The year has gone very quickly for me, maybe because of the injury I suffered in the first race and because how much I’ve enjoyed racing. I had to work alone at Suzuki to develop the bike and I finally returned to enjoy riding. In Valencia we finished the championship and did a great tribute to Simoncelli.

It went by quickly. That’s it. Another year has passed and, as always, it felt short for me. Perhaps because I had to recover from the major injury that I suffered in the first race and as time went on I felt better and that was what I wanted, that time passes so I can get back to being like before the injury. And well, also because when you’re having fun, everything happens faster. In fact, I think last year went by faster for me than the five days in the hospital in Qatar.

Alone. It was a season in which I had everything, good times, bad times, joy, anger. A year in which I learned a lot, in which I worked alone, directly with the factory to develop and improve a bike. It is difficult to do if you only have your own references, without any other data to compare or see where you could improve. The only option was to see where we lost out compared to the other riders on track and then draw conclusions about where we could improve. Still, the work this year has been very positive and I am happy, because the bike was working better because of the work my team and I did, and this allowed me to enjoy myself again. Maybe the only thing we missed in some races, especially at the end, was a bit of luck, but that’s racing, the sport in general has that little luck factor which in little time decides if it’s a good or a bad result, but the work has been done.

For Simoncelli. For sure, the best way to end the season is to do it in Spain. Here in Valencia, it is always special to race and especially for the Spanish riders. I like how much they love us here, the passion they give us. Although the weekend was not the best in terms of weather, there were many people supporting us and, above all, paying tribute to Simoncelli. All riders had the 58 on their bike, helmet or leathers. The minute of noise was very special. The lap around the circuit was the most emotional one I’ve ever had on a bike. For sure he will always be in our memory.

In the first corner. I wanted to finish the year with a great result and came with my batteries fully charged after spending a few quite somber days following the race in Sepang. But we had to recover and I think what helped most was riding a motorcycle again. You start having fun again and your mind is only focused on riding, you forget everything. In fact, with every passing day I felt better, more motivated. And especially after I did the fastest time in the wet on Friday, the first time I’ve finished on top in a MotoGP session. On Saturday, in the dry, I finished fifth in qualifying, a good result and I was highly motivated to try and do a great race on Sunday. But as I said before, in sports you have the little luck factor and it all went up in smoke in the first corner. Under braking Dovizioso touched me, of course unintentionally because his rear wheel was sliding into my front wheel and I could do nothing to prevent the crash. The worst thing was that I took three more riders with me, I’m sorry for them. The good thing is that something serious could have happened and it didn’t. I went to apologize and explain what had happened. They understood, because these are things that can happen in the races.

Terol, Bradl and Marquez. Congratulations to Nico (Terol) for the championship. It’s always special to be world champion, but if you can win it at your home race in front of your fans, your family, friends, it’s incredible! He’s the rider who deserved it and in the end he got it. Enjoy it, Nico! In Moto2 congratulations to Bradl, although I’m sure he would have liked to win it fighting against Marquez. Next year we will come back to watch the spectacle of this category.

Great experience. And that’s all, I hope you have enjoyed my columns this year. For me it was a great experience, because I could tell you a bit from my point of view from the races and get closer to you. Hopefully I have the opportunity to continue writing here, if you want. If not, write letters of complaint to AS, haha!
Well folks, this is already a farewell. I don’t know if when you read this I have already decided my future or not, but soon you will know. A big hug and see you. THANKS.

Source: AS.com

Álvaro Bautista was involved in a four rider crash on the first corner during today’s Valencian Grand Prix that scuppered any chances of a successful end to the season for the Rizla Suzuki team.

