REV’IT Sport International – suppliers to Alvaro of leathers and gloves for this 2010 season, have very kindly supplied us with an exclusive desktop wallpaper design to share with you. We told them how much we like sharing download goodies with all the fans up here on the sites and the BatiFans.com Alvaro Bautista Fan Forum, and as a result they’ve very kindly produced a fantastic, moody widescreen desktop in 3 sizes to suit your monitor; 1920×1200, 1680×1050 and 1440×900.
It’s based on the publicity shot that was used to announce the partnership between Alvaro and REV’IT! but has been altered to shift colours and to change the background texture.

Download the 1920×1200 version

Download the 1680×1050 version

Download the 1440×900 version

Enjoy! And pass on!

Which of Alvaro’s helmets do you like best?
Read through our full history of them here in our special feature article, look through the choices here and vote in the poll at the bottom of the page…

Have you ever wondered about Alvaro’s helmets and their designs? We give you an overview of all the personally designed helmets Alvaro’s been using in his career so far.
And once you’ve found out all about them, you can VOTE for your favourite in our exclusive poll here…

Alvaro started his world championship career as a wildcard in 2002 with the helmet sponsor NZI. It’s a relatively small Spanish company that isn’t too well-known outside the Iberian Peninsula, but they sponsored a lot of Spanish racing stars in the past and Alvaro stayed with them for six seasons.

His first personal NZI helmet in 2002 was designed to match his Atletico Madrid livery back then and it made a great looking complete package. Alvaro wore that helmet for all races in the Spanish Championship that year and his wildcard entries in Catalunya and Jerez. His mascot at the time was already a devil, albeit not looking much like the mascot he has nowadays. He wore a differently designed helmet for his wildcard at the Valencian GP which was most likely a regular design of NZI’s product line that year.

2003 was Bati’s first full season in the 125cc world championship and his NZI Vitesse helmet design was a pretty simple one at that time. But the silver base design with black, red and blue elements, topped off with stickers of his name, number and mascot already bore some resemblance to his design in the following years. It’s interesting to note that for the first two races of the 2003 season Alvaro’s mascot was not a devil but instead the head of a bull with fire coming out of its nostrils. The inaugural Spanish championship round in Catalunya was the first time we saw the fun devil mascot that Alvaro still has today.

In 2004 Bati wore the same helmet as in 2003 for the first race in South Africa and in various practice sessions throughout the year, but at the Jerez GP he unveiled the trademark helmet design which should stay with him until the end of his championship winning season in 2006. Although the design stayed the same (bar a few very minor variations of colours and shapes) the helmet was further developed by NZI and Alvaro promoted the NZI Vitesse and NZI Razer II with this design during the years.

There were only two different designs during that time. The first was a special one-off helmet for the Valencian GP 2004 which – along with Alvaro’s leathers – had a slightly different colour scheme to represent the Spanish flag. And Alvaro’s championship helmet which he wore during the Japanese GP in 2006 and during the practice sessions of the following Portuguese and Valencian GP was a modified version of his normal design with a large number 1 on each side.

With his move to the 250cc class in 2007 Alvaro also changed his helmet design completely. His new NZI Spyder III helmet, designed by the Spanish company Zero Racing, now matched his blue and white livery much better. A blue and silver base colour with dominant red details and tribal features made the perfect addition to the rest of his safety gear. An interesting detail of the first helmets he wore that year are the colours of the Spanish flag incorporated on top of the helmet. However, these were not used in all GPs that year and the replicas sold by NZI do not include the Spanish flag either.

2008 saw not only a colour change for the Aspar Team, but also a change of helmet sponsor for Alvaro as he switched to Suomy. His first personalised design of the Suomy Spec 1R, created by Bargy Design, wasn’t used for long though. The very bold blue, red and white design tries to play with Alvaro’s devil mascot and features two stylised devil heads on the back and the top of the helmet. The helmets used by Alvaro in the races also have his name embedded in the design on the back. However, due to a company policy of Suomy this is not a feature of the replicas sold to the public. Suomy replicas in general do not include the personal numbers or names of the riders, these are only made specifically for their sponsored riders.

Already in Mugello, the 6th Grand Prix of the 2008 season, Alvaro began to wear his new 2009 design regularly. Considering his red & white livery since the start of 2008, the mostly red and silver 2009 Spec 1R design fit much better in the combination and he kept the helmet all throughout last year as well. Just like with the 2008 helmet the race version of the 2009 helmet also has a stylised “Bautista” on the backside which is not included in the replicas sold by Suomy. This design and all special one-off helmets during the 2008 and 2009 season were created by the Italian company Starline Designers.

