Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista is eagerly awaiting his home Grand Prix at Montmelo in Catalunya this weekend, determined to put the rigours of this season so far firmly behind him.

Bautista will be back at full fitness as he heads to the Catalonian circuit, following the last two races that have seen him make an incredible – but under-strength – return to action following a broken femur earlier in the year. He was involved in a five-man battle last time out at Le Mans that saw the Spaniard fight hard all race long, before eventually finishing in 12th place. Bautista is convinced that he can now make the step up and compete inside the top-10 as he aims to get Rizla Suzuki’s season firmly back on track. The Montmelo circuit is a track that Bautista enjoys and after a strong fifth there last season – his equal best result of 2010 – he will be hoping that the mix of his ‘home’ Grand Prix and the added incentive of many fans and friends at trackside will spur him on to a strong performance in this year’s race.

The Circuit de Catalunya is located 20km north of Barcelona, near the town of Granollers. It is one of the most modern circuits on the MotoGP calendar and has all the elements you would need to make an excellent Grand Prix. The 4,727m circuit, with its eight right and five left-hand corners, is a good measure of a bike’s performance, as what works well there will usually work well anywhere. The mixture of a kilometre-long straight, fast right-handers, elevation changes, a downhill section into a sharp right-hand bend and a huge grandstand that will be filled to capacity along the start-finish straight, all go to make this one of the most eagerly anticipated events on the season’s calendar.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will start its preparations for Sunday’s 25-lap race with two free practice sessions on Friday. Another free session will be held on Saturday morning and then an hour of qualifying in the afternoon will determine starting positions for the race, which gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) on Sunday 5th June.

Álvaro Bautista: “I have a good memory from last year at Barcelona and I hope to be able to make a good race there because it is a track I like very much. I have been training very hard and I’ll be 100% fit when we start the weekend. We have all had a tough time so far this year and we need to forget about that and focus on the rest of the season, we still have many races to go and I’m sure we can be competitive and start pushing nearer the front very soon. I really like racing at Montmelo and I’m sure that my ‘home’ race will give me the confidence that I had there last year – and also during the winter tests – to be able to produce a good performance to really get our season underway.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Suzuki MotoGP are offering a very special prize up for grabs at the Riders for Health auction at Day of Champions ahead of the Silverstone Grand Prix. Do a lap of the circuit with Álvaro Bautista!

Fans will be able to bid on this amazing experience at the famous auction at Day of Champions on Thursday 9th June. The proceeds from Day of Champions will help to support the work of Riders for Health – the official charity of MotoGP.

Tickets for Day of Champions, including the fantastic Day of Champions auction, stunt shows, live music and interviews, are just £15, but you can save 20% if you buy online today. Click here to order your Day of Champions tickets now

The winning bidder of this exclusive prize will have the chance to do a lap of the Silverstone circuit on the back of a Suzuki scooter ridden by Bautista as the two discuss the features of the track and how the MotoGP star will be approaching the various corners in the upcoming race.

As well as this personal guide to the Silverstone circuit, the winning bidder will receive two passes for Friday to enter the exclusive MotoGP paddock area so they and a friend can join the Suzuki MotoGP team for lunch and get the chance to watch Bautista in action on his Suzuki GSV-R from the VIP grandstand.

They will then have the chance to come to the Suzuki garage in the early evening and meet Bautista and the team in the pit-box and get up-close-and-personal with the Suzuki GSV-R. The famous MotoGP photographers, Gold and Goose, will be on-hand to record what’s happening.

The winning bidder will then join Bautista on the back of his Suzuki scooter to complete a lap of the circuit, again with Gold and Goose getting a shot of the two as they head out on to the track.

This is an amazing money-can’t-buy chance to get on board a bike during a Grand Prix weekend, just hours after the world’s greatest riders have completed laps around the Silverstone circuit on their prototype MotoGP machines.

There is always a fantastic atmosphere at Day of Champions and it is the perfect way to start your British MotoGP weekend and see all of the stars of MotoGP. And most importantly, all of the money raised from the event makes a huge difference to Riders’ lifesaving work in Africa.

Source: Riders for Health

When the Rizla Suzuki Team signed a new agreement at the beginning of 2010 for a collaboration with the legendary designer Troy Lee, it also meant that all the team gear, the bikes and the rider’s helmets were to be designed by the American company. This created an interesting overlap of designs as Starline Designers‘ Roberto Marchionni had already created the 2010 helmet for Alvaro. However, due to the team’s new deal with Troy Lee Alvaro never actually got to wear this helmet on track and it disappeared into the depths of the designer’s locker.

But recently an Italian helmet design blog unearthed this “helmet that never was” and posted some pictures of the original Starline design.

What do you think of the design? Do you prefer this one or the official 2010 design by Troy Lee?

You can also check out all of Alvaro’s previous helmet designs since he started in the world championship here.

