Gresini Honda's Alvaro Bautista admits he is finding it 'tough' to adapt to riding a
MotoGP bike again at the Sepang test following the lengthy winter break.
Bautista was seventh fastest on the opening day of the test on Tuesday, 0.824s behind pacesetter Dani Pedrosa, and again ended the second day of the test in the same position on Wednesday, dropping further behind Pedrosa with his time of 2m 01.729s leaving him 1.180s from the top.
Assessing his performance at the conclusion of the first day of the test on Tuesday, Bautista said: “It's always nice to get back out on track after the long winter break but it's also tough to get back on the pace.
“Luckily the weather was on our side so that made things easier. We worked hard throughout the day on suspension set-up and we were satisfied by the end of the day.
“Obviously we still have a lot of work to do… but it was good to get back together with the team and start preparing for a new season with them.”
His teammate, CRT rider Bryan Staring, escaped uninjured following a minor spill on Tuesday, ending the opening two days in 27th position overall, some three-and-a-half seconds down on the leading CRT times of Aleix Espargaro.
“I am happy to have made my
MotoGP debut but annoyed to have had a stupid crash,” said the Australian.
“I just touched the kerb in one of the corners and lost control.
“Obviously there is a big difference with this bike compared to anything I have ridden before and I need to adapt my style.”