Special designs 2008 & 2009
Alvaro wore different helmets on three occasions in 2009 – Catalunya, Misano and Valencia – and one time in 2008 for the Jerez GP

His unique helmet design for Catalunya showed comic characters of Don Quixote and Sancho Pansa on the back and a grim-looking windmill on top of the helmet. Alvaro’s hometown Talavera de la Reina lies in Castilla La-Mancha where the story of the book Don Quixote takes place which is a big part of La Mancha’s culture. Bati said about the design: “It is a design that I like a lot, it’s very original. Don Quixote is from La Mancha, like me, and we say that he was a bit of a crazy hero, a knight who went out to fight on his horse. He fought against wind mills, I fight against other riders.”

At the San Marino GP 2009 Alvaro wore a helmet during the race which appears to be a regular design of Suomy’s 2010 product range and is called “Wall Street”.

The very simple design of Alvaro’s helmet at the Valencian GP 2009 was a tribute to his team manager and good friend Jorge Martinez Aspar. Since it was already clear by the time that Alvaro would not continue his career with the Aspar Team, he wanted to honour the man who helped him become 125cc world champion in 2006 and fight for the 250cc crown multiple times. The helmet is a replica of the design Aspar wore during his active racing career and features a personal dedication from Alvaro to Jorge and his entire team.

The helmet design Alvaro presented at the Jerez GP 2008 featured a red and yellow Spanish colour combination with two big “B”s for Bautista on the side of the helmet and his mascot on the back. Unfortunately this special design did not bring him any luck as he had an engine seizure during the race which cost him the win.

The future

Bati will stay with helmet sponsor Suomy for the 2010 season, his first one in the MotoGP class. His newest design which we saw for the first time at the Sepang test earlier this month looks similar to the Jerez 2008 helmet in its pattern idea with the two “B”s on the sides, but its colour scheme is much brighter, featuring the Rizla Suzuki baby blue mixed with very colourful pink and yellow elements. Alvaro’s newest helmet design is again created by Bargy Designs.

We waited for a long time to finally see Alvaro in blue. And we think it’s appropriate to say that it was worth the wait.

Photos courtesy of Rizla Suzuki.

Following our earlier feature on the history of Suzuki in MotoGP we now bring you an overview of the brandnew team that Bati will be working with this season. And let it be said beforehand: It is a BIG team. If you thought that the five mechanics Bati had in 250cc were many, you have seen nothing yet.
Meet the Rizla Suzuki team 2010 and say Hello to Bati’s side of the garage.

Not counting the teammembers in Loris’ box there are all in all 21 people responsible for Bati’s needs or the team on a whole, 7 of them working for Alvaro alone. The majority of them are the same who’ve previously been working for Chris Vermeulen.
These are the faces you need to know in 2010 (for a better overview we’ve also done a fancy face collage for you, not to be confused with a Most Wanted list).

Team organisation:

• Shinichi Sahara, project manager: This is the man responsible for Suzuki’s racing operation. He’s been with the team for many years and only recently stepped up into this position.
• Paul Denning, team manager: The man you will see on screen the most whenever someone wants to know anything about the team, he is practically our new Jorge Martinez. The man responsible for getting Bati signed. A man we like. ;D
• Russel Jordan, Parts and Logistics manager: Someone you’ll rarely see as he works mostly behind the scenes. Responsible for getting all the team’s equipment from A to B and making sure that everything’s there what’s needed.
• Charlie Moody, operations manager: Another face from behind the scenes you’ll probably rarely see. But watch out for the 70s hairstyle when you’re in the paddock.
• Helen Taylor, team administrator: The only woman in the crew. Someone’s gotta keep all those guys in line.
• Tim Walpole, press and PR officer: A fansite’s best friend, because he’s the man responsible for all the press releases, official interviews and pictures to be published. We already love him lots.

Bati’s boys:

• Tom O’Kane, crew chief: Alvaro’s main go-to-guy for everything concerning the bike. This is the man who gets the Suzuki adjusted exactly to Bati’s needs and translates his input to make it the best bike possible.
• Simon Westwood, crew leader: A former motorcylce racer himself, he coordinates all the crew in Bati’s part of the garage.
• Renato Penacchio, data analyst
• Tsutomu Matsugano, technician
• Ray Hughes, technician: Among other things he’s also the man responsible for Bati’s pitboard.
• Mark Fleming, truck driver and technician: Yep, Alvaro got his very own truck driver now!
• ECU Control Assistance: Still to be named

Tech Support:

• Richard Francis, Sub-Assemblies Manager
• Tetsuya Sasaki, Chassis Development
• Engine Builder – Still to be named
• Takayuki Nakamoto, Engine Development/Control

Parts Support:

• Dirk Debus, 2D Electronics
• Yukihiko Kubo, Bridgestone tyres
• Graeme Irvine, Öhlins suspension
• Eugenio Gandolfi, Brembo Brakes

With Alvaro moving not only to a new class and a new team, but also a new manufacturer after spending almost his entire MotoGP career with Aprilia, we’d like to give you a few features on Alvaro’s new employer Suzuki. We start with the history of Suzuki in the MotoGP class.

