Part of Mapfre Moto10′s “Dale Gas” cartoon series following the adverntures of Alvaro.

This episode: Introduction

Today “Grand Prix Zero” has come to an end at 4PM when all 250cc teams finished the first official test of the season. These three days have served as a first look at the performance of the teams shortly before the season begins. Besides the expected good performances of the Spanish riders Alvaro Bautista and Héctor Barber, both title candidates being on the top of the time sheets, a few surprises were Mike Di Meglio’s fast adaptation to the new class and the return of Honda which looks to fight the power of Aprilia.
Mapfre rider Alvaro Bautista has dominated the morning session and looked to have another lonely monologue like yesterday, but luckily the afternoon test saw a few more changes on the Jerez track. The talaverano made some small changes to the engine settings, but with everything clear already from yesterday he preferred to go around in race pace and to get some good feeling with the bike. In the evening, Alvaro has started the exciting battle by being the first to break the circuit record (1.42.868 – Dani Pedrosa, 2005). Simoncelli took up the battle and unlike yesterday he was able to be fastest at the end of the session. Both riders have been the only ones to ride laptimes below ’43, marking the difference once again.

2º Alvaro Bautista 1.42.674 (63 laps): “With all those riders hanging on my wheel in the last laps of the afternoon session it was a little like the feeling of a Grand Prix. The winter gets very long and it is good to get the feeling of that adrenalin point which the races give you and what makes you go even faster. These two last days of testing I had a lot of fun riding the bike, we have very good material and my mechanics and I have done a great job. The bike is almost at 100% of its performance and in Qatar we will finish bringing it to the point. It is very important that we continue this way and that we begin the championship well to keep gaining confidence. The conclusion of these three days is very positive, I am really satisfied because the pace has been very fast, improving every day our own laptimes and having everything under control. I go away with high motivation to continue the work in Qatar.”

Session 1

Pos / Rider / Team / Fastest Laptime / Gap
1 Alvaro BAUTISTA MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 1:43.205 -
2 Hector BARBERA PEPE WORLD TEAM 1:43.306 +0.101
3 Alex DEBON AEROPUERTO-CASTELLO-BLUSENS 1:43.397 +0.192
4 Marco SIMONCELLI METIS GILERA 1:43.417 +0.212
5 Roberto LOCATELLI METIS GILERA 1:43.702 +0.497
6 Hiroshi AOYAMA SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc 1:43.793 +0.588
7 Mattia PASINI TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:43.877 +0.672
8 Gabor TALMACSI BALATON RACING TEAM 250cc 1:43.954 +0.749
9 Mike DI MEGLIO MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 250cc 1:43.985 +0.780
10 Ratthapark WILAIROT THAI HONDA PTT SAG 1:43.995 +0.790
11 Karel ABRAHAM CARDION AB MOTORACING 1:44.012 +0.807
12 Thomas LUTHI EMMI – CAFFE LATTE 1:44.160 +0.955
13 Hector FAUBEL HONDA SAG 1:44.254 +1.049
14 Alex BALDOLINI WTR SAN MARINO TEAM 1:44.359 +1.154
15 Lukas PESEK AUTO KELLY – CP 1:44.421 +1.216
16 Jules CLUZEL MATTEONI RACING 1:44.746 +1.541
17 Raffaele DE ROSA SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc 1:44.816 +1.611
18 Imre TOTH TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:45.355 +2.150
19 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP MOTO-GP250 1:46.269 +3.064
20 Bastien CHESAUX RACING TEAM GERMANY 1:47.379 +4.174
21 Vladimir LEONOV VIESSMANN KIEFER RACING 1:48.138 +4.933
22 Axel PONS PEPE WORLD TEAM 1:48.295 +5.090

