Álvaro Bautista gave Rizla Suzuki its best dry result of the season so far with a gutsy and battling performance at Sachsenring on the weekend.

Starting from tenth on the grid, Bautista knew a good start was required and by the end of the first lap he had moved up into ninth place.

“I got a decent start and was in a good position just behind the top riders, but I was a bit too far away from them, and my rhythm wasn’t quite as quick, so I couldn’t quite stay with them,” Bautista commented.

Over the next two laps he became involved in what turned out to be a race long battle with the Ducati’s of firstly Nicky Hayden and then also Valentino Rossi.

The trio swapped places many times over the remainder of the race, but Bautista saved his best till last. He produced his quickest lap of the race on the penultimate lap and then badgered and passed both Rossi and then Hayden on the final corner to take a well deserved, but hard fought seventh.

“At the end it was very difficult to overtake Valentino and Nicky because they brake very hard and very late, making it tough to get past,” Bautista added.

“On the last lap I overtook Valentino at the end of the main straight. I then followed Nicky and waited for the last two corners because I knew I had an opportunity there to get him.”

“I had to brake with everything I had to get past him on corner 12, but I ran a bit wide and lost some speed, Nicky overtook me on the last corner, but he entered too quickly and he went out, so I got past him on the exit of the corner.”

“I am very happy that we are the first finisher after the top six because they are on a different level at the moment. For the next race I hope to continue with this way of working and get closer to the top.”

Bautista will now look close the gap to the top six at round ten of the MotoGP series at Laguna Seca on July 24.