Bautista (P11 overall, 1'31.777, 42 laps) made a consistent progression up the leader board throughout the afternoon session before breaking into the top-10 in the latter stages. He finished only 0.256 seconds from fourth place and Bautista's fastest time was almost two seconds quicker than his qualifying lap at Phillip Island 12 months ago. He is positive of further improvements tomorrow and convinced the GSV-R will be able to challenge for a good finish on Sunday.

Álvaro Bautista:
“Up until this year this has not been one of the best tracks for the GSV-R and it was quite difficult here for me last year. In the first session this morning I didn't feel a lot of rear grip, but we changed some things for this afternoon and it made a big difference to the feeling. We also worked on the electronics and altered the mapping for some of the corners to help with rear grip. At the end of the second session with some new tyres there was a big difference than with the used ones. This track has very fast corners and you can feel a difference between new and used tyres here quite a lot. I have done my best-ever lap at Phillip Island today and a 1'31 is not a bad time, but I still feel that we can improve the feeling in the bike and be quite a bit quicker. On the new tyres I can ride normal and with a good rhythm for a few laps, but it soon becomes difficult to exit from the corners and get the grip I need. We have improved a lot from last year and I feel more relaxed on the bike. I am happy with the first day, but will be a lot happier if I can get a good feeling tomorrow like I have had in the last few races, then I'm sure we'll be in a good position for the race.”