French GP: Quali 1, 250cc - Alvaro Takes Provisional Pole

Okay it's abuject to Qualy 2 tomorrow, but if the ugly rumours of rain turn out to be true then there's a decent chance Alvaro will retain the pole he provisionally took this afternoon...

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 1:38.479
2. Alex Debon Aprilia 1:38.585 + 0.106
3. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 1:38.679 + 0.200
4. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 1:38.788 + 0.309
5. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 1:38.942 + 0.463
6. Julian Simon KTM 1:39.051 + 0.572
7. Manuel Poggiali Gilera 1:39.064 + 0.585
8. Alex Espargaro Aprilia 1:39.184 + 0.705
9. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 1:39.197 + 0.718
10. Mika Kallio KTM 1:39.360 + 0.881
11. Yuki Takahashi Honda 1:39.446 + 0.967
12. Hector Barbera Aprilia 1:39.544 + 1.065
13. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 1:39.798 + 1.319
14. R.Wilairot Honda 1:39.965 + 1.486
15. R.Locatelli Gilera 1:40.171 + 1.692
16. Hector Faubel Aprilia 1:40.182 + 1.703
17. Fabrizio Lai Gilera 1:40.293 + 1.814
18. Karel Abraham Aprilia 1:40.455 + 1.976
19. Eugene Laverty Aprilia 1:41.056 + 2.577
20. Federico Sandi Aprilia 1:41.200 + 2.721
21. Imre Toth Aprilia 1:41.365 + 2.886
22. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 1:41.626 + 3.147
23. D.T.Pradita Yamaha 1:42.847 + 4.368
24. Russell Gomez Aprilia 1:44.040 + 5.561
25. Chow Ho Wan Aprilia 1:45.918 + 7.439

French Grand Prix - Prac 1 - 250cc

1 Hector Barbera Aprilia 1'39.284
2 Mattia Pasini Aprilia 1'39.376 0.092
3 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 1'39.491 0.207
4 Alex Debon Aprilia 1'39.677 0.393
5 Marco Simoncelli Gilera 1'39.809 0.525
6 Julian Simon KTM 1'39.835 0.551
7 Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 1'39.898 0.614
8 Thomas Luthi Aprilia 1'39.999 0.715
9 R.Wilairot Honda 1'40.011 0.727
10 R.Locatelli Gilera 1'40.012 0.728
11 Karel Abraham Aprilia 1'40.178 0.894
12 Manuel Poggiali Gilera 1'40.332 1.048
13 Mika Kallio KTM 1'40.619 1.335
14 Lukas Pesek Aprilia 1'40.652 1.368
15 Hector Faubel Aprilia 1'40.729 1.445
16 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia 1'40.909 1.625
17 Yuki Takahashi Honda 1'40.982 1.698
18 Fabrizio Lai Gilera 1'41.156 1.872
19 Imre Toth Aprilia 1'41.457 2.173
20 Federico Sandi Aprilia 1'41.997 2.713
21 Eugene Laverty Aprilia 1'42.543 3.259
22 Alex Baldolini Aprilia 1'43.146 3.862
23 D.T.Pradita Yamaha 1'43.343 4.059
24 Russell Gómez Aprilia 1'44.889 5.605
25 Chow Ho Wan Aprilia 1'47.447 8.163

French Grand Prix - Le Mans - Event Schedule

Friday May 16
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 17
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 18
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)

Alvaro Receives "Premio Gredos" Award

If you want to know more about this award (Bati's going to be needing some pretty long shelves for all his trophies and awards soon!) and everything our guy is up to at the moment, click here...

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."

250cc Championship Standings After 4 Rounds

Here, purely for info, is the 250cc standings after the fourth round in Shanghai.
Sadly it's a fairly sobering account of how far ahead Mika currently is, and of the ground Bati needs to make up...

Pos | Rider | Moto | Pts
1 M. Kallio KTM 82
2 M. Pasini Aprilia 61
3 H. Barbera Aprilia 49
4 Y. Takahashi Honda 46
5 H. Aoyama KTM 44
6 A. Bautista Aprilia 39
7 A. Debon Aprilia 34
8 M. Simoncelli Gilera 33
9 A. Espargaro Aprilia 26
10 J. Simon KTM 23

Pic Of The Day: Says It All Really...

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

Random Pic: Chinese GP Pole Sitters

Above: Smiles all round for pole sitters Alvaro Bautista (250cc), Colin Edwards (MotoGP), and Bradley Smith (125cc) - Congratulations guys :)

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

Download The Latest Alvaro Wallpapers Form The Fan Forum

We've got some new, distinctly groovy desktop wallpapers online for you over at the BatiFans.com Fan Forum with some high-impact pics and daft typography.
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