Sponsored by REV’IT! Sport International

Hi everyone ~

A very special announcement for you, as we introduce this year’s RACECARD Competition, featuring our greatest prize yet: a pair of Alvaro’s racing gloves, used by Bati this coming season and signed by him too – courtesy of our very special sponsors REV’IT! Sport International, suppliers of Alvaro’s leathers in 2010.
REV’iT! will also be providing some runners-up prizes of t-shirts, again exclusively signed by Alvaro himself.

Those of you who have been forum members for a while and who may have played RACECARD 2009 will need no introduction to the game; it’s simple – you just predict Alvaro’s qualifying and race positions race by race across the season and you score points for correct predictions.

We will be posting up the topic for the first round in the week ahead of the first race, and you can find out more about RACECARD 2010 – and keep up to date with an ongoing league table at this address:
www.batifans.com/racecard
The competition is open to forum members only, so if you’re not a member, then join now!

To find out more about REV’IT! and their ranges of bike and fashion gear go to: www.revit.eu

See you on the forum,
gb & stv21

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has completed the penultimate test of the 2010 MotoGP pre-season schedule with some encouraging results from Sepang in Malaysia.

New signing Alvaro Bautista (2’01.732, 59 laps) made huge steps during the latest two day test at the 5,548m Sepang International circuit. Suzuki’s new Spanish star shaved over two-and-a-half seconds from his fastest time from the previous test and is still certain there is more to come as he continues his acquaintance with the Suzuki GSV-R. Unfortunately his progress was hampered by a small low-slide crash on day one – from which he escaped unhurt – and a very large slide later in the same day which, although there was no crash, forced him to receive treatment to a torn muscle in his left arm. This restricted his performance on the second day and meant he was unable to get as much time on the bike as he wanted.

Loris Capirossi (2,01.320, 102 laps) showed his intent on day one of the two-day test by recording a time of 2’01.687 – nearly half-of-a-second better than his best time at Sepang earlier this month. He improved further still on that time during day two, delivering a quickest time of 2’01.321 to give him sixth place overall at the end of testing. Capirossi used the test to evaluate the 2010 ‘long-life’ engine specification for the Suzuki GSV-R and was pleased with the preliminary results. He also completed a near-full race simulation in the later part of the day which resulted in interesting feedback and data.

Bautista and Capirossi recorded their best times on the harder compound rear tyres that will be the ones used in a race situation rather than the softer compound that will be most likely favoured as a qualifying tyre. Both riders also conducted a series of tests on new chassis components and various other performance strategies. The team was ably assisted by Test Rider Nobuatsu Aoki, who completed a thorough and comprehensive shake-down test on Wednesday to prepare the bikes for Bautista and Capirossi. The results of this – and the previous – test In Malaysia will now be analysed back at Suzuki’s HQ in Hamamatsu to prepare the GSV-R for the final pre-season test at Doha in Qatar next month.

Rizla Suzuki will next be in action at the Qatar test in mid-March, this will be last chance Bautista, Capirossi and the engineers get the chance to improve the Suzuki GSV-R at a racetrack before the season kicks off with the first race of the season – also in Qatar – on Sunday 11th April.

Alvaro Bautista:
“I am very happy with this test and it shows that we have improved a big amount since the last test here. It was a bit of a strange day today because I did improve my time, but after nearly crashing yesterday I was in a lot of pain and it made it very difficult to ride, so I was not able to do too many laps. It has been a good test though and I am happy with the direction we are going in. I still need to get some parts of the bike improved and I am sure we will make more steps in Qatar. I feel very happy with most things at the moment, the team is very good and we are all working together very well and I am finally starting to ride the bike how I want to!”

Alvaro’s still taking impressive steps forward and he’s already improved his laptime from yesterday. As of 2PM local time he’s 8th in the standings and looking very good indeed.