Session 2

Pos / Rider / Team / Fastest Laptime / Gap
1 Marco SIMONCELLI METIS GILERA 1:42.477 -
2 Alvaro BAUTISTA MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 1:42.674 +0.197
3 Jules CLUZEL MATTEONI RACING 1:43.078 +0.601
4 Alex DEBON AEROPUERTO-CASTELLO-BLUSENS 1:43.189 +0.712
5 Hiroshi AOYAMA SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc 1:43.244 +0.767
6 Roberto LOCATELLI METIS GILERA 1:43.425 +0.948
7 Gabor TALMACSI BALATON RACING TEAM 250cc 1:43.470 +0.993
8 Thomas LUTHI EMMI – CAFFE LATTE 1:43.611 +1.134
9 Karel ABRAHAM CARDION AB MOTORACING 1:43.658 +1.181
10 Ratthapark WILAIROT THAI HONDA PTT SAG 1:43.744 +1.267
11 Lukas PESEK AUTO KELLY – CP 1:43.837 +1.360
12 Mike DI MEGLIO MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 250cc 1:43.847 +1.370
13 Mattia PASINI TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:43.912 +1.435
14 Raffaele DE ROSA SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc 1:43.926 +1.449
15 Alex BALDOLINI WTR SAN MARINO TEAM 1:43.928 +1.451
16 Hector FAUBEL THAI HONDA PTT SAG 1:43.982 +1.505
17 Imre TOTH TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:45.994 +3.517
18 Axel PONS PEPE WORLD TEAM 1:46.767 +4.290
19 Bastien CHESAUX RACING TEAM GERMANY 1:47.233 +4.756

Alvaro Bautista ended the second session of the day with the fastest laptime, even beating his own pole position record from last year’s race.

Testing for the small classes will conclude tomorrow.

Pos / Rider / Team / Fastest Laptime / Gap / Laps

1 Alvaro BAUTISTA MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 1:43.068 – 23
2 Hector BARBERA PEPE WORLD TEAM 1:43.093 +0.025 22
3 Marco SIMONCELLI METIS GILERA 1:43.196 +0.128 23
4 Lukas PESEK AUTO KELLY – CP 1:43.467 +0.399 23
5 Gabor TALMACSI BALATON RACING TEAM 250cc 1:43.515 +0.447 21
6 Mike DI MEGLIO MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 250cc 1:43.548 +0.480 11
7 Roberto LOCATELLI METIS GILERA 1:43.749 +0.681 15
8 Alex DEBON AEROPUERTO-CASTELLO-BLUSENS 1:43.872 +0.804 15
9 Thomas LUTHI EMMI – CAFFE LATTE 1:44.039 +0.971 23
10 Ratthapark WILAIROT THAI HONDA PTT SAG 1:44.128 +1.060 19
11 Hiroshi AOYAMA SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc 1:44.174 +1.106 24
12 Hector FAUBEL THAI HONDA PTT SAG 1:44.516 +1.448 19
13 Jules CLUZEL MATTEONI RACING 1:44.662 +1.594 16
14 Alex BALDOLINI WTR SAN MARINO TEAM 1:44.846 +1.778 17
15 Raffaele DE ROSA SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc 1:45.134 +2.066 18
16 Karel ABRAHAM CARDION AB MOTORACING 1:45.491 +2.423 19
17 Mattia PASINI TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:47.341 +4.273 9
18 Imre TOTH TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:47.349 +4.281 15
19 Bastien CHESAUX RACING TEAM GERMANY 1:47.688 +4.620 16
20 Vladimir LEONOV VIESSMANN KIEFER RACING 1:48.085 +5.017 16

Alvaro Bautista – 1.43.068 (65 laps): “I am very happy because I have a lot of fun on the bike and I had a good feeling with it. I felt very comfortable sliding, braking and entering hard corners as I like. Today I had the best feeling with the Aprilia since the beginning of the preseason. After today and for the first time our references will be increasingly clear. But we have to bear in mind that during races there are always changing track conditions, so we have much work lying ahead. I matched the pole time from last year while trying to get a constant rhythm with used tires, so the general pace is another aspect to consider, rather than just the laptime itself. Tomorrow I will try to continue to enjoy riding like I do now and test a small change in the front of the bike but without major changes. With the base we have now it’s already enough. “

Day 2 at the official IRTA test in Jerez started with better weather conditions than yesterday, allowing almost all riders to ride faster already.
The first session again showed the usual picture of Team Aspar among the fastest in both classes, with Julian Simon and Alvaro Bautista each setting the fastest laptimes of the day so far.
The second sessions for the 125cc and 250cc classes will be finished at 5PM.