Bautista had looked promising and confident in all conditions leading up to today’s race and as intermittent rain fell on the track leading up to the start, tyre choice was always going to be important. Starting from fifth on the grid, Bautista got away in the pack heading for the first corner, but his front wheel was accidently touched by Andrea Dovizioso and Suzuki’s Spaniard lost control of his machine. As Bautista fell to the floor his bike slid into Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden and Randy de Puniet, leaving the four riders stranded in the gravel trap and out of the race. Bautista tried to re-mount his GSV-R, but was unable to achieve it and walked back despondently, and uninjured, to the pits.

Today’s race was preceded by a tribute to Marco Simoncelli, who tragically lost his life at the Malaysian Grand Prix two weeks ago. Every bike and rider from the MotoGP, Moto2 and 125cc classes completed a parade lap and then lined up on the grid – fronted by Simoncelli’s bike – along with hundreds of Grand Prix personnel and guests to celebrate the Italian’s life with two minutes of fireworks and applause.

This afternoon’s race was watched by 75,774 fans at trackside and the spectators that braved the horrible conditions saw World Champion Casey Stoner take his 10th victory of the season. The event also marked the final race for former Suzuki rider and triple World Champion Loris Capirossi. He is retiring after 22 seasons in top level motorcycle racing and Rizla Suzuki would like to wish Loris and his family well for the future.

Álvaro Bautista: “It has been a bad way to end the year, because before the race I was expecting to be fighting for the podium! In all conditions we had been fast this weekend and I thought we would have a good race today. In the first corner we all arrived together and I was between Andrea and Valentino. Unfortunately Andrea hit my front wheel with his rear tyre and I couldn’t do anything to save the crash. The worst thing was that I hit three other riders and they crashed as well, I am sorry for them and also sorry for the team and all the fans. This year has been very tough, it didn’t start very well when I broke my left femur and although we did a good job – especially in the middle of the season when I was totally fit, both mentally and physically – we haven’t finished with that many good results. I got more and more confident in the bike as the season went on and the work we have done has been amazing, we have come such a long way. Thanks to Suzuki for all they have done and thanks to my team, they work 100% in all races and I think everybody has been able to see the improvement on the track. Thanks also to everybody that has supported me and Rizla Suzuki in 2011, and now we will have to see what happens for next year.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “The bad weather that seems to have followed MotoGP this year made conditions really tricky at the start of the race, but given that we didn’t even make it around the first corner, it didn’t make a lot of difference to us! It’s obviously a very disappointing way to end the season, but frankly speaking I’m not particularly upset because all four riders involved are ok and we’ve seen recently how dangerous that type of accident can be – so we can all be very thankful that all the guys escaped unharmed. I don’t think the crash was anybody’s fault, it was just too many bikes arriving at one bit of tarmac, at differing speeds, on a slippery track – it’s racing and it can happen!

“Rizla Suzuki and Álvaro Bautista didn’t achieve the results we could, or should, have done in the latter part of the season, but I hope we’ve shown a lot of fighting spirit and a huge amount of performance potential. I’d like to thank Álvaro and the whole team for their consistent professionalism and enthusiasm. We’ll do some testing here at Valencia with the current bike on Tuesday and hope that we will be able to announce some positive news in the near future.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki

It’s been a very emotional Grand Prix for the entire MotoGP paddock after the tragic death of Marco Simoncelli just two weeks ago and the weekend was filled with tributes to the Italian, including a “Minute of Noise” after the warmup sessions this morning, when all riders from all classes went out on track together and Kevin Schwantz rode Simoncelli’s Honda on the parade lap which was followed by two minutes of traditional fireworks.

With all titles decided, everyone on the MotoGP grid was eager to finish the year with the best possible result and commemorate Marco by putting on a great show for the fans.
Unfortunately Álvaro couldn’t capitalize on his excellent grid position and the race didn’t last long for him as he clipped the rear tyre of Andrea Dovizioso in the first corner and crashed out in the middle of the tighly packed field, taking out Nicky Hayden, Valentino Rossi and Randy De Puniet with him. The mass crash was a decided anti-climax of what looked to become a very tight race as none of the involved riders was able to rejoin the race. Being boxed in at the start and braking late into the corner, there was nothing Álvaro could do about touching with Andrea’s bike, but it triggered several more crashes and Álvaro immediately went to the boxes of the other riders to apologize to them.

