CZECH GP - Bautista motivated for Czech GP raceday

2018-08-04 07:49
Ángel Nieto Team rider is unable to complete his hot lap in qualifying when battling to break into Q2



Grid positions for the Czech Grand Prix were decided at a scorching Brno on Saturday, with Andrea Dovizioso taking pole position since the 2016 Malaysian GP. The Italian stopped the clock at 1:54.689 on his final attempt at pole, and snatched the top spot from Marc Márquez. The latter will start from third, as he was also bested by Valentino Rossi for second place. Jorge Lorenzo, Cal Crutchlow and Danilo Petrucci make up the second row.

The Ángel Nieto Team and Álvaro Bautista just missed out on a spot in Q2, after the Spaniard crashed on his final attempt at setting a hot lap. He had been running a similar pace to the frontrunners in Q1 at the time. Bautista will start the race from fourteenth, but is motivated after having clocked some quick times this weekend. Karel Abraham has found a better feeling with his bike than on Friday, and on Saturday this was reflected in his lap times. He set a 1:56.964 in the morning practice, but in qualifying he could not better that marker as he crashed on his final stint. The Czech rider will begin his home race from 23rd.



14th Álvaro Bautista 1:56.031: “We wanted to try various things today in order to see if we could improve our feeling, but we didn’t manage to find what we wanted. We weren’t able to ride faster than we had yesterday with these modifications. We didn’t get into Q2 directly and in the end we went back to the setup I liked, leading to me feeling better in FP4 and placing fifth. In qualifying I was making improvements, and I think I could have progressed to Q2, but when you’re riding at the limit these things can happen. I lost the front end, and couldn’t stay up. Luckily I wasn’t hurt. We have a good race pace and we will try to get a good start; I’m confident and motivated for tomorrow.”

23rd Karel Abraham 1:57.217: “I felt better this morning than I did yesterday, and I got a better lap time too -almost the same as my best at this track. I wanted to push a little more in the afternoon, to start from a good position on the grid, but on my second stint I lost the front coming into Turn 5 and crashed. It’s a shame, but I feel that we are close to the limit with the bike, and it isn’t easy.”

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