Pos / Rider / Team / Fastest Laptime / Gap / Laps

1 Alvaro BAUTISTA MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 1:43.193 – 54
2 Mike DI MEGLIO MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 250cc 1:43.358 +0.165 32
3 Marco SIMONCELLI METIS GILERA 1:43.479 +0.286 54
4 Hiroshi AOYAMA SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc 1:43.545 +0.352 53
5 Alex DEBON AEROPUERTO-CASTELLO-BLUSENS 1:43.819 +0.626 44
6 Ratthapark WILAIROT THAI HONDA PTT SAG 1:43.951 +0.758 38
7 Hector BARBERA PEPE WORLD TEAM 1:43.999 +0.806 42
8 Roberto LOCATELLI METIS GILERA 1:44.170 +0.977 36
9 Thomas LUTHI EMMI – CAFFE LATTE 1:44.194 +1.001 49
10 Lukas PESEK AUTO KELLY – CP 1:44.312 +1.119 33
11 Gabor TALMACSI BALATON RACING TEAM 250cc 1:44.360 +1.167 42
12 Hector FAUBEL HONDA SAG 1:44.410 +1.217 47
13 Raffaele DE ROSA SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc 1:44.491 +1.298 26
14 Mattia PASINI TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:44.499 +1.306 42
15 Karel ABRAHAM CARDION AB MOTORACING 1:44.518 +1.325 50
16 Alex BALDOLINI WTR SAN MARINO TEAM 1:44.720 +1.527 34
17 Jules CLUZEL MATTEONI RACING 1:45.227 +2.034 51
18 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP MOTO-GP250 1:45.813 +2.620 36
19 Imre TOTH TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:46.030 +2.837 32
20 Vladimir LEONOV VIESSMANN KIEFER RACING 1:47.650 +4.457 18
21 Bastien CHESAUX RACING TEAM GERMANY 1:48.128 +4.935 41

2nd Alvaro Bautista 1’43 .596 (62 laps): “In this circuit we had very good references from this winter and this training is good to keep continue gainig confidence. I still feel that I am not 100% on the bike but I’m getting there. The shoulder is much better, every time I can focus more on riding without worrying about the inconvenience of it. Although the laptimes of this test are good, we shouldn’t obsess over it, because what really counts is the performance during the race weekends where we work with less time and more on the limit. In the preseason all riders are close together in the classification, but in reality only a few make the difference. Today we have basically just made minor changes in the geometry of the Aprilia. With the strong wind we tried to improve this part although in the end we returned to the initial setup.”

Session 2

Pos / Rider / Team / Fastest Laptime / Laps
1 Hector BARBERA PEPE WORLD TEAM 1:43.156 10
2 Alvaro BAUTISTA MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 1:43.620 14
3 Marco SIMONCELLI METIS GILERA 1:43.833 16
4 Gabor TALMACSI BALATON RACING TEAM 1:44.433 12
5 Hector FAUBEL HONDA SAG 1:44.644 12
6 Ratthapark WILAIROT THAI HONDA PTT SAG 1:44.846 11
7 Mike DI MEGLIO MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 1:44.891 10
8 Raffaele DE ROSA SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc 1:45.091 13
9 Lukas PESEK AUTO KELLY – CP 1:45.220 19
10 Roberto LOCATELLI METIS GILERA 1:45.259 11
11 Alex BALDOLINI WTR SAN MARINO TEAM 1:45.401 10
12 Thomas LUTHI EMMI – CAFFE LATTE 1:45.538 12
13 Jules CLUZEL MATTEONI RACING 1:45.912 13
14 Karel ABRAHAM CARDION AB 1:46.044 15
15 Hiroshi AOYAMA SCOT RACING 250cc 1:46.098 9
16 Alex DEBON BLUSENS 1:46.154 9
17 Mattia PASINI TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:47.046 5
18 Vladimir LEONOV VIESSMANN KIEFER 1:47.563 12
19 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP MOTO-GP250 1:48.141 7
20 Bastien CHESAUX RACING TEAM GERMANY 1:50.029 15
21 Imre TOTH TEAM TOTH APRILIA 2:01.768 1