With only 12 riders remaining on track it still became a rather exciting race with a race-long battle between Andrea Dovizoso and Dani Pedrosa for second position on track and third in the championship and they were joined by Ben Spies who later passed both Honda riders and even caught up with Casey Stoner who had already built up a massive lead, but with the weather worsening and Stoner making a small mistake Spies surprisingly took over at the front and looked set to take his second victory, but Stoner managed to zoom past him on the finish straight and took his tenths win of the season with the narrowest of margins, capping off a nearly perfect championship year.
Dovizoso finally brought home third place, sealing the third place in the championship, while Rookie Cal Crutchlow managed an outstanding fourth place, battling with fellow Rookie Karel Abraham all race until the Czech rider crashed out in the last lap and even passing Dani Pedrosa to take his best result of the season and the Rookie of the Year title.

Despite the joy the atmosphere in the paddock was still a bit subdued and no champagne was sprayed on the podium, in memory of Simoncelli. The paddock also said Goodbye to Loris Capirossi who retires from racing after 22 seasons in the championship and Hiroshi Aoyama who will be riding in World Superbikes next year.

The 2012 season will already start on Tuesday as the MotoGP boys are back out on track to test their new 1000cc bikes. According to the latest rumours Suzuki will be at that test, seemingly making it only a formality for them to officially announce their stay in the MotoGP class. It’s assumed that Álvaro will continue with Suzuki, but there’s been no official announcement as of yet.

Pos. Rider Team Time/Gap
1 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 48’18.645
2 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing +0.015
3 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team +5.936
4 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +8.718
5 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team +9.321
6 Katsuyuki NAKASUGA Yamaha Factory Racing +23.818
7 Josh HAYES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +33.118
8 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing +37.952
9 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team +48.953
10 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP +52.501
11 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP +1’06.519
12 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini +1’08.760

Not Classified
Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 0 Lap
Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 0 Lap
Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 0 Lap
Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 0 Lap

Álvaro Bautista produced another strong performance in the tricky conditions of today’s qualifying to take fifth place on the grid for tomorrow’s race.

Bautista had to contend with the varying conditions during this afternoon’s hour-long session, which included strong winds, cold temperatures, intermittent rain and broken sunshine. He coped well and was one of the busiest riders out on track as he completed 30 laps of the 4,005m Valencian circuit. Bautista improved his times, even as track conditions worsened and finished the session in the middle of the second row to give himself every chance in Sunday’s race, regardless of what the weather might be.

The ever-changing conditions made it very difficult for all riders in today’s qualifying, but Casey Stoner again provided a scintillating performance to take his 12th pole position of the season.

Tomorrow’s race will see the 2011 season draw to a close with what promises to be an exciting 30-lap race, because with rain forecast at some point during the afternoon it could prove to be a very close and open event.

Álvaro Bautista: “Today has again been a good day for us, despite the very difficult conditions. This morning I felt good in the dry session, because today in the cold conditions we had a good feedback from the bike. In qualifying it was very tough, because we had rain before the session and the track was a bit wet in some parts. I pushed hard from the beginning, but it was raining in some parts of the track and it made it even harder because when you see drops of rain on the visor it’s always against logical thinking to push even more. At the end I did some good laps and got a good rhythm despite the strange weather and made my way to fifth on the grid. I’m quite happy with that because this track is not one of the best for Suzuki and we are all looking forward to tomorrow no matter what the conditions are. Yesterday in the wet we did very well and we have a good setting and if it is dry I think we can stay in the battle for the podium positions. We will have to wait and see what tomorrow brings, but we will push to the maximum in any condition because I want to finish the season with a good result and I think it is possible to get it.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “The conditions for this afternoon’s qualifying were really horrible for all the riders. There were strong winds with very low grip and persistent light rain – it certainly meant that all the riders earned their money today! As we have said previously, these sort of conditions have been the worst possible for the GSV-R, but whilst the gap to Casey on pole is very big our level against the other guys looks very good. Congratulations to Álvaro on a great effort to qualify fifth, he’s been very focused all weekend and irrespective of the conditions, we aim to finish the season on a high tomorrow!”

