250cc – Estoril FP1 – Bautista ahead of the KTMs

The first free practice session of the 250cc in Estoril, with the weather and the track constantly improving, saw Alvaro Bautista excel, setting a time of 1'43"687 aboard the Aprilia RSA 250 of the Mapfre Aspar team. The Talavera rider held his own against the official KTMs of Mika Kallio and Hiroshi Aoyama, behind him with gaps of more than 4 tenths. Behind the "oranges", Marco Simoncelli confirmed himself at the top, fourth on a track that saw him as the protagonist in the winter tests; the Gilera rider precedes Alex Debon (Aprilia RSA 250 of the Lotus team), the third KTM ridden by Julian Simon (Repsol team), Yuki Takahashi and the surprising Alex Baldolini, eighth, first among the private riders with the Aprilia LE of the Matteoni team.

Alex has the luxury of overtaking announced protagonists such as Pasini, Barbera and Locatelli, just as the Thai Ratthapark Wilaroit can be satisfied with the 12th time ahead of Poggiali, Faubel and Lai.

In closing we would like to point out the 20th time of Federico Sandi, returning to the MotoGP with the Aprilia 250cc of the Zongshen colours.