Alvaro Bautista met his objective of a fifth place finish at Phillip Island today, the Spaniard fighting hard for fourth until the finish of a race won by Casey Stoner. Bautista's battle with Andrea Dovizioso and Stefan Bradl provided much of the entertainment in the race and another top five finish here in Australia consolidated fifth place in the championship with one round remaining at Valencia. Michele Pirro also scored important points although a technical problem in the closing stages meant that he wasn't able to achieve his own personal objective of finishing in the top three CRTs today.
Alvaro Bautista (5th) “We have achieved our objective here but I have to recognise that if it wasn't for the crash from Dani Pedrosa I would have been sixth. I am disappointed for him because he has produced some extraordinary races recently but today he lost the championship on the second lap. This morning in the warm-up we could see that Crutchlow had a better pace than us so when I saw Pedrosa crash I just tried my best to stick in the group behind Lorenzo in the hope we could fight for the podium but we were lacking straight line speed. All the time I lost down the straight I had to make up for the rest of the lap but it was a fun battle with Dovizioso and Bradl, we passed each other many times and the race went quickly for me. I made one last attempt at the end but again Dovizioso got me down the straight and then did a good job to close every door. Anyway it's a positive result so thanks to all the team and now let's hope we can seal fifth in the championship at Valencia. ”
Michele Pirro (14th) “The objective was to finish as the third highest CRT but we had a problem with the fairing that cost us time at the end of the race. It is a shame but I am happy to come away from this race with two points that consolidate my position as the third highest CRT in the championship and that is important.”
Fausto Gresini “Fifth place for Alvaro confirms the progress he has made in the second half of the season and it is a credit to the hard work of his team. I am confident now about a grand finale in Valencia and hopefully fifth in the championship because they deserve it. It was a shame about the fairing problem for Michele because it could have been a much better day for him but there is plenty for us to be satisfied about with the CRT project and now we have a chane to go to Valencia and finish the season as the third best CRT, which would be a nice reward for the hard work and belief that has been shown in this project. ”
San Carlo Honda Gresini Press Release
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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/5YBOqvHY2TO/Alvaro+Bautista+Confirms+Progress+Finish+Fifth
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