The Gran Premio de la Comunidad Valenciana got underway this afternoon, with home favourites in the ascendancy as the 250cc free practice took place. Hector Barberá and Alex Debón, both from Valencia, were amongst the pacesetters – as was Mapfre rider Álvaro Bautista – with Barberá clocking the fastest time of the session as Spanish riders eclipsed the title battle taking place here this weekend between Hiro Aoyama and Marco Simoncelli.
For Bautista this race represents his last opportunity to win a race in the intermediate class before he makes the step up to MotoGP and today he took advantage of his vast testing experience at this circuit to clock 28 consistent laps, with a best time of 1’36.866 that left him third on the time sheets.
3rd Álvaro Bautista 1.36.866 (28 laps): “The conditions were a little strange today. The track surface was dirty and quite cool, so we had to ride carefully. The majority of corners here are to the left so when you flick right you can really notice the lack of grip. Anyway, as the weekend progresses I’m sure the track and the weather will both improve. I felt pretty comfortable with the front end of my Aprilia and we were able to try a few things with the rear aimed at getting more life out of the tyre. We still haven’t found the perfect combination so we’ll keep trying tomorrow. In general I’m happy with the job we’ve done and I felt comfortable out there so it’s a good start.”
