While Honda’s Marc Marquez created history by winning his sixth straight MotoGP race at Sachsenring in the German Grand Prix, independent rider Alvaro Bautista was one of the riders to put in an impressive show for his Top 5 result.
The Angel Nieto Team Ducati rider has been on a good form lately with three ninth place finishes in the last three races. Once again, he made it into Q2 straight up and qualified a solid ninth for the German GP at Sachsenring.
In the race, the Spaniard cleared Honda’s Dani Pedrosa at the start and also took on Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales to slot in behind Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso in what became a fight for fifth after LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow’s crash.
Bautista on the GP17 took Dovizioso on the GP18 on Lap 20 to move in the Top 5. He lost a place to the recovering Vinales but regained fifth position when he also cleared the other Ducati of Jorge Lorenzo on Lap 27.
He finished as the second best independent rider after Pramac Racing Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci – who was also riding the GP18 like the factory Ducati riders. He equaled his best result since the 2017 Italian Grand Prix, where he finished fifth as well.
The consistent points result is helping his motivation immensely. He sits 13th in the standings with 44 points having scored in seven of nine races so far. “I think first of all, to finish five seconds behind the winner, is not easy,” he said.
“At Assen it was seven seconds and here we have closed the gap. I can’t say it feels like a win because I can’t taste the champagne but it is an important result because we have been on an upward curve since Jerez and it has put us on the right lines.
“Pre-season wasn’t very long, we missed a couple of tests and we struggled a little at the start of the season to find the right way forward. In the race I felt stronger than Dovizioso and Petrucci but it was difficult to pass them.
“I lost three or four laps there that could have been very valuable. At the end of the race the rear tyre was starting to say ‘enough’ but I could see that Lorenzo was having problems and I was able to pass him.
“I am happy with the progress we have made, I feel motivated and I think we can do even better.” The results for him is coming at the right time as he fights for his future. The Angel Nieto team will no longer feature in MotoGP, giving way to the SIC Racing Team.
The Malaysian outfit will use the Yamaha bikes for their team and Bautista is certainly in the running alongside Franco Morbidelli and Moto2 rider Fabio Quartararo. The 33-year-old’s experience will come in handy but his on-track results will only help the cause.