Unofficial laptimes as of 2PM local time

1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2′00.271
2. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 2′00.512
3. Nicky Hayden (Ducati)2′00.703
4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 2′00.988
5. Ben Spies (Yamaha) 2′01.014
6. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) 2′01.320
7. Andrea Dovizioso Honda) 2′01.439
8. Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki)2′01.732
9. Randy de Puniet (Honda)2′01.980
10. Marco Melandri (Honda)2′02.078
11. Mika Kallio (Ducati) 2′02.117
12. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda) 2′02.196
13. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 2′02.366
14. Aleix Espargaro (Ducati) 2′02.403
15. Hector Barbera (Ducati) 2′02.487
16. Marco Simoncelli (Honda) 2′03.689

UPDATE

Alvaro did only four more laps in the afternoon and did not manage to improve his laptimes from earlier today. This might be due to the light arm injury he sustained during the slide after his crash yesterday. Subsequently he slipped back to 10th in the standings.

1. Rossi (Yamaha) 2.00.271 (giri 12 di 39)
2. Stoner (Ducati) 2.00.512 (13 di 33)
3. Hayden (Ducati) 2.00.703 (20 di 42)
4. Edwards (Yamaha) 2.00.988 (18 di 35)
5. Spies (Yamaha) 2.01.014 (11 di 44)
6. Capirossi (Suzuki) 2.01.320 (6 di 50)
7. Dovizioso (Honda) 2.01.439 (13 di 46)
8. Pedrosa (Honda) 2.01.478 (56 di 57)
9. Aoyama (Honda) 2.01.692 (47 di 50)
10. Bautista (Suzuki) 2.01.732 (17 di 25)
11. De Puniet (Honda) 2.01.980 (4 di 58)
12. Melandri (Honda) 2.02.078 (3 di 60)
13. Barberà (Ducati) 2.02.4080 (45 di 52)
14. Kallio (Ducati) 2.02.082 (65 di 66)
15. Yamaha T 2.02.287 (17 di 18)
16. Espargarò (Ducati) 2.02.367 (49 di 49)
17. Simoncelli (Honda) 2.03.689 (2 di 2)
18. Yamaha O 2.04.500 (11 di 43)

A low speed crash at Sepang was the first time for Alvaro to damage his new MotoGP bike a little. Fortunately Alvaro walked away unharmed and the bike didn’t look too badly scarred either.

Photos by Mirco Lazzari.

Alvaro had his very first crash with the Rizla Suzuki early in the session, but it was at low speed and he walked away from it unharmed. Regardless of this he already managed to improve his laptime from the previous test at Sepang substantially and was listed as 8th fastest early in the day. With only about half as many laps as the rest of the Rookies he’s still doing really well in 10th as of 1PM local time.

Unofficial laptimes at 1PM local time:

1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2′01.068
2. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 2′01.268
3. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) 2′01.753
4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 2′01.897
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 2′01.899
6. Ben Spies (Yamaha) 2′02.042
7. Marco Melandri (Honda) 2′02.086
8. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 2′02.399
9. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda) 2′02.419
10. Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki) 2′02.449
11. Hector Barbera (Ducati) 2′02.485
12. Randy de Puniet (Honda) 2′02.807
13. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 2′02.946
14. Mika Kallio (Ducati) 2′03.262
15. Marco Simoncelli (Honda) 2′03.338
16. Aleix Espargaro (Ducati) 2′03.371

UPDATE: Alvaro keeps improving his laptimes as is now 9th fastest as of 6PM local time, only a blink away from Pedrosa’s laptime in 7th! He’s now also the fastest of the “real” Rookies. Looking good so far.

Unofficial laptimes at 6PM local time:

1. Rossi (Yamaha) 2.01.068
2. Stoner (Ducati) 2.01.219
3. Dovizioso (Honda) 2.01.631
4. Capirossi (Suzuki) 2.01.687
5. Spies (Yamaha) 2.01.843
6. Edwards (Yamaha) 2.01.897
7. Pedrosa (Honda) 2.02.036
8. Kallio (Ducati) 2.02.038
9. Bautista (Suzuki) 2.02.078
10. Melandri (Honda) 2.02.086
11. Hayden (Ducati) 2.02.221
12. Aoyama (Honda) 2.02.419
13. Espargarò (Ducati) 2.02.447
14. Barbera (Ducati) 2.02.485
15. De Puniet (Honda) 2.02.535
16. Simoncelli (Honda) 2.03.254

Like at the first preseason test in Sepang earlier this month, there were again only the test riders out on track on the first day of the second test in Malaysia. But in contrast to the last test there were only two manufacturers sending their test riders out this time. Yamaha worked again with two riders – Norihiko Fujiwara and Wataru Yoshikawa – while Nobuatsu Aoki continued the development work for Suzuki today. Suzuki is finally presenting the new engine for the season, so there will still be a lot of setup work left for Alvaro Bautista and Loris Capirossi who will get out on track tomorrow with the test starting at 9AM local time.

