The Spanish radio channel Onda Cero has published their newest motorsport show which includes telephone interviews with Alvaro Bautista and Spanish MotoGP journalist Mela Chércoles.
Alvaro talks about testing the Suzuki in Valencia, the technical and professional differences of the MotoGP class, his new teammate Loris Capirossi, his friendship with Jorge Martinez, leaving the Aspar Team, talking more English, media pressure and more.

You can listen to the audio stream of the interview here.

Rizla Suzuki has concluded its final track action of 2009 with new signing Álvaro Bautista and Factory test rider Nobuatsu Aoki completing a three-day test at the Estoril circuit in Portugal.

Bautista used the three days to continue his acquaintance with the Suzuki GSV-R and the performance of a MotoGP machine by completing over 200 laps of the 4,182m Portuguese track. His rhythm and speed increased step by step, eventually lapping consistently at 1’38.5, a time comparable to the Rizla Suzuki racers when they came to Portugal for the Grand Prix last month – despite cooler, lower grip conditions at the test. Bautista was able to ride the GSV-R in a number of conditions over the three days with rain on day one, overcast skies on the second day and sunny, but cool conditions on the final day. He also tested some new specification engine components, aerodynamic parts and Akrapovic exhaust systems on day three and was able to confirm team-mate Loris Capirossi’s conclusions from the recent Valencian test.

Suzuki’s Test-Rider Aoki continued with the fundamental test programme that regular racer Capirossi had begun during the test at Valencia, following the final race of the season earlier this month. He worked hard with Capirossi’s crew to continue the assessment of many new parts that will now be taken back to the Japanese factory for further re-evaluation during the winter test ban, which will be vital to the decision making process in readiness for the first test of 2010.

Bautista and Capirossi will now be sidelined by the enforced winter test ban that comes into operation at the end of this month and ends at the beginning of February next year. The pair will next be in action at Sepang in Malaysia in early February as the team and factory continues to prepare for the 2010 MotoGP season. The first race of next season gets underway beneath the floodlights at Losail in Qatar on Sunday 11th April.

Paul Denning – Team Manager:

“Suzuki is very pleased to have been able to complete this test for two reasons – firstly to give Álvaro essential additional seat-time on the GSV-R and secondly to give Nobu the chance to do some important testing on a GP track outside of Japan. This has allowed him to test some fundamental changes in readiness for the ‘real world’ conditions of next year’s race season and Nobu did a very detailed and committed job at the test. Nobody in Suzuki or in the team is under any illusions regarding the amount of additional performance needed out of the GSV-R for 2010 and whilst the test items have not been night-and-day differences, they will certainly help the overall package be a lot stronger when we get the new bike at Sepang in February.

“Álvaro has been very impressive over the three days and has completed 212 laps with absolutely no errors. His pace at the end of the test is very respectable, especially considering that there were only two bikes out there on track and with cooler conditions and no rubber being laid down the conditions were not as good as they were at the race weekend last month. He has gelled really well with the whole team and is taking a very calm approach – the mechanics also like him because each of his runs is so long, a minimum of around 12 laps, so they get the chance to have a rest!

“It is now a long time until Loris and Álvaro get to test again, we really wish Loris could have been here in Estoril, but the regulations are what they are and we are grateful to have had this opportunity to point us in the right direction as Suzuki strives to become competitive in 2010.”

Weather conditions at the Estoril circuit have not changed much for Alvaro Bautista and test rider Nobuatsu Aoki today. Even though it didn’t rain, the conditions have been too humid for the track to dry completely after the rainstorm on Monday. Therefore the remaining puddles and wet patches on the track forced the riders to approach the testing once again with caution to avoid crashes.
But higher temperatures around 15° and slightly improved grip still gave Alvaro a good chance to further test the Suzuki without looking at laptimes and getting comfortable with the bike.
On the other side of the garage Nobuatsu Aoki works in short sessions, testing various new parts and developments for the bike.

Testing at Estoril will continue tomorrow with the weather forecast showing slightly higher temperatures and sunny conditions which will hopefully help to dry up the track a little more before the final laps tomorrow afternoon.

A charity auction of Alvaro’s leathers and helmet for the Fundación Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos de Toledo, supporting hospitals for paraplegics and paraplegia research, has ended last night with the highest bid of 2020 Euros.
The lucky bidder now owns some original and signed Alvaro Bautista gear which has been worn during several races this season, including the Catalunya GP where Alvaro achieved a dominant victory in front of his home fans.

