Haslam confident on day one at Catalunya, Bautista just a few tenths off

On what forecasts threaten might be the only totally dry day of the weekend, Leon Haslam makes a strong start to the Catalunya round, ending day 1 in 7th place just 0.374 tenths of a second off provisional pole position. Alvaro Bautista was one of eleven riders able to improve on their lap times in the afternoon’s hotter conditions to place eleventh in the overall standings, 0.723 from the front.

Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam worked hard throughout the practice sessions, getting off to a strong start in the morning. Making the most of the almost ideal weather conditions, Haslam gradually improved upon his times before setting a series of strong references in the final stages, a best of 1’42.743. On the other side of the garage, Bautista focused on adapting his CBR1000RR-R FIREBLADE to the Spanish track in preparation for the weekend’s races. Alvaro made progress towards the end of the first practice and set a fastest time of 1’43.498.

The afternoon’s second practice ran in equally stable albeit rather hotter conditions, which translated into more challenging track conditions. Bautista nevertheless picked up the pace already in the early stages, and by the session’s end he had improved on his morning’s best by more than four tenths. With a fastest time of 1’43.092, he finished in eleventh position in the combined standings after the first two practice sessions.

On the hotter asphalt, Haslam was unable to further improve on his earlier time but rounded out day one in seventh place in the aggregate classification, just over three tenths of a second off provisional pole position.