Suzuki is one of the manufacturers that is present in Grand Prix racing the longest, being on the scene since 1960 – making Bati’s first year with the team their 50th anniversary. In those years Suzuki has won seven manufacturer titles and six rider titles, courtesy of some of the most popular legendary riders like Barry Sheene and Kevin Schwantz.

Barry Sheene was probably the brightest light of his generation, often referred to as “the early Valentino Rossi”, since he was the first rider in the Grand Prix scene to be probably as popular for his charisma and charme off track as he was for his undeniable talent and excellent results on track.

The man with Donald Duck on his helmet was part of the first works team Suzuki entered in the 500cc Grand Prix World Championship, back in 1974. He was joined by Jack Findlay, both riding the Suzuki RG500. In the first year a second place in the first round by Sheene stayed the best result of the season, but a pole-to-finish win by Barry Sheene at the Dutch TT 1975 finally brought the team their first win with Sheene finishing the season 6th overall and adding another win to the tally.

The Sheene-Suzuki star continued to rise as Barry Sheene won the 500cc title in 1976 with a total of five wins and successfully defended the crown in 1977, this time with six race victories along the way. Teammate Steve Parrish finished the season in fifth place.

In 1978, using the new Suzuki RGA, Sheene finished 2nd in the championship behind Kenny Roberts, with two wins. Team mate Wil Hartog also had two wins and was 4th overall. Riding the new Suzuki RGB in the 1979 championship, Suzuki riders Virginio Ferrari, Barry Sheene and Wil Hartog finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th behind Yamaha rider Kenny Roberts, securing the manufacturer’s title.

Randy Mamola joined Suzuki in 1980 and finished the season in 2nd, his teammate Marco Lucchinelli ending the year in 3rd. But already a year later Marco Lucchinelli became the 500cc World Champion, riding the new Suzuki RG-Gamma.

Marco Lucchinelli left Suzuki to join Honda in 1982, but was replaced by Franco Uncini who went on to win the World Championship with five victories along the way. Unfortunately Uncini was severely injured at the 1983 Assen TT and not able to defend his title. Partly due to the consequences of that incident Suzuki withdrew its works support at the end of the season.

After three years away from Grand Prix, Suzuki returned in 1987 with factory supported entries. While it was not a full time return, Suzuki riders Takumi Itoh and Kevin Schwantz took some good results. Following this, Suzuki made a full return in 1988 where Kevin Schwantz took two wins.

The following years Schwantz slowly worked his way up the ranks and towards his world title, finishing the 1989 season in 4th place despite six race wins, taking the runner-up spot in 1990 with five wins, and another five wins see him finish 1991 in 3rd, then only one win in 1992 relegates him further back to finish 4th again.
But in 1993 Schwantz finally takes the 500cc world championship title with Suzuki, scoring four race wins.
Schwantz’ teammates in those years all finished inside the Top 6, proving the Suzuki to be a more than competitive package.

In 1994 Kevin Schwantz is not able to defend the title and finishes the season in 4th with 2 wins. Early in the 1995 season he announces his retirement from competitive racing. Suzuki’s other rider Daryl Beattie finishes the season runner-up with two race wins. Those will remain the last Suzuki wins for quite some time.

Daryl Beattie is joined in 1996 by Scott Russell. While Russell finished the season sixth, Beattie suffered serious injuries in pre-season and did not manage to get back to his previous form, finishing the year in 18th.
1997 holds more of the same for the team with Daryl Beattie finishing the season in 11th while Anthony Gobert is 15th. A 5th-place finish by Beattie is the team’s best result of the season.
Trying to turn things around, Suzuki entered an all Japanese riders lineup in 1998 with Nobuatsu Aoki and Katsuaki Fujiwara. But bad fortune strikes again as Fujiwara gets injured during pre-season tests and Aoki is left alone. He finishes 9th for the season with a best result of 4th place.