But the weather conditions could hamper their work over the next two days. While the air and track temperatures in Sepang are high as usual – with felt air temperatures predicted to reach up to 40°C – various weather forecasts predict scattered thunderstorms in the region for Thursday and Friday.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP riders Loris Capirossi and Alvaro Bautista visited the Suzuki Factory at Hamamatsu in Japan earlier this week, en-route to the second test of the year at Sepang in Malaysia.

Capirossi and Bautista were joined on the trip to Suzuki’s headquarters by Team Manager Paul Denning and were given a tour of the base for Suzuki’s global activities.

The trio were shown around the ‘Suzuki Plaza’ museum by Suzuki’s Directors Mr.Toshihiro Suzuki and Mr. Masanori Atsumi and Managing Officer Mr. Sadayuki Inobe. The group were able to inspect many of Suzuki’s historical products including original Suzuki looming machines, Suzuki’s first ever powered two-wheeler the ‘Power Free’ motorised bicycle , the ‘Colleda’ – the first true motorcycle produced by Suzuki – and the RM62 (50cc), which won Suzuki’s first motorcycle Grand Prix at the Isle of Man TT in 1962.

Capirossi and Bautista also visited Suzuki’s race department and met with engineers to discuss the detailed progress that is being made in the development of the 2010 Suzuki GSV-R that the pair will be riding during this season’s MotoGP World Championship.

Capirossi and Bautista now head to Malaysia for an important second test this week. The pair will be trying the latest updates for their Suzuki GSV-R’s at the 5,548m Sepang International Circuit. Capirossi had a promising test there earlier this month when he finished sixth overall on the timesheets and new team-mate Bautista will be looking to continue with the impressive learning development that he has shown since making the move up to MotoGP from the 250cc class.

Alvaro Bautista:
“I want to say thank you to Suzuki for their invitation and for a great experience today. I am new to MotoGP, and new to Suzuki, but I really feel more like part of the Suzuki family each day. The engineering facility is amazing, it really opened my eyes to what goes on to support us and after visiting the museum I know a lot more about Suzuki’s history. It is incredible to see such a huge company still feeling like a family business and everyone is so friendly and welcoming. I did my best to tell the engineers my exact feedback from the bike, but first I need to push my own level to the maximum and get to the limit of the bike – then it’s my right to complain and request better performance, but not yet! I feel the same as Loris – very motivated and very sure that Suzuki will do its maximum to support us.”

Three weeks after the first official test of the year at the Sepang International Circuit the MotoGP riders will return to the Malaysian track this week to carry on with the developments of their respective prototypes, ahead of the start of the World Championship season in Qatar on April 11.

Scheduled for three days from February 24-26 the opening day on Wednesday will be for test riders only, with Thursday and Friday offering valuable time for the team riders to further the customisation of their 2010 machines.

Valentino Rossi set the standard at the first test with the only sub-2’01” lap of the test on his M1, and the Fiat Yamaha rider and reigning World Champion will again be working on new aspects of the setting on his bike. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo will not be testing however as he continues his recovery from a hand injury sustained in a training accident.

Casey Stoner was pleased with the reaction of the new engine in the Desmosedici GP10 of the Ducati Marlboro team, as was team-mate Nicky Hayden, and the duo will again focus on finding their comfort zones. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was happy with his RC212V after the first test and both he and team-mate Andrea Dovizioso will maintain their acclimatisation to the bike.

Rizla Suzuki will have their new GSV-R engine for Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista to test, and Monster Yamaha Tech3 pairing Ben Spies and Colin Edwards will look to build on what was a pleasing opening test on their M1 machines. Pramac Racing’s Aleix Espargaró and Mika Kallio will have their second rides on the GP10, and Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) will both persist with the RC212V.

Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP), Héctor Barberá (Paginas Amarillas Ducati) and Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) will all gain more important experience ahead of their debut seasons in the premier class.

Source: motogp.com