Session 1

Ranking /Rider / Team / Laptime / Laps
1 Marco SIMONCELLI METIS GILERA 1:43.438 52
2 Alvaro BAUTISTA MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 1:43.596 48
3 Ratthapark WILAIROT THAI HONDA PTT SAG 1:43.785 32
4 Hector BARBERA PEPE WORLD TEAM 1:43.800 57
5 Gabor TALMACSI BALATON RACING TEAM 1:44.055 44
6 Hiroshi AOYAMA SCOT RACING 250cc 1:44.127 39
7 Thomas LUTHI EMMI – CAFFE LATTE 1:44.199 49
8 Mike DI MEGLIO MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 1:44.273 39
9 Roberto LOCATELLI METIS GILERA 1:44.821 34
10 Hector FAUBEL HONDA SAG 1:44.890 36
11 Raffaele DE ROSA SCOT RACING 250cc 1:44.909 44
12 Lukas PESEK AUTO KELLY – CP 1:45.221 31
13 Alex BALDOLINI WTR SAN MARINO TEAM 1:45.360 29
14 Mattia PASINI TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:45.597 21
15 Karel ABRAHAM CARDION AB 1:45.633 47
16 Imre TOTH TEAM TOTH APRILIA 1:45.745 42
17 Jules CLUZEL MATTEONI RACING 1:46.304 35
18 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP MOTO-GP250 1:47.550 42
19 Axel PONS PEPE WORLD TEAM 1:49.114 24
20 Bastien CHESAUX RACING TEAM GERMANY 1:49.850 38

Here’s a quick round-up of the trip to the Fan’s Club launch party on March 21st 2009. Representing BatiFans.com were Gareth & Michaela…

Michaela and myself decided – at a couple of days’ notice – to do a “day trip” to Alvaro’s new fanclub launch party in Talavera de la Reina, which is in Castille la Mancha, off to the southwest of Madrid.
Michaela came down to London on Friday night; and we set off at 3am Saturday for Heathrow. We got into Madrid sometime towards 10 and headed off to Talavera de la Reina, getting there at midday.
We got changed and freshened up and grabbed a taxi off to the venue at the east of town where there was a marquee all set up, and the fiesta was getting underway.

People came and went all day (estimates are at around 600) and there was a great atmosphere, with hot sun and cold beers and lovely tapas – and a superb mix of meeting friends old and new.
We chatted with a couple of the new Directiva guys (though they were of course very busy) and caught up with other people we had met on previous visits.
Everyone thought we were complete nutters and it took a hell of a lot of explaining and convincing to say we’d flown over that very morning just to be there.

Soon after 7pm Bati arrived. He was mobbed by fans and press, and had an extensive photoshoot with his new diablo mascot (the mascot also did a lot of photos with many of the fans too).
We had a chat with him about how his collarbone was, and how happy he was with Estoril – he said that he had a few problems getting comfortable and confident with it on the first day, but that on day two he felt really happy with things. All in all, he said, he was feeling good about things and the collarbone was 100% fine now.

At the end of the evening there was a short presentation of Alvaro with the new guys, basically an introduction of the new Directiva to all present, a couple of speeches form the Directiva and from Alvaro thanking everyone and looking to the new season and to the future, and a big cheer from all present…

Before he went, Alvaro came over to have a further chat – and we talked about the new Fan’s Club, and he said that it was sad that the Peña ended, but that this new start was good and that it was all very positive, and he hoped that we liked it all and that we were all “together” (which of course we are!) and looking to the future. he thanked us again for coming – and checked once again that it was true that we came simply for the day! Then we said our goodbyes and had our hugs. We wished him the very best from everyone on the BatiFans.com forum, told him to look after his collarbone and to look out for the BatiFans flag – and that we were all totally with him.
He passed on thanks to all of the BatiFans forum members – he really appreciates the support.

After that, we said all our goodbyes to everybody else and decided that as we were in Talavera it would be criminal not to go to the Bar Los Tinajones (the old fanclub bar) for a dinner of their tapas and nice cold Mahou at 11pm…

Then it was bedtime – we’d had a 19 hour day that was extremely tiring and exciting – and we were exhausted. In the morning we then headed back to the airport very very happy, and spent the flight chilling out totally and drinking to a very brilliantly stupid but wonderful trip.