With the signing of Kenny Roberts Jr. in 1999, fortune is about to change for Suzuki. Joining Nobuatsu Aoki, Roberts Jr. takes Suzuki’s first victory in four years and adding three more wins throughout the season he finishes runner-up in the championship with Aoki in 13th.
In 2000 Kenny Roberts Jr. becomes the 500cc World Champion with a total of four victories, Aoki was 10th overall. This was Suzuki’s last championship title to this day.

The latter part of Suzuki’s history inside MotoGP has been full of ups and downs. Even though Suzuki began the millennium on a high note with Kenny Roberts Jr. being the last man to win the 500cc title before the “Rossi era”, after the 2000 season Suzuki has been struggling to become a true contender in the 500cc/MotoGP class.

After Roberts Jr.’s championship year, Sete Gibernau joined the team, riding the Suzuki RGV500. However, results where nowhere near the ones from a season past. Gibernau scored on win, but finished 9th in the championship with Roberts Jr. down in a lowly 11th position.

In 2002, the debut year of the new MotoGP class, Kenny Roberts, Jr. and Sete Gibernau ride the new Suzuki GSV-R four-stroke. A long win drought is about to start. The team’s best result is a 3rd place by Roberts Jr. at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Season end results: Roberts Jr. in 9th, Gibernau in 16th.

While Gibernau leaves the team for Honda and goes on to challenge Rossi all throughout the season, John Hopkins joins Kenny Roberts Jr. in 2003. After a crash at the Italian GP Roberts Jr. is forced to miss three races, Hopkins’ best result is a 7th place at the Spanish GP. Both riders finish the year outside the Top 15.
And more of the same the following year. With the same rider line-up and both of them again finishing the season outside the Top 15, the only change for the team is a switch from Michelin to Bridgestone tyres.
In 2005 we see the same yet again. Roberts Jr. manages to at least end the Suzuki podium drought with a 2nd place in the wet British GP, but he still only finishes the year – his last with Suzuki – in 13th position, Hopkins is one behind in 14th.

Hopkins stays while Roberts Jr. is replaced by Aussie Chris Vermeulen in 2006 – the man whose seat is now taken by Alvaro. Vermeulen manages a good first year, bringing Suzuki a 2nd place finish at his home GP in Phillip Island. Regardless, the team’s overall result is still disappointing: 10th and 11th for Hopkins and Vermeulen while in the team standings Rizla Suzuki only comes in 5th, a devastating 140 points behind 4th placed satellite team Fortuna Honda.

With the same rider lineup, things looked to improve considerably in the team for 2007 when another rule regulation changed the engine capacity yet again after 2002. With the 800cc Suzuki GSV-R Chris Vermeulen took Suzuki’s first win since the advent of four-stroke regulations at the French GP and finished the season in a promising 6th place while John Hopkins even moved up to 4th with four podium positions along the way. Suzuki still only ranks 4th in the manufacturers’ standings, but a promising 3rd in the teams’ classification.

Unfortunately the following two seasons should not repeat or even improve these results. In 2008 Loris Capirossi replaces John Hopkins, but fails to match his previous performances inside the MotoGP class. The Italian racing veteran finishes the season only in 10th place, but with a highlight of a 3rd place podium finish at the Czech GP, his last MotoGP GP podium to date.
Vermeulen drops in the rankings to 8th overall, but brings home back-to-back podium finishes at Sachsenring and Laguna Seca. Suzuki still ranks 4th overall in the constructors’ classification while Rizla Suzuki slips to 5th in the teams’ rankings.
2009 sees this trend continue, with not one podium finish for Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi and an overall rather frustrating season for the team.

After the disappointing last few years, things shall change next season. The comparatively weak Suzuki package is getting a few improvements for 2010. Even if it might not be the most competitive package from the start, it should be at least a more competitive one than it had been in the last years. And with the signing of a young and hungry rider like Alvaro, the team is determined to make a fresh start and get Rizla Suzuki on the winning ways again. We hope for the best.

Suzuki’s motorcycle operations are based at Hamamatsu in Japan, with the MotoGP team’s headquarters now residing at Verwood in Dorset, England – also the home of the Rizla Suzuki British Superbike team.

Another postseason interview with Alvaro has just been published by soymotero.net. They sat down with Alvaro after his visit to the Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos in Toledo earlier this month (we reported) and tried to get a little preview for next season.
Let’s risk a look into the future.

Alvaro, after the tests in Valencia and Portugal, how do you see the adaptation to the GSV-R?
To be honest, very good. From the beginning it felt easier than I had thought. Of course once you arrive at the limits it will be harder to improve from there, but it felt like a very different bike, more bike than the 250s. All the electronics, the brakes and above all the power when you come out of a curve… it is difficult to control it, but frankly I had a very good feeling with the bike and I am very satisfied, because every time I rode it I improved and every time I was able to control it a little better.

