty Aprilia 1.38.318 39 laps
15 Imre Toth Aprilia 1.38.875 29 laps
16 Doni Pradita Yamaha 1.39.066 41 laps
17 Russel Gómez Aprilia 1.39.621 49 laps
18 Hiroshi Aoyama KTM
19 Federico Sandi Aprilia
18 Karel Abraham Aprilia
--------------------------------------------------