Many thanks to Cesar, David and the rest of the new guys, along with Alvaro and his family and friends who as always made us very very welcome and very special.
Till the next time…

The second day of testing at the Portuguese track saw a distinct shift of positions in the 250cc class. Mapfre Aspar rider Alvaro Bautista was only 10th fastest in the official rankings yesterday, still recovering from his collarbone fracture as there was also speculation that his transponder didn’t work all the time and that his actual laptime given out by Team Aspar would have placed him fourth. But today the Talaverano has shown again that he is one of the prime candidates for the title this year when he jumped into second position after leading the chart for much of the day and ending up only .006 seconds slower than fastest man Hector Barbera. If the laptimes during the tests so far are any indication, we might look at an interesting three-way battle for the championship this season.

Team Aspar will not participate in the third day of testing tomorrow, but instead will be back on track in Jerez for the official IRTA test on March 25th.

Álvaro Bautista 1.41.119 (70 laps): “I can conclude this test with a good taste, because I was able to improve my overall feeling compared to yesterday, the collarbone has bothered me less and I felt much better on the bike. Also the rhythm as well as the laptimes have been much better than yesterday, so I leave Estoril very satisfied. By all means I am still not completely recovered, but I took another small step forward and I regained my confidence with the bike, I hope to continue this in Jerez and arrive at full fitness. Since this morning I have been able to improve my laptimes compared to the first day and I have dedicated myself to test several modifications on the front suspension. When you are testing these things it’s difficult to ride fast although I haven’t been slow either riding in 41s, but to conclude this test I took what has worked the best for me today and did some final laps just to ride for myself without having to work on modifications.”

Estoril Laptimes, Day 2

1. Hector Barberá (Aprilia) 1.41,113
2. Álvaro Bautista (Aprilia) 1.41,119
3. Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) 1.41,139
4. Gabor Talmacsi (Aprilia) 1.41,636
5. Mike Di Meglio (Aprilia) 1.41,703
6. Alex Debon (Aprilia) 1.41,851
7. Ratthapark Wilairot (Honda) 1.41,980
8. Roberto Locatelli (Gilera) 1.42,000
9. Lukas Pesek (Aprilia) 1.42,027
10.Tom Luthi (Aprilia) 1.42,298
11.Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda) 1.42,310
12.Karel Abraham (Aprilia) 1.42,362
13.Hector Faubel (Honda) 1.42,491
14.Raffaele De Rosa (Honda) 1.43,432
15.Axel Pons (Aprilia) 1.46,141
16.Vladimir Leonov (Aprilia) 1.47,961

Circuit record: 2007, Alvaro Bautista, Aprilia, 1’40.521

The first day of testing in Estoril held different impressions for Team Aspar’s 250cc riders. While Rookies Mike Di Meglio and Gabor Talmacsi continued to make good progress in the new class, title candidate Álvaro Bautista seemed to struggle with the repercussions of his recent collarbone fracture and was substantially off the pace. Another day of testing tomorrow will hopefully see some improvements for him.

Rider / Bike / Laptime
1. Marco Simoncelli (Gilera), 1.41,282
2. Hector Barbera (Aprilia), + 0,017
3. Mike Di Meglio (Aprilia), + 0,730
4. Alex Debon (Aprilia), + 1,387
5. Gabor Talmacsi (Aprilia), + 1,522
6. Roberto Locatelli (Gilera), + 1,526
7. Lucas Pesek (Aprilia), + 1,669
8. Thomas Lüthi (Aprilia), + 1,697
9. Karel Abraham (Aprilia), + 2,084
10. Álvaro Bautista (Aprilia), + 2,405

Alvaro Bautista 1.42.056 (65 laps):“I believe that since the operation I had enough time to recover, although you can’t train the position on the motorcycle at home or the tension of the brakings. The goal of this test was to return to ride the bike and to get a good rhythm with the Aprilia. Today we tried several solutions for the electronics of both bikes and it seems that we have found what we’ve been looking for. It had my doubts, but as the session went on, I have been better every time I was out although slowly but surely my collarbone got very tired. Our aim is to be one hundred percent fit for the first race and this test is simply to take small steps. I am not completely fit as I would like, but it is necessary to have patience and not to want to do more than is possible. In any case, we still have tomorrow to continue getting some confidence and also there is the Jerez test coming up where we have good references from this winter.”