Alvaro Bautista Looking for Front End Improvement at Motegi

This Sunday the Motegi circuit plays host to the first of three races in as many weekends as the MotoGP World Championship prepares for quickfire visits to Japan, Malaysia and Australia. Alvaro Bautista and his team will begin work in earnest this Friday as they look to improve his front-end setting and confidence for the season's final sprint. The Spaniard is determined to get the maximum out of his Honda RC213V and repeat his podium from Misano before the current campaign is out. Michele Pirro travels to Japan with the clear aim of being involved in the battle for CRT honours and as usual there will certainly be no shortage of effort from the rider and his crew. The Grand Prix of Japan is always a very special event for Team San Carlo Honda Gresini and it is a great source of pride to be able to represent Honda at their home circuit, thanks to a very special relationship between Team Gresini and the Japanese factory.

Alvaro Bautista 

“Aragon was something of a difficult weekend thanks largely to the mixed weather. We were never able to work as we wanted to during practice with the new material that Showa brought for us. In qualifying I struggled for feeling on the front, the bike was moving around a lot on the rear and we were unable to solve our problems in time for the race. I would have liked to have been fighting for a similar result to Misano but the bike wasn't in the right shape. I managed to make up positions in the race and improve my pace from practice but no more than that so we have to focus on the positives, which were championship points and important data for Motegi, where will again work hard to fix our set-up problems with the bike. If everything works as we hope then we should be competitive. We have to work a lot on the bike under braking because this is the most important factor at this circuit. Starting off the flyaway triple-header on the right foot will be fundamental, plus we are racing at Honda's home circuit and I would like to offer them a good result as a way of thanking them for all their support throughout the season. I have been competitive at Motegi in the past so I hope to repeat that this weekend. Motegi is a circuit where you need a bike that is stable on the brakes and has good traction in corner exit. It should be well suited to our bike, which has great acceleration.”

Michele Pirro 

“Unfortunately the conditions at Aragon were a disaster and ruined the work we had planned after a fantastic weekend at Misano. It really wasn't easy to try and find a set-up for the bike but in the end we managed to finish the race and pick up an important point which gives us all renewed belief in the project. It promises to be an important finale to the season and we need to try and close the gap down to the top CRTs. At Motegi we'll try to take another step closer. It's a technical track and even though it is not one of my favourites I will try my maximum alongside the guys in the team to fight to be the best CRT and come away with a good result. ”

Fausto Gresini 

“Japan is like a second home for us because we have always had such a great relationship with Honda so as always we are happy and proud to go back there to race. We will try to do our best and figure at the front because we will be closely watched. We also have a close bond with the people of Japan because over the years we have had several Japanese riders race for us and that is another reason I am always happy to go back there. The championship is proving to be a difficult one this year but we are trying to keep our concentration high and take that step in quality that we saw in Misano and to a lesser extent at Aragon. The team is determined to find the right setting at a difficult and technical circuit. It will be another new circuit for the CRT bike so we have to continue with the positive recent progress and keep moving forward. We had some chatter issues at Aragon that affected Michele but we managed to come out of it with a point and that gives us all renewed enthusiasm for the project for the remainder of this season and next season too.”

San Carlo Honda Gresini Press Release

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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/zItYhflbHb_/Alvaro+Bautista+Looking+Front+End+Improvement

Maurice Bolwerk Gianfranco Bonera Bruno Bonhuil Ismael Bonilla Steve Bonsey