Photos: Starline Designers via Racing Helmets Garage

Álvaro has been one of several special guests opening the first annual Motor Festival in Asturias MotorAstur yesterday. The event in the city of Gijón in the north of Spain will last until Sunday evening and include an award ceremony for Spanish record champion Angel Nieto.
Álvaro signed autographs and posed for pictures at the Suzuki stand on Friday and together with fellow rider Efren Vazquez and Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta he participated in a press conference as well. Earlier in the day he experienced the culture of the region by visiting a cider production and trying his hand at the art of pouring the cider as elaborately as possible which he did quite well for a beginner, but still found “really hard to do”. Of course everyone was also invited to taste some of the fresh cider which Alvaro professed to “love”.

During the various events and the press conference the assembled journalists used the opportunity to ask the Suzuki rider some questions about his second season in the MotoGP class. And of course one question everyone had on the tip of their tongues was about the incident between Simoncelli and Pedrosa during the last race in Le Mans. Álvaro remained very clear on the topic and reiterated his opinion which he had already conveyed before: “Everyone knows what I think about Simoncelli. I’ve had my best and worst with him and I don’t think he’s a ‘noble’ rider. You can be an aggressive rider, but still be ‘noble’”.

Asked about his current physical condition and his expectations for the rest of the season, he remained optimistic. “I did two months of tough physiotherapy and gym work. I’m getting better, but I’m not at 100% yet. I hope to be almost at the top when I get to Catalunya where I’ve finished fifth last year. They say that hard times make you stronger and really with all the work in the gym I feel that I’m getting stronger and improve a lot.”

His goal now is to “get back to where we were before, without looking at the final result. At the moment the Hondas are a step above.” But overall he has the same objective he had before breaking his leg in Qatar. “We started the season with the aim to fight for a podium at some point and this remains the same.” He still has 14 races this season to achieve it.

Photo: lne.es

Fans will now be able to purchase Official Merchandise through the new MotoGP Store, which launched on 26th May as a new section of the motogp.com website.

The MotoGP Store is the very first Official Online shop offering all the latest licensed products with worldwide delivery. A wide range of MotoGP products and accessories are now available and will be updated regularly with new exclusive designs and collections.

“MotoGP fans all around the world have been looking forward to a comprehensive offer of official merchandising and the new MotoGP Store can now cater to their wishes, with unparalleled ease of use and an exhaustive range of products, matching the offer of what fans can purchase on-site at a MotoGP event, as well as products that have not been seen at the circuits” said Pau Serracanta, Dorna Sports’ Commercial Area Managing Director.

Marc Malagelada, co-founder and Marketing Director of Insiteout – Dorna Sports’ e-commerce partner, said: “At Insiteout, we tackled the challenge of transferring the emotion and passion experienced at the track to an online experience up to the standards of the MotoGP fans: a user-friendly Store which will be improved constantly to match the demands of the fans.”

The new MotoGP Store can be reached through this url: store.motogp.com

As is customary this season every Tuesday after a Grand Prix, Alvaro posted a new column for AS yesterday. This is the complete translation.

The first time. Hi friends! Here I am again, another week with you. I am writing this time from Holland, because I came here to do an event with Rev’it!, my brand of leathers, after Le Mans, a circuit that is not one of my favourites and where for me it was the first time riding a MotoGP bike. Last year I didn’t do it because I had an injured collarbone. But before we go on, first I want to send from here all my support and my sympathies to the people of Lorca, in particular to the families of the deceased. These are hard days for them all, but surely they will emerge stronger.

My leg. This weekend I tried a new chassis which I believe will help us to improve. I made some changes to the bike during practice, because with the cold temperatures there was no grip at all on the rear wheel. I lacked confidence and, as I am still now, recovering from the injury what I need above all is to feel good on the bike. We improved the Suzuki for the qualifying, but not enough to be 100%. During the practice runs my left leg responded well. I have improved greatly since Portugal, although in the changes of direction I’m still a little slow. I hope to be on top again soon.

The race. Honestly I was very confident to be able to fight for a top ten result in the race, because in practice I had a good pace and I was 1.3 seconds behind the pole, but the start was as usual. In the first lap I lost positions because the tyres were not yet warm enough. It was colder than on the days before and I couldn’t go fast in the corners. I didn’t feel the same grip on the bike as in practice. I spent the whole race fighting with Abraham, Barbera and Elias. It was a fun fight, because we passed and re-passed each other. It was good for me, because I could get my rhythm fighting with others, not like in Estoril, where I rode alone after going off track. It was a shame that with just two laps to go, after passing Abraham, I inadvertently changed the gear to neutral. I lost time to the group. I tried to catch them, but I had no time to pass them and we stuck together.

Rossi. Some time later it seems that Vale is littly by little doing better with the Ducati and he got his first podium. Although I don’t think he will fight for the title you can never count out Rossi. The Honda is on a higher level than the rest and here you could see it more.

