The move from Aprilia to Ducati clearly did the greatest good for the Team Aspar rider, who had a very good race on Argentinian soil to finish in fourth position. He almost equaled his best result, having finished third at Misano and Japan in 2012 on a Honda Gresini, then third again at Le Mans in 2014 on an identical machine.
At the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, Bautista qualified in tenth position, while his teammate Karel Abraham rejoiced Jorge Martinez's team by setting the second fastest time. Alvaro started from the fourth row of the starting grid, alongside Jonas Folger and Andrea Iannone. He made a good start which saw him move into tenth position at the end of the first lap, then gain a place following the fall of Marc Marquez. He then doubled Jonas Folger, then launched an attack on a tough opponent in the person of John Zarco. Dani Pedrosa and Danilo Petrucci were involved for a while in this superb fight, but the Spaniard fell while the Italian lost ground.
Bautista continued to attack the Frenchman and managed to overtake him on the fifteenth lap. Very gradually, he subsequently managed to widen a gap on himself which would be nine seconds at the finish line, Alvaro finishing fourth, six seconds behind the winner. Maverick Vinales and three seconds from third Cal Crutchlow. In the World Championship, this placed him in ninth position, tied on points with Marc Marquez and two points ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Johann Zarco.
With the many falls that have occurred, one would think that Alvaro had a serious helping hand from fate. But that would be overlooking his excellent speed a little too quickly, as his fourth best time in the race proved: in 1'39.811, he was only preceded by Vinales (1'39.694), Pedrosa and Crutchlow, just 0.117 behind. of the fastest lap, 0.07 from the HRC driver and 0.06 from the Briton. He was ahead of Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi for the best lap time, which was not the least of his merits with a Desmosedici GP16 entered by a satellite team.
At the end of his brilliant Argentine Grand Prix, Álvaro Bautista declared: “ It was a great race, a bit like the end of last season when I started from the back of the grid and then worked my way up. I lost a bit of time at the start, because everyone was really attacking and I found myself in a difficult group, with a particularly aggressive driver, and it was difficult to pass.
“Once their pace dropped, I was able to pass them and get back on the guys in front quite quickly. I caught up with them at the end but I had lost too much ground in the first laps. I think I'm a driver capable of this kind of result, these are realistic positions for me, and I think we have to continue this way. I would like to thank Pull & Bear Aspar and Ducati for these results and for all their support. »
Ranking :
1. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 41m 45.060s
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 41m 47.975s
3. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 41m 48.814s
4. Alvaro Bautista ESP Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP16) 41m 51.583s
5. Johann zarco ENG Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)*
42m 0.564s
6. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)*
42m 3.301s
7. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 42m 5.106s
8. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 42m 10.540s
9. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 42m 10.725s
10. Karel Abraham CZE Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP15) 42m 11.463s
11. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 42m 12.012s
12. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 42m 26.935s
13. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 42m 27.830s
14. Espargaro Pol ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 42m 28.145s
15. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 42m 28.512s
16. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)
42m 31.279s
