Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi will start tomorrow’s French Grand Prix as the team’s sole rider from the third row of the grid after qualifying in ninth place today.

Capirossi (1’34.306, 26 laps) continued with the positive performance from yesterday during both the sessions today. He was consistently within touch of the front pack throughout the whole of the qualifying session and with a few more modifications to his Suzuki GSV-R this evening, he is confident he can have a strong race tomorrow.

Capirossi will be Rizla Suzuki’s only rider participating in tomorrow’s French Grand Prix, following the withdrawal of Álvaro Bautista earlier today. Bautista suffered from a big high-side in this morning’s practice session and the fresh injuries he sustained – added to his already broken collarbone – forced him to make the decision to take no further part in this weekend’s events. He was disappointed about not competing in France, but also mindful of getting back to full fitness for a hectic schedule ahead.

Álvaro Bautista:
“It is not a good way to say bye-bye to a MotoGP race! This morning I had an injection to help with the pain and for two laps the feeling was a little bit better, not a big difference, but better. Then I crashed and I don’t really know why because I was not going very fast and I just lost the rear tyre. After that I felt more pain down my left side and I decided not to race here and make sure I make a full recovery for the next race. In the future we have lots of races together so it is better to be 100% in all of them, than be 50% or less in one!”

Paul Denning –Team Manager:
“It is a great disappointment not to have Álvaro competing for the rest of the weekend, but in the end the team and the medical staff at the track had to advise him to sit out and let the relatively minor injuries he has heal in time for Mugello. The combination of injuries would have significantly compromised his safety and possibly that of other riders. He’s disappointed, but we are now guaranteed that he’ll be fit and strong for Mugello and we’ll be looking forward to him building on his strong Jerez race performance.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Photo from motogp.com

Rizla Suzuki have now officially confirmed the retirement of Alvaro for this weekend’s French Grand Prix in Le Mans.

Álvaro Bautista has been forced to withdraw from the rest of this weekend’s proceedings at the French Grand Prix in Le Mans after a crash in practice caused him further injuries.

Bautista suffered from a big high-side on only the third lap of this morning’s practice session He landed hard on the asphalt and sustained some more minor injuries, as well as aggravating the broken collarbone that he sustained only a week ago. Bautista was one of three riders to all crash on the same lap this morning, all caught out by the low track temperatures. He was treated by Dr. Costa’s staff straight after the session and after careful consideration and discussions with the team, took the decision to abandon any further attempts to race this weekend.

Rizla Suzuki will not replace Bautista with another rider for the French Grand Prix, so the team will field a one-man attack as Loris Capirossi takes on the responsibility for the squad. Bautista will return to Spain for further treatment – as well as rest and recuperation – to make sure he is 100% fit for the next round of the season at Mugello in Italy in two weeks’ time

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Photo from Mapfre Moto10.

It seems to be official now that Alvaro will indeed not continue the Grand Prix in Le Mans after a nasty highsider in the free practice this morning where he landed heavily on his injured shoulder and also seems to have bruised his foot as well.

Update:
Alvaro has now officially called it a day for the French GP and will sit this one out to recover for the next race in Mugello instead.
His highsider in FP2 looked to have hit his shoulder the most, but it appears that the shoulder was actually okay afterwards, but he got a hard knock on his rips and chest which made it difficult for him to breathe. Additionally he also bruised his ankle. Considering that he’s had surgery only a week ago and even before that crash was already in very bad shape, it is definitely for the better to have him skip this GP in favour of a speedy recovery for the next race. Alvaro himself allegedly even wanted to continue riding, but his team convinced him that he should go out anymore with the physical condition he is currently in.

We wish Alvaro a speedy recovery and hope he’ll be fit for the next race again. Go Bati!

Update 2:
The reports on Alvaro’s injuries are partly a bit confusing, but MCN also reports that in the initial Motocross accident last week Alvaro also cracked two rips, an injury that was made a lot worse with his crash in free practice today. In interviews he stated that he barely feels anything in his entire left side. He also got a hard hit on his hip. Combined with the ankle bruise he picked up with the highsider today it would have been indeed very surprising had the team let him continue racing.

Source: MCN

Another quick interview from AS.com who caught up with Alvaro after the first practice to see how he manages with his recent injury.

You’ve obviously been in a lot of pain. What is the main problem?
I rode without getting a painkiller injection in the shoulder to test it out and the main problem is that I have no power in the arm and after two or three laps I start to lose more and more power during braking and change of direction.

They even had to help you take off your helmet.
It’s when I get off the bike I have almost no power in the arm to move it. It’s as if I got a cramp and I can’t move the arm, it doesn’t have any power.

You said that you won’t be a Sunday driver, being last and suffering. Do you see possibilities to improve?
The first day is the worst one, today I am trying it with an injection and if it’s the same I won’t be able to race tomorrow, most of all because of safety reasons. It’s dangerous for me, because if after ten laps I would risk to crash. After the free practice I will see if I can race or not. So far I’ve only managed five consecutive laps at the most. I hope that with the injection I will have less pain and more power. If not we will work towards Mugello.

Is this worth the trouble?
It is necessary. And also, I’m not forced to do this. I ride here because I want to and because I love riding the bike.

Have you ever suffered as much before?
I already raced in similar circumstances in 2003, but that was with the 125cc. With MotoGP it’s another story. There’s more weight and more power.

Source: AS.com