Source: Rizla Suzukia

Another great session for Álvaro at the last Grand Prix of the season in Valencia. After mixed conditions on Friday and a dry session this morning the qualifying started with a few damp patches after there was still some rain during the 125cc qualifying but the track dried up quickly in the final minutes of their session.

With dark clouds still looming over the track many riders tried to get in a fast lap right at the beginning in case the rain would come back. There were indeed some more drops falling down towards the end of the session, but fortunately not enough to slow the riders down and there were still improvements possible in the final minutes.

Álvaro stayed around 6th position for most of the qualifying and went back and forth with the Ducacti riders Rossi and Hayden, but finally posted one quick lap which moved him up to 4th and he finally finished the session in a very positive 5th place, starting tomorrow’s race from the second row of the grid.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1’31.861
2 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’32.875 1.014 / 1.014
3 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1’33.057 1.196 / 0.182
4 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1’33.118 1.257 / 0.061
5 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’33.443 1.582 / 0.325
6 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1’33.478 1.617 / 0.035
7 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’33.656 1.795 / 0.178
8 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’33.824 1.963 / 0.168
9 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’34.186 2.325 / 0.362
10 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’34.265 2.404 / 0.079
11 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’34.329 2.468 / 0.064
12 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1’34.671 2.810 / 0.342
13 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1’34.680 2.819 / 0.009
14 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’34.838 2.977 / 0.158
15 Katsuyuki NAKASUGA Yamaha Factory Racing 1’35.999 4.138 / 1.161
16 Josh HAYES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’36.042 4.181 / 0.043

After the atrocious and mixed conditions yesterday most riders were happy to find much better weather at the Valencian circuit this morning for the third free practice. Although it was still relatively cold, the track was dry and there was no more rain throughout the session, giving everyone the chance to properly test their dry setups.
The improved conditions also saw the timing screens revert to “normal” with Casey Stoner again clearing off at the front ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa who already has a gap of over half a second on Stoner, but is in turn also almost half a second quicker than surprising third-fastest rider Randy De Puniet.

Álvaro finished the session in 7th position, again starting out strongly and staying inside the top five and posting consistent laptimes until the end and just being fractionally slower than 6th-placed Valentino Rossi. However, a gap of 1.690 seconds to Stoner is a lot on a short track like Valencia and Ávaro and his team will hope to find some more improvements to the setup for qualifying this afternoon.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1’32.619
2 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’33.282 0.663 / 0.663
3 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1’33.743 1.124 / 0.461
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’33.929 1.310 / 0.186
5 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1’33.977 1.358 / 0.048
6 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1’34.268 1.649 / 0.291
7 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’34.309 1.690 / 0.041
8 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’34.462 1.843 / 0.153
9 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’34.676 2.057 / 0.214
10 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’34.809 2.190 / 0.133
11 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1’35.037 2.418 / 0.228
12 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’35.118 2.499 / 0.081
13 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’35.326 2.707 / 0.208
14 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1’35.899 3.280 / 0.573
15 Katsuyuki NAKASUGA Yamaha Factory Racing 1’36.193 3.574 / 0.294
16 Josh HAYES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’36.256 3.637 / 0.063

Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista led the way during this afternoon’s second free practice session at Valencia as he took first place on the timesheets at the wet Spanish circuit.