Controversy. Much controversy has been going on about Simoncelli since Portugal. For me it is nothing new. In 250cc I already complained about his dangerous riding against others… and it was nothing. Then it did not matter, but of course now in MotoGP things change and it seems that he is dangerous indeed. I didn’t see the incident in the race between him and Pedrosa very well, but it seems that Dani wanted to pass him and he wanted to keep him from it. It’s hard to say who was to blame from the outside, only they know, although Simoncelli received a ride through penalty.

Congratulations. Congratulations to Maverick. What a race! In his fourth race in the world championship he gets his first win. We have good young talent. Nico was fantastic. He did what he had to do and increased his lead. In 125cc Efren topped off the triple. I’m happy for them. And a perfect race from Marc in Moto2. He was patient and things will come. And also well done Julito in the fight for the podium…

Montmeló. The next race is at home, in Barcelona. I love racing in front of the Spanish fans. In Jerez I could not do it, but in Montmeló I hope to do a very good race in front of the best fans in the world. I hope my leg will be fully recovered and I can squeeze the most out of my Suzuki. Can I improve the fifth place from last year? We will know in three weeks. Until then, endure the time without bikes as good as you can, I know it’s hard. See you!

Source: AS.com

Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista produced another strong performance as he fought fairing-to-fairing right to the chequered flag at Le Mans today.

Bautista got off the line well at the start of the race, but was boxed in on the first couple of corners and found himself relegated to last place by the end of the first lap. Bautista composed himself and set about catching and passing the riders in front of him and on lap five he got involved in a five man battle that would carry on until the end of the race. Bautista picked each rider off over the middle section of the race to move up to ninth place, but a mistake later on saw him lose two places. The battling Spaniard was then hit from behind by Loris Capirossi, as Bautista also came together with Hector Barbera – an incident that saw Capirossi crash out. This caused Bautista to lose time to the pack and although he fought back to the group, he didn’t have enough laps for another attack and had to settle for 12th place, just 0.463 seconds from ninth position.

Over 88,000 enthusiastic French fans watched the race at trackside, as the storm clouds that threatened stayed away and allowed for a dry race. Honda’s Casey Stoner completed a dominant weekend’s work by winning the race by over 14 seconds from team-mate Andrea Dovizioso. Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo still leads the riders’ standing after four rounds.

Rizla Suzuki will now travel to Spain for the next round of the MotoGP World Championship that sees the Montmelo circuit near Barcelona stage race five in this season’s calendar on Sunday 5th June.

Álvaro Bautista: “This is my first race this year because in Estoril I raced alone, but today I was able to fight with other riders! We managed to finish the race and get more kilometres under our belts, but I did not have the same feeling today as we had yesterday. I felt like I had no good rear grip in the exit of the corner and the bike was spinning a lot and I struggled to stay with the group going for places in the top-10. I made a mistake when I tried to pass Abraham later on as I touched the gear lever and went into neutral and lost some time, and I also had a bit of an incident with Loris and Hector. I tried to catch the group at the end, but it was very difficult to get past them. This is another race completed and I felt more competitive than in Estoril. This race was good for getting the racing feeling back and being able to overtake other riders and fight with them. I did many overtakes under braking and enjoyed the race very much – but not the result! I think if my rhythm had been better I could have finished in the top-10.
“I want to thank all my team, because it has been a difficult weekend with some strange weather conditions, we tried to do the best we could and make a good bike for these conditions.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “This weekend has been a successful second step for Álvaro’s recovery, and the fact that he’s ridden the bike in Estoril and here in Le Mans is a great result in itself – compared to what most people involved in MotoGP thought would happen. The general consensus was to come back at Catalunya, and that was as good as we could expect. Now we have two race-weekends under our belt, his first battle with other riders since Valencia last year and a good platform to really start our season. In Barcelona – the Rizla Suzuki goes well there, the rider will be back to full strength and we’re all looking forward to it!”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Alvaro took 12th position in the French Grand Prix at Le Mans after a race-long battle with a handful of riders. He had a slow start, falling into last position after the first lap, but slowly finding his rhythm and latching on to the group in front of him which was finally fighting for 9th position. He moved up through the ranks and had some good battles, but finally had to be content with a close finish in 12th, within reach of the top ten.

Pos. Num. Rider Team Time/Gap
1 27 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 44’03.955
2 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team +14.214
3 46 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team +14.564
4 1 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha Factory Racing +21.075
5 58 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini +31.245
6 11 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing +31.609
7 69 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team +35.566
8 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini +51.502
9 8 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP +1’03.731
10 17 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing +1’03.885
11 24 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP +1’04.068
12 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1’04.192
13 5 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2 Laps

Not Classified
65 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 7 Laps
26 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 11 Laps
35 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 22 Laps
14 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 27 Laps