Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista is eyeing a maiden MotoGP podium with Rizla Suzuki following a sixth place finish at Aragon last Sunday, his best dry result of the season.

Staring from 11th on the grid, Bautista got boxed in on the first corner and was lucky to avoid a crash between two other riders, but by the end of the first lap the hard-charging Spaniard had moved up to eighth position.

He then got involved in an almost race long battle with the Ducati’s of Hector Barbera and Nicky Hayden as the three of them traded places many times throughout the race, before Bautista got the better of the pair and made a break in the latter stages to secure a hard-fought sixth place.

“Today we had very different conditions from the practice and the temperature was much lower,” Bautista said. “I wanted to have a good race in front of my home fans, so I pushed as hard as I could to make the bike and tyres work right from the beginning, but I didn’t get a good start and other riders got in my way in the first corner and it was quite difficult to overtake early on.

“I got up to Hector and Nicky we had a big battle and fought a lot between us and when I got into sixth the riders in front were very far away and I was still fighting with the other two, so I couldn’t get a good rhythm. In the last laps I made a break from the other two and was able to ride more consistently and smoother and pull away to secure the sixth place.

“It was a good result, but I think if the conditions had been the same as qualifying we had the potential to be with the group fighting for podium positions. I am happy with all we have done this weekend and looking forward to the next race and to continue with this work.”

Rizla Suzuki and the rest of the MotoGP paddock now embark on a far eastern tour that will see them all race in Japan, Australia and Malaysia in the month of October.