Alvaro Bautista can’t wait to get back to work.
While most of the MotoGP circus was able to burn off their pre-season jitters with the season opening race in Qatar at the end of last month, Bautista didn’t complete his first lap. A tight pass by fellow countryman Marc Marquez left Bautista’s front brake assembly in pieces, after the Honda factory rider made contact with Bautista’s Aprilia.
The damage to Bautista’s bike meant he had to retire from the race, while Marquez finished fifth, battling his way forward after early mistakes cost him position. Bautista wasn’t happy afterwards, laying the blame squarely at Marquez’s feet, saying the current champ is “too aggressive.” He’s anxious now to return to action.
“It is essential for us to find the right motivation straight away after our disappointment in the first Grand Prix, where I was unable to complete even the first lap of the race, and get back to work with a positive attitude,” he said.
Bautista said the weekend will be an important new test for the Gresini Aprilia bike, as the Qatar pre-race track time left his team with some questions about the machine’s performance.
“I’m anxious to get onto the track in Austin, a track with some hard braking sections and long straight stretches where we’ll be able to check some important things concerning the way the RS-GP performs and continue our development work on the bike,” Bautista said.
Marquez certainly didn’t seem to lose any sleep over the Qatar incident, despite Bautista’s warning that his actions could hurt someone. After that race, he said Bautista was simply unlucky, and now Marquez says he’s “Looking forward to getting to Austin and putting Qatar behind us.”
The question is, will Bautista do the same?
