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British GP: spectacular comeback from Bautista and Di Meglio in Donington Park

In MotoGP

29 luglio 2009

British GP: spectacular comeback from Bautista and Di Meglio in Donington Park

Despite rainfall on the Donington Park circuit, the 250cc British Grand Prix was almost a dry affair. Declared wet by Race Direction, the choice of tyres became crucial for the latest round of the series. All riders went for wets, which rapidly began to slide as the conditions cleared up. Hiroshi Aoyama had taken the early lead, and had enough of an advantage to break away and hold on to the gap between himself and Álvaro Bautista. Some riders came in to change to slicks, but none were able to trouble the leaders due to losing a lap in passing through the pits.

The Mapfre riders made an excellent comeback to say a fond goodbye to Donington Park. Álvaro Bautista started sixth and lost ground on the opening lap, but came back into the game with some fast laps and moved up to second on the seventh time around the track. He finally got within three seconds of race leader Aoyama, but a comnination of an arm still sore from a Friday fall and late traffic from backmarkers ended his fight to catch the Japanese rider. He continues in second place in the World Championship after taking the runner-up spot in the race, and hopes to head to the next round in Brno in top form.

Teammate Mike Di Meglio wanted to place in the top five, and his wish was granted with an excellent ride. He had fallen at Sachsenring and was aware of the trickiness of wet conditions, but wanted a top result for the morale of his team. The Frenchman kept moving up places, despite losing nine positions from a bad start. He got close enough to pass Alex Debón just before the finish line, taking his best result since his maiden race in Qatar (where he was on the podium).

2nd Álvaro Bautista: "After the crashes on Friday and Saturday I wasn't fully confident, so second is a good result. This morning I felt much more comfortable in the warmup, as my arm wasn't so stiff under braking. The race was strange and hard, as at the beginning we went out with wet tyres and after three laps the asphalt was dry. We then carried on riding. The rain came back at certain points, which was less painful for my arm, even though the bike was moving around a lot. I saw that I was the leader of the chasing pack and went to pull away. I was slowly catching Aoyama, but I risked losing twenty points if I made a mistake, so I went with prudence. On the final seven laps I was really hurting from my arm, so after this complicated weekend taking home twenty points was a good achievement. We will see if I can recover quickly and be back on form for Brno."

5th Mike Di Meglio: "I had a pretty bad start, but I tried to keep upright and learn the wet track. I felt very comfortable and I kept thinking that the race was 27 laps and not a sprint, so consistency would be the most important thing. As the race went on my tyres started disintegrating and losing grip, so it was a hard finish. I have fallen a few times this season, and for a moment I doubted myself, but I was able to ride steadily and safely to achieve my goal of finishing the race and taking points. I think that today we worked with our heads and made good decisions. Before arriving here we wanted a top five finish, so I can be happy. This is a crucial race for my morale, and for that of the team just before the break."