It has just been announced that additionally to his demo laps on the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP bike at Brands Hatch, Alvaro will also participate in the Barry Sheene memorial dinner on August 7th.

The Barry Sheene Memorial Night is held at the weekend of the British Superbike round at Brands Hatch. Alvaro will be riding demo laps for the attending spectators on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday evening Alvaro will then be interviewed at the Memorial Dinner by Steve Parrish, good friend and former team mate of Barry Sheene, and also donate a special item to the auction.

Tickets for the event must be purchased until July 30th via their website and cost £25 each. So for all those who were planning or just thinking about going to Brands Hatch, don’t miss this unique opportunity!

Further info and tickets here.

The Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit will reverberate to the ear-piercing sound of MotoGP machinery on Saturday/Sunday 7/8 August at the eighth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship.

The two astounding Rizla Suzuki MotoGP GSV-R800 four stroke machines will be the fastest motorcycles to lap the 2.3-mile track and with top speeds of over 200mph, BSB fans can experience the superb spectacle of MotoGP at the Kent circuit.

Spanish Rizla Suzuki rider and former 125cc World Champion Álvaro Bautista will be giving some high-speed demonstration laps on Saturday and Sunday as the Japanese manufacturer celebrates 50 years of International racing.

Bautista is one of the hottest properties in MotoGP and in his rookie season he has already recorded the Rizla Suzuki team’s best result of the year, following a sensational fifth place at his home Grand Prix at Catalunya in Spain last weekend.

Alvaro Bautista: “It will be interesting for me to go to Brands Hatch because I have never been there before and it is such a famous track. It will be good to learn another circuit and to visit a totally new place. To have new experiences like this is always good and it will be interesting for me to ride the bike and get more of a feeling for it at different places. I am looking forward to doing the demo run and showing the British fans that have never seen a MotoGP bike just what it is all about.”

Rizla Suzuki Team Manager Paul Denning: “We are delighted to be able to support Suzuki GB in their 50 years of racing celebrations and to bring the sight and sound of a fully-blown MotoGP bike to the Brands Hatch BSB race. This is a great opportunity for Suzuki to showcase the GSV-R’s technology and incredible sound in-front of a different audience. The link between the MotoGP bike and the Suzuki GSX-R – which is celebrating its 25th anniversary – is evident in their racing ancestry, so to see the two machines together at one event will be very special – albeit one will be racing for victory in the hands of Tommy, Yukio, Michael and Alistair and the other will just be ridden slightly less aggressively on its demo laps!

“Álvaro is looking forward to riding the Brands Hatch GP track, he’s heard a lot about it and I’m not sure if he’s scared or excited, but I’m positive he’ll let the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R rip and provide great entertainment. MSV put on a fantastic show last year and we hope we’ll be able to make it even bigger and better this year. There’ll be another rider or two experiencing the MotoGP GSV-R for the first time as well – so watch this space for details!”

Source: British Superbikes

Rizla Suzuki has joined forces with American motorsport design icon Troy Lee in a partnership that will see the team’s image inspired by his amazing Southern California design studio.

Livery direct from Troy Lee and his fantastic team of designers will feature throughout the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP squad, from the 2010 Suzuki GSV-R itself through to the race suits that Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista will be wearing as they battle with the world’s greatest racers around the globe in this season’s 18-race championship. Troy Lee Designs will also create the livery for the team’s pit-box and hospitality unit, as well as the team clothing and merchandise ranges.

Troy Lee has been customising helmets ‘For the World’s Fastest Racers’ since 1981. The relentless commitment to creating products that exceed the cutting edge in style, design and quality has given Troy Lee Designs the reputation as an innovator in many different racing fields. The company has grown over the past three decades to include a product line ranging from high-performance helmets to a complete line of Motocross racing gear and casual wear. With an amazing team of racers from the four-wheeled world of Indycar, Sportscars, NASCAR and World Rally, to the two-wheeled racers of Motocross, Supermoto, Enduro, Freestyle, Dirt Track and Road Racing, and to the cycling world of Mountain Biking, Free Riding to BMX, Troy Lee has enjoyed working with the best in the world and now he takes it one step further by joining forces with Suzuki’s Factory MotoGP team.

Rizla Suzuki is in action at Sepang in Malaysia this week, with the team’s 2010 ‘Troy Lee Designs’ inspired livery being launched at the Qatar test next month.

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“Troy Lee Designs – and Troy himself – are iconic in the world of motorsport and Rizla Suzuki MotoGP is honoured to be able to introduce them to the world of MotoGP. To have Troy and his team responsible for the design process is great and – as you can imagine – the guys in our team are also delighted to be using a range of Troy Lee Designs equipment as well. There will be some nice “Troy Lee inspired” surprises during 2010 – and we’ll be really happy if we can go as fast as we’ll look!”

Troy Lee – CEO Troy Lee Designs
“We are really excited to join in this partnership with Rizla Suzuki. It has been a dream of mine to be a part of MotoGP and provide my artistic skills to some of the world’s fastest road racers. I’m looking forward to a great year of racing from this team and a strong partnership – we at Troy Lee Designs appreciate the fact that every day the racers get out there and put it all on the line, and Capirossi and Bautista look like two guys who always give it everything.”