Adding yet another award to his already impressive trophy case, Alvaro Bautista will be honoured by the Grupo Cope in the first Premios Cope Talavera tomorrow night. The awards are given out on a national level and honour 11 individuals and institutions as well as 20 enterprises for their contributions to the city.

The award ceremony will take place on Thursday, 19th November, at 9PM in the Teatro Victoria of Talavera de la Reina and the honorees will receive unique awards which are designed and decorated by ceramics artists from Talavera.

As Alvaro’s current Suzuki test in Estoril will only conclude tomorrow, it is yet unknown if he will be able to attend the ceremony. We will keep you updated.

UPDATE: Bati was not able to return to Talavera in time for the award ceremony, but to participate anyway the event organizers installed a telephone connection to present the award to Alvaro. Unfortunately, as the newspapers report, that connection was not working properly and while Alvaro was not able to hear anything from the event, the filled theatre did hear his more than clear “Yes?” and “Good evening”, scaring some of the attendants and providing some of the laughter for the evening.
However, he will receive his award in the form of a ceramic “C” once he is back in Talavera.

Alvaro is back on his new work tool this week, testing the Suzuki at Estoril since yesterday.
In the night from Monday to Tuesday a strong rainstorm hit the circuit and the track was still wet when Alvaro and Suzuki test rider Nobuatsu Aoki started their first session. But sunny conditions and warm temperatures made it into a good first day after all.
Alvaro was out on the bike for 45 laps total, divided into three sessions à 15 laps. He didn’t change tyres and wasn’t going for laptimes, the sole purpose being that he gets further accustomed to the bike.

Alvaro Bautista: “I’m satisfied, because the team and I got to know each other better. The asphalt wasn’t much fun to ride on, because there was no grip, but I still benefited from the day in that I understand the electronics and the mechanics of the Suzuki better.”

The test continues today and will conclude on Thursday.

With the first MotoGP test just concluded in Valencia yesterday, Alvaro will have another two days of testing with the Suzuki next week at the Estoril circuit.
The Suzuki MotoGP team has already paid for the track time, but also invited the other Rookie teams to use the circuit with them. However, it appears that none of the other teams took Suzuki up on the offer, so Alvaro and test rider Nobuatsu Aoki will probably have the track all to themselves.
The test will get underway on Tuesday, 17th November, and conclude on Wednesday, 18th November.

An additional Rookies test is scheduled for the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia from 21st to 23rd December, but only Rookies Hiroshi Aoyama and Marco Simoncelli have yet voiced interest to participate while it’s unclear if HRC can even supply them with bikes in time.
We will keep you updated whether or not Alvaro might take part in this test as well when we get the info.

List of the fastest laptimes from all three days of testing.

Pos No Rider Bike Time Diff Day
1 27 Casey Stoner Ducati 1’31.899 0.000 Day 3
2 99 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1’31.939 0.040 Day 2
3 3 Dani Pedrosa Honda 1’31.944 0.045 Day 3
4 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1’32.528 0.629 Day 2
5 69 Nicky Hayden Ducati 1’32.804 0.905 Day 3
6 4 Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1’32.825 0.926 Day 3
7 33 Marco Melandri Honda 1’32.935 1.036 Day 3
8 11 Ben Spies Yamaha 1’32.942 1.043 Day 2
9 36 Mika Kallio Ducati 1’32.988 1.089 Day 3
10 14 Randy de Puniet Honda 1’33.111 1.212 Day 2
11 65 Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1’33.211 1.312 Day 2
12 41 Aleix Espargaro Ducati 1’33.275 1.376 Day 3
13 40 Hector Barbera Ducati 1’33.786 1.887 Day 3
14 58 Marco Simoncelli Honda 1’33.857 1.958 Day 3
15 5 Colin Edwards Yamaha 1’33.929 2.030 Day 1
16 19 Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1’34.163 2.264 Day 3
17 400 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda 1’34.821 2.922 Day 3
18 0 Toni Elias Gresini Moto2 1’37.279 5.380 Day 2
19 9 Kenny Noyes Promoracing Moto2 1’37.881 5.982 Day 2
20 5 Joan Olive Promoracing Moto2 1’39.227 7.328 Day 3
21 14 Ratthapark Wilairot Stop & Go Moto2 1’41.989 10.090 Day 1