MotoGP: Another strong weekend for Aprilia and Bautista

The Gresini Aprilia Racing squad have had another strong weekend in Sepang, matching their best-ever finish since their return to the championship when Alvaro Bautista took seventh in Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

Making the most of the damp conditions, the departing Spaniard was left delighted with his result.

“Seventh place is a good result that came at the end of a weekend that was definitely positive. We demonstrated good performance throughout practice, even achieving the best starting position yet with Aprilia. In the race, however, we found conditions that were very different from the rest of the sessions. There was much more water, so the feeling with the bike was not the same.

“I controlled the situation in the first laps, taking care not to make any mistakes and trying to achieve as much as possible. We saw a lot of crashes. The track was anything but easy so, considering the fact that the sensations in the saddle were not the best, we can be satisfied with the result and head to Valencia to finish this season well.”

However, it was a less successful weekend for teammate Stefan Bradl, when his chances of a good result were brought to a halt by an early crash.

“Not an easy weekend for us. Because of the variable weather and having a few new components to test, we were not able to prepare for the race in the best possible way. On top of that, I had the crash, after which I was able to rejoin, but I lost time and positions. I am disappointed. All we can do now is go back home and set our sights on a good result in the last race at Valencia.”