Before his nasty crash in FP2 at Brno in which he banged up his back severly, but which he fortunately escaped without any fractures, Alvaro was interviewed by the German-language Motorsport Magazin and talked about how his season went so far and what he expects for the future. For the most part it’s well known stuff, but interesting to read regardless.

Let’s start with the difficult part: It’s your Rookie season and it’s probably been a bit more difficult for you than expected. Can you describe it from your view?
Alvaro Bautista: Sure, it was much more difficult than I expected. In the first few races I felt that we made good progress. But after Jerez I crashed while practising motocross and got injured. I lost a few races because of that and also the rhythm. I had to start again from zero, try again to get a feeling for the bike. Okay, Barcelona was very nice [he finished 5th]. But in the last two races I had crashes which weren’t my fault. Now it depends on me improving myself further.

Does the experience of Loris Capirossi help you?
Alvaro Bautista: Yes. He has a lot of knowledge and experience and he’s very nice to me. And when I have a problem with the bike or the setup I can go over and ask him. He’s happy to help me out and this is of course good for me. I’m very happy to have him as my teammate. He’s got so much experience with the bike and he knows so much about the setup and how to ride and this is really good. I’m more than happy about that.

Paul Denning and the team often say that you’re doing a good job and learn quickly. Does this give you confidence when other people say this about you?
Alvaro Bautista: Sure it’s nice when people say something like this. Okay, I know we have some problems with the bike and I still need to learn. But we’re all working extremely hard and I’m really happy with the team.

Are you satisfied when the team praises your work and says you’re good?
Alvaro Bautista: We all push very hard to achieve something great. I always try to do a good job.

How are your injuries? Is it especially difficult to ride a MotoGP bike when you’re injured?
Alvaro Bautista: We’ve seen with Valentino and others that it is possible. It’s always difficult to ride a MotoGP bike, but with injuries it’s really very, very hard.

You’ve won in 125cc and 250cc. Do you think you can win in MotoGP with Suzuki?
Alvaro Bautista: I hope so! I will try. I want to continue like before, continue to improve myself, develop the bike and then win races some time, of course.

One of your problems is the lack of grip. What could be improved about the bike? Does it need to be better on a whole, do you need more power?
Alvaro Bautista: I’m not completely sure. What I do know is that, when I ride it I, I feel like our problem is that we can’t make the tyres work. They need to be really used up before they work for us. That is our problem.

Do you think the testing limitation are hitting Suzuki especially hard, because you already have to catch up with the others?
Alvaro Bautista: Yes, the thing is that we have so many things to test and we need some help to get closer to the others.

So it is more difficult, because you can’t test so much, I guess?
Alvaro Bautista: Yes, this year it’s been difficult, because I need more kilometres on the bike. But anyway, that’s the situation and we have to get the best out of it.

Not long ago you’ve been 125cc world champion. What do you think about the bikes disappearing in 2012 and being replaced by Moto3?
Alvaro Bautista: I don’t know, it will be a completely different class, like 250cc and Moto2. Of course I prefer the 125cc bikes, because to start out on them it was just perfect for the riders. But surely the Moto3 will be good too. When you switch from two-strikes to four-strokes you feel a big difference, but when you start out on four-strokes right away, maybe it’ll get easier to ride in MotoGP as well.

You’re still at the very beginning of your MotoGP career and of course you’ll want to win the title one day. But is there something else you want to achieve in racing, other than the title?
Alvaro Bautista: No, this is exactly my dream. When I was in 125cc, it was my dream to become world champion. When I became world champion there, my dream was to come to MotoGP. Now I am here. My next dream now is to become world champion here. But I also have to be happy now to be where I am, because the best racers of the world are here. It will be hard work, but I am confident that I can fulfill my dream.

Do you have any idols inside or outside of racing?
Alvaro Bautista: Idols, no. When I was a kid I liked Mick Doohan. But now I don’t have any idols.

And outside of racing?
Alvaro Bautista: Neither, because all my idols are actually my friends, like Rafa Nadal or Alberto Contador.

Source: Motosport-Magazin.com
Translated by the crew of www.alvarobautista.co.uk and www.batifans.com

Share this news with others....

•