Bautista ends up in the top 10 on the first day of practice at Indy

The Rizla Suzuki rider, Álvaro Bautista, got off to a very good start at the Indianapolis circuit (United States) by securing a fine 9th place, which shows that he is working hard.

Bautista completed 41 laps of the American track setting his best time of 1:42.231 on his penultimate lap, and he is convinced that both he and his Suzuki GSV-R can offer something more this weekend.

Álvaro did everything possible to make the most of the difficult conditions that existed in the first two free practice sessions, with a circuit that had been resurfaced on its inside section which caused many problems for the riders, as it had not yet been tested. Everything improved as the day went on, since there was more rubber on the asphalt each time and the lap times got better. In fact, Álvaro dropped 3 seconds in the afternoon compared to the first free practice.

Bautista will go out again today for the third free practice and qualifying, where he must get the bike ready for Sunday’s race, which will be run over a total of 28 laps, and in which setting the best time will be difficult.

Statements from Álvaro Bautista:

In the afternoon I was able to improve my times because the conditions got better compared to the morning. We still struggle to get the bike turning; in the morning we had no grip because the asphalt was new, and in the afternoon we looked for rear grip.

We changed the setup, but since the asphalt improved and gripped more, we also lost some turning in the corners. Now we know how the asphalt quality changes, so tomorrow we will try another configuration that will allow us to move forward much more.

There is still a lot to do, and for now I am not satisfied. We are ninth, and I know we can be much further up. Let’s see if we continue with the work line of the last few weeks; I think we can get our bike much further up and ready for Sunday.

Source | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP