Bautista 'sorry' after third successive DNF

Gresini Honda's Alvaro Bautista fails to finish in Argentina as Spaniard slips off for third race in a row

28 Apr 2014

Bautista, Bridgestone, Argentinian MotoGP 2014
© Gold and Goose

Alvaro Bautista apologised after sliding off on the opening lap on a miserable day for the Gresini Honda rider in Argentina - his third DNF in as many races.

Bautista, who started from tenth position, fell at Turn 5 after making contact with the rear of Aleix Espargaro's NGM Forward Yamaha.

The Spaniard was also a faller in Qatar and Texas as he endures a nightmare beginning to the 2014 season, taking zero points from the first three races.

"I really don't know what to say, I am very sorry. It's a shame, because today I had a good feeling ahead of the race," said Bautista.

"The only thing we can do now is continue to work hard, as always. We hope to reverse the trend the next weekend in Jerez."

Team boss Fausto Gresini added: "The disappointment for Alvaro's crash is really high: here we haven't finished a lap and after the first two unfortunate races, leaving Argentina with still zero points in the standings is a shame."