 Wins in Japan and Catalunya along a more steady start than the previous year moved him to the top of the championship, but an ultimately very costly collision with Hiroshi Aoyama in the final laps of the Assen Grand Prix handed the lead to the Japanese rider.A run of five successive podium finishes kept Bautista in the running for the championship, but a crash out of fourth place at Estoril due to a gearbox issue and errors at Phillip Island and Sepang finally dashed his title hopes with Hiroshi Aoyama going on to win the final 250cc championship for Honda.Bautista moved up to MotoGP for the season, with the factory Suzuki team.