Some riders like Vermeulen have commented that Suzuki has a problem with power compared to the rest of the field. Do you think that this point will be solved for 2010?
Man, I do not know. For me it has too much power right now, but there will come the moment when I need more. Right now I am on a level where I still haven’t reached the limits, neither with the engine nor with the chassis or anything else, so at this moment it is difficult to me to think about that.

So far everything has been new for you. Regarding the tyres, one of the most important aspects for the Suzuki, what is your impression with the change from Dunlop, with which you have always competed, to Bridgestone?*
They are a little different, it is the same tire for everyone and each bike works different. What has surprised me the most were the first laps, because they have very little grip with the cold rubber and you must ride carefully, but once they are warmed up it is impressive how much you can lean in and how fast you can enter a curve, but at the beginning you really have to be very careful until they are warmed up.

What about the physical aspect? Do you think that you will need a special training to adapt to MotoGP?
I was surprised about that, because when I moved from 125cc to 250cc I noticed that I needed more strength because the bike was heavier and it was harder for me to move it. But when I changed to MotoGP you won’t believe it, I didn’t notice much difference compared to 250cc. Regarding the physical level I think that it is going to be more or less the same work as with 250cc, there is not so much more strength needed to ride this bike.

I imagine that besides the tests your great day will be April 11th in Qatar, it’s already soon, but what will Alvaro Bautista feel in his first MotoGP race?
It’s still a long time, I must learn a lot about the bike and find all the limits, there’s everything to learn. In the first race we will see what happens at the start, the first curve, the first laps with all the people of MotoGP… In the end it’s a race just as in 125cc or 250cc. I don’t know what I will feel at the start of the race or even the first laps until you find your place, because quickly enough you’ve done several laps and are in your spot, but at the beginning…

What goals do you have for your first season in MotoGP?
We have to see what level I can reach with this bike, but above all I think the main goal is to enjoy myself. I want to ride the bike as I did in 125cc or 250cc where I had a lot of fun and it was all in my hands; from there we will see what results I’ll be able to achive. Of course I will give one hundred percent and it is a learning year, because at all the circuits I have to find new references and everything will be new for me; also the team is new and I need to get more kilometers on this bike and with this team to see where we can go.

Now that you have ended a chapter of your career, what balance can you draw about your time with the Aspar Team?
The most important at a professional level was the 125cc world title. But overall I valued that in the four years I have been with them we were always fighting at the front, we won races, we had a lot of podiums, we fought for the championship and that is the important thing, the good moments we had.

And on a personal level, what feeling do you take with you?
At a personal level I think that it is a fantastic team. From the first day that I met the team they tried to take me in as one more, I got along brilliantly with the mechanics who were not only my mechanics, but also my friends. To be honest I am enchanted with that team, because they have helped me a lot. Also of course Jorge, I only have good things to say about them.

Interview and pictures by soymotero.net
Translation by the crew of www.alvarobautista.co.uk & www.batifans.com

*We’d like to correct this statement. Alvaro has in fact not always been racing with Dunlop tyres before his switch to MotoGP.  He’s been using Bridgestone his entire first 125cc season in 2003 with the Seedorf Racing Team.

If you’ve followed the silly season shenanigans closely in the off season, you will know that Blusens Aprilia 125cc refugee, Scott Redding, is currently without a ride for 2010, having been linked to a few fruitless talks with various Moto2 teams. Scott certainly has the talent to excel in the Moto2 class, but is currently suffering with a lack of sponsorship deals to land him a Moto2 ride.

In a gesture of solidarity with the Scott Redding Supporters Club, we’d like to take this opportunity to promote the new “Scott Redding 2010″ website, which aims to push publicity and interaction with the cause way beyond its core Facebook presence. With the “Scott Redding 2010” project one of our sister sites, MotoGPBrits.com delivered a website for the Scott Redding Supporters Club to help focus attention on their mission outside of the Facebook environment where it had largely operated before. Whilst over 300 million people use Facebook, over 6.7 billion people use the internet as a whole so it makes sense to ensure that the campaign to try and secure Scott a Moto2 ride for the 2010 MotoGP season reached as broad an audience as possible.

The site will serve as an ongoing news magazine to cover events and fundraising activities run by the Supporters Club, to ensure as many internet users as possible find out about the cause and to enable easy access to instant online donation mechanisms.
We believe it’s a brilliant cause, and hopefully one that will engage all those many potential fans and supporters who don’t use Facebook.

Please share the news and the link, and ideally make a donation too if you can – Scott’s a superb rider and *anything* that can be done to move his career forward is a good cause.