The sponsoring for Alvaro’s first two years in MotoGP with Suzuki is secured as Rizla and Suzuki officially announced today that they will continue their contract for at least two more years. Here’s the press release:

Suzuki Motor Corporation is pleased to announce a further two-year agreement with ITL (Imperial Tobacco Limited) which will see the Suzuki MotoGP team continue to carry the Rizla brand on its GSV-R in the premier class of motorcycling racing.

Rizla became the title sponsor of Suzuki’s MotoGP team in 2006 and the announcement of a further extension to the partnership will mean the Suzuki GSV-R will compete in the MotoGP World Championship in the now famous ‘Rizla Blue’ until at least 2011.
Rizla is the world’s premier brand of rolling papers and has had a racing association with Suzuki since the 1980’s in Grand Prix, including Suzuki legend Kevin Schwantz rolling out on his GP debut on a Rizla-backed RG500 in 1986.

Loris Capirossi and new-signing Álvaro Bautista will be in action on their Rizla Suzukis at the first test of 2010 at Sepang in Malaysia this week, with the 18-race season scheduled to get underway beneath the lights of Losail in Qatar on Sunday 11th April.

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“Everybody involved with the Suzuki Grand Prix project is delighted that the Rizla brand will continue its partnership in 2010 and into 2011, and that we are able to continue with the now iconic Rizla Suzuki image for the next two seasons. It’s very clear that the 2009 season fell far below our expectations and targets, but Loris, Álvaro, the whole team and the Suzuki Racing group in Hamamatsu will be doing everything we can to take a big step forward and re-pay Rizla’s faith in the project during 2010 and beyond.”

Graham Blashill – Sales and Marketing Director, Imperial Tobacco Group Plc
“We are delighted to continue our sponsorship of the Suzuki MotoGP team over the 2010 and 2011 seasons, and I look forward to an exciting couple of years both on the track and in our own business. The MotoGP platform fits perfectly with Rizla’s global, premium status and the close partnership we have forged with the Suzuki team enables us to leverage the brand extremely effectively. Both from a personal point of view, and on behalf of the Imperial Tobacco Group, I wish Loris and Álvaro the best of luck on the track and I look forward to success for the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team as a whole.”

Today it’s been officially announced that the MotoGP bikes will make another switch in capacity in 2012, this time back up to 1000cc. This announcement is particularly interesting for next year’s class Rookies, including Alvaro, who will only have two years on the current machinery before another change is due. Since Alvaro has a two-year contract this also means for him that the Suzuki will stay the only 800cc bike he gets to ride in competition.

Following talks between MotoGP’s governing body the FIM, series rights holder Dorna Sports and the MSMA, the Commission agreed to change the maximum engine capacity of the MotoGP class to 1000cc for the 2012 season. A limit of 4 cylinders will also be introduced, with a maximum cylinder bore measurement of 81 mm.

Mr Ippolito said: “The main changes we have decided on are new rules for the MotoGP class. We will have four cylinder engines, 4-stroke of course, with a 1000cc maximum, and the bore of the cylinders will be 81mm. This base will give all the manufacturers the opportunity to start work. At the beginning of next year we will produce the new rules in a more complete format, but that is the basis; 2012 will be the year of a new era of MotoGP.”

Mr Ezpeleta stated: “It was a very important meeting to decide the future of the MotoGP class. From 2012 the bikes will have an engine capacity of up to 1000cc, have up to four cylinders and the maximum bore will be 81mm. It’s a very important measurement because with this we can have all the characteristics of the engine. This has been approved and between now and the start of the 2010 season we will have another two meetings to define the rest of the specifications for this new class.”

Source: motogp.com

Earlier this year Alvaro was the special guest at the 50th anniversary of the historic La Baneza street race (we reported).
On the occasion of the anniversary there’s now a documentary about the history of La Baneza being produced and it includes interviews with champions like Angel Nieto, Champi Herreros and Alvaro Bautista.
The producers are still in the process of interviewing more people involved with the La Baneza race from all over Spain and aim to give a comprehensive view not only of the race itself, but also of the region around La Baneza.

A publication date for the documentary has not been announced yet, but we will keep you updated when we know more.

As we reported yesterday, Alvaro will participate in the festivities to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Spanish Constitution tomorrow.
The reading of the 168 articles of the Carta Magna will commence at 11 o’clock at the Congreso de los Diputados in Madrid.

Fortunately for those of you unable to attend the festivities in person, the Spanish Congress offers live streaming on their website of every event going on in the Congress and the current programme shows that this will include a live stream of the festivities tomorrow.
We have no information how long the event will go on, but if you watch the live stream through the link provided below, you will not only be able to see Alvaro read an article of the Constitution, but possibly also improve your Spanish and learn something about Spanish politics.

The Live Stream of the Congress can be found here: Parliamentary Channel.

News from several MotoGP sources suggest that Rizla and Suzuki have come to an agreement for a continuing sponsorship deal for the next two seasons.
The new sponsor contract would mean the necessary financial backup to keep the Suzuki Team in the MotoGP class and lay persistent rumours to rest which suggested that Suzuki might not be able to honour their contract with MotoGP rights holder Dorna to field at least two bikes in the class until the end of 2011 due to financial reasons and poor results in the last two seasons.

Since Alvaro signed a two-year contract with the Rizla MotoGP Team this is also good news for him as a secured financial backup for the team means the best situation for him to spend his first years in the MotoGP class.