Zoom Alvaro Bautista

The 250cc San Marino Grand Prix proved to be tough from start to finish for the quarter-litre class riders, and one of the most exciting races to have taken place in 2008.

Taking place under a sweltering heat, with nine crashes and some persistent Italian riders attempting to take ‘home' glory, the race was always going to provide entertainment, but the eventual winner came out of nowhere.

Álvaro Bautista moved up from the third row of the grid, avoided the crashes in front of him and made a comeback like that of Brno, but with the end result that justified the effort.

Nobody would have expected such a result from the talented Spaniard alter a difficult weekend. He stalked his foes in a discreet fashion, taking advantage of the more hot-headed battles between the likes of Marco Simonceli and Hector Barbera to slip his way to the front. Eight laps from the chequered flag, the Talavera native showed his intelligent side to snatch the lead, and escaped to outsider catching distance.

A third victory of the year breathes new life into Bautista´s title hopes, and moves him up to third place -27 behind leader Simoncelli.

“Alongside my mechanics and Aprilia we found a really good setting in the warmup, and I was very excited about the race. The only setback was the fact that I was starting from far back and the race was shaping up to be difficult. With the high temperatures the physical effort involved was enormous. In the end I tried to catch up with the leading group, and they were bothering each other so much that I was able to do it”, he commented. “At the end of the race Hector and Marco touched and that allowed me to reach the line more comfortably. I'm really happy because the result takes us closer to the top of the standings, and because this weekend looked to be a difficult one. I would also like to dedicate this victory to the victims of the recent Spanish air disaster.”

The celebrations were slightly dampened by the result for Héctor Faubel, whose chances of a positive result ended after just three laps. A collision with Álex Debon left the Spaniard out of the race, with the crash occurring on the antepenultimate corner. Debon was the first faller, but Faubel was unable to take evasive action and must now look to Indianapolis for a better result.

“It was a pity about the crash, because all weekend we had been working well and had a great race pace. The start was a good one, but Debon hit me from behind and I lost positions. Then when I regained positions I also had a problem with Debon, because he fell just as I was opening the gas. I had no way of avoiding him, and looping back at my pace. I Could have had a good result without that happening. Racing is like that. Now I am hoping for the same kind of early conditions at Indianapolis”, he explained.

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