Heavy rain started to fall over the 4,005m Valencian circuit at mid-day and by the time Bautista and the rest of the MotoGP riders took to the track it was fully wet. Suzuki’s Spanish star acclimatised to the conditions well and produced consistent quick laps that consolidated his position at the top of the standings. His time of 1’47.975 was over 0.3 seconds quicker than his nearest rival and he looks to have a good set-up and a confident riding style for Sunday – if this afternoon’s weather replicates itself for the race.

This morning’s practice session started in damp conditions, with Bautista again looking impressive, but as the track started to dry out he found grip difficult to find and finished in 11th place. World Champion Casey Stoner took the honours on the drier track by recoding the fastest time of the day.

Bautista has one more free session tomorrow morning followed by an hour of qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday’s 30-lap race is the final event of the season and with inclement weather forecast it looks like being a very interesting and entertaining race.

Álvaro Bautista: “Today has been a good day for us because we have had a full wet session to get some practice in those conditions. In this morning’s session I had a good feeling at the start, but as the track became drier it wasn’t as good and I couldn’t ride at the limit. The bike moved a lot and was spinning-up all over the track, so it was very difficult. In the second session, after the heavy rain, the track was much wetter and the conditions were a lot worse than this morning for all the riders, so it was essential that you rode smoothly and carefully. We changed some settings in the bike to help me get a confident feeling in the GSV-R and at the end of the session I was able to find a good rhythm. We finished first today and although it’s only the second free practice, you cannot improve as much in the wet as you can in the dry, so this is very good for us. I hope that tomorrow we can make some improvements in drying conditions like we had earlier today, but if it is totally dry we still have plenty of work to do to get ready. I am happy with the first day and looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “Winter feels like it has arrived in Valencia and it didn’t look like the most pleasant day to be on a Grand Prix bike out there. That said, cold and low grip conditions were always the situation that caused us the most problems and as we saw at Phillip Island a few weeks back – and again today – the steps that Suzuki has taken with the GSV-R have again proven to be very effective. However, improvements to the motorcycle aren’t enough because you also need a confident and capable rider and Álvaro looked very assured and smooth in the full wet conditions this afternoon – it was nice to see his name at the top of the sheets. I think Álvaro – and everyone else – would prefer some dry, sunny running over the next couple of days, but whatever the weather brings our intention is to push to the maximum and achieve the best result we can.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
Photo Copyright: Ben Davies / © Smartfotos.co.uk

It’s been an excellent second practice session for Álvaro at the Valencian Grand Prix this afternoon, finishing the session as the fastest rider – the first time he managed that feat since moving to the MotoGP class. Not so excellent were the weather conditions, throwing up a few surprises throughout the day.

Álvaro had already been quick this morning in treacherous conditions where he stayed within the top five for most of the session, but dropped down the order in the final minutes.
This afternoon for the second practice conditions were even worse as rain was pouring down heavily at the start of the session, but at least providing the riders with a more stable weather where they could anticipate the track conditions a little better.

Throughout the practice Álvaro was well up the order, staying in second for much of the time before posting a laptime of 1’47.975 which none of the other riders was able to match anymore until the chequered flag was waved, opening a gap of 0.341 seconds to Hayden in second.

The weather forecast for the rest of the weekend doesn’t look much better, so it remains to be seen if the normal order might be jumbled around a bit more.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’47.975
2 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’48.316 0.341 / 0.341
3 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1’48.684 0.709 / 0.368
4 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’49.021 1.046 / 0.337
5 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’49.350 1.375 / 0.329
6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’49.422 1.447 / 0.072
7 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1’49.613 1.638 / 0.191
8 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1’49.674 1.699 / 0.061
9 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’49.820 1.845 / 0.146
10 Josh HAYES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’50.509 2.534 / 0.689
11 Katsuyuki NAKASUGA Yamaha Factory Racing 1’51.277 3.302 / 0.768
12 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1’51.838 3.863 / 0.561
13 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’51.932 3.957 / 0.094
14 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1’52.072 4.097 / 0.140
15 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’53.286 5.311 / 1.214
16 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1’54.342 6.367 / 1.056