Rizla Suzuki MotoGP’s Alvaro Bautista talks about the weekend’s Czech Republic race where he was joined by John Hopkins and also looks forward to the rest of the season.

I’m just heading back to Spain from Brno and then I’ll be getting ready to go back to America for the next race. After the last few races I expected a good result here in the Czech Republic and after the first day it looked like we would have a successful weekend. It was good to have John here riding as well, because it is always better to test different things with two riders. Unfortunately John had a crash on the Saturday and injured his hand, which was very unlucky for him and the team. I wish him well and hope he is ok soon.

The race was always going to be difficult as I was near the back of the grid, but I got a good start and pushed my way up to the front group. I was in seventh and the Suzuki GSV-R was running really well; the feeling with the bike was the same – if not a bit better – than it had been in the last few races and I thought we had a real chance of a good finish. We were able to run closer to the guy at the front, and I was certainly closing in on the bikes in front of me, but unfortunately I crashed. This was a big disappointment for me and the whole team, but we also took some really valuable data from the race and proved that we can run at the same pace as the guys at the front.

The Suzuki GSV-R showed great potential at Brno, the same as it has done in recent races and now that I am fully fit I think we can start challenging for the top six. It’s tough because the guys that are in those positions are good and so are their bikes, but I think we have the package to start taking them on. The Suzuki engineers have done a great job this year and the bike is certainly moving in the right direction.

We are going to some tracks soon that I really like and I know we can go well there, so we’ll have to wait and see what we can do.I know that I need to get a better lap-time in qualifying so that I start higher up the grid and don’t have to spend so much time and effort getting through the field. This is something that we will be aiming to put right over the rest of the season, because I think if I start nearer the front, I will be able to stay there and run with the quick pack.

Source: Suzuki Racing

Sunshine and warmer temperatures made most of the riders breathe a sigh of relief this morning as it looks to be a glorious day for racing.

Alvaro made good use of the warmup session, again breaking into the 1’57s and finishing the session in 7th position, not far from Dovizioso in 6th. He’s yet again the first rider behind the factory Yamahas and Hondas, so it’s been a decent start to the day and him and the team will hope to take that pace into the race.

Starting from 14th however Alvaro will have to produce one of the great starts he’s been showing in recent races, to make up many positions in the first lap and be able to fight with the second or third group in the race again.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’56.675
2 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha Factory Racing 1’57.374 0.699 / 0.699
3 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1’57.528 0.853 / 0.154
4 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’57.551 0.876 / 0.023
5 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1’57.584 0.909 / 0.033
6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’57.803 1.128 / 0.219
7 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’57.921 1.246 / 0.118
8 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’58.274 1.599 / 0.353
9 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’58.362 1.687 / 0.088
10 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’58.417 1.742 / 0.055
11 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1’58.443 1.768 / 0.026
12 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1’58.488 1.813 / 0.045
13 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’58.675 2.000 / 0.187
14 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’58.739 2.064 / 0.064
15 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1’58.790 2.115 / 0.051
16 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1’59.217 2.542 / 0.427
17 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’59.319 2.644 / 0.102
John HOPKINS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Rizla Suzuki had its promising start to the weekend shattered at Brno today as firstly John Hopkins had to withdraw from the event and then Álvaro Bautista had a difficult qualifying session to leave him with a mountain to climb in tomorrow’s race.

Bautista will start from the fifth row of the grid after he failed to make a competitive lap-time and will need one of his great starts to be able to challenge with the front-runners in tomorrow’s race. He has a consistent race pace and was able to stay with other riders in the earlier part of the qualifying session, but was unable to put together a fast lap to move him up the grid as the session came to its climax.

Today’s qualifying was held in dry, but overcast conditions with track temperatures reaching 30ºC. Dani Pedrosa took pole position on his Honda, with reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo second and current championship leader Casey Stoner third.

Tomorrow’s race is round 11 of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship and the excitement gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Álvaro Bautista: “I am not happy with the qualifying because we just didn’t get our best level today and we will have to start tomorrow near the back of the grid. My rhythm was not too bad when I followed other riders and I could stay with them, but to be able to do that in the race I have to make a good start again tomorrow and fight my way through. I can’t say much more because I am just not happy with how things went today.

“It was not a good day for the whole team with John crashing this morning and breaking his fingers. I feel very sorry for him because he did well yesterday and it looked like he’d have a good race. MotoGP racing is not always what you want it to be and these things happen, but I wish him a speedy recovery and hope he’s back soon.”

Paul Denning – Team Manger:
“Grand Prix racing isn’t easy and today showed that! Yesterday we were looking very strong with lap-times in the 57s and both riders in the top-10. Today John is in a cast and Álvaro’s qualified 14th and almost half-of-a-second slower than yesterday afternoon. We did have an issue with a vibration at the end of the qualifying, but frankly speaking, we expected a much better time than that earlier in the session when he had a brand new set of tyres. We all know how well he can race, but if we don’t qualify better we won’t be able to improve the race result.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Fortunately the Brno circuit has fully dried for the MotoGP qualifying this afternoon, allowing the riders to push to the maximum, but it was a disappointing session for Alvaro in the end.
He started exceptionally well, staying within the top five and even top three in the early part of the session, but then failed to improve his laptime after the fifth lap, being relegated down the field further and further. He finally improved his time in the latter stages to move into 10th, but after coming back into the box twice in the final minutes he had only time for one flying lap to try to improve and score a better grid position, but he couldn’t take advantage of it and was ultimately pushed down to 14th, starting tomorrow’s race from the fifth row on the grid.

The team and Alvaro will look to improve the pace a little bit in the warmup session and probably hoping for dry conditions as the weather forecast for the moment is looking mixed.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’56.591
2 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha Factory Racing 1’56.704 0.113 / 0.113
3 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1’56.860 0.269 / 0.156
4 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1’57.178 0.587 / 0.318
5 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’57.351 0.760 / 0.173
6 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1’57.367 0.776 / 0.016
7 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’57.442 0.851 / 0.075
8 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’57.676 1.085 / 0.234
9 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’57.721 1.130 / 0.045
10 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’57.784 1.193 / 0.063
11 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’57.797 1.206 / 0.013
12 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1’58.245 1.654 / 0.448
13 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’58.273 1.682 / 0.028
14 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’58.274 1.683 / 0.001
15 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1’58.889 2.298 / 0.615
16 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1’58.938 2.347 / 0.049
17 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’58.946 2.355 / 0.008
John HOPKINS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

The dreaded rain has once again caught up with the MotoGP circus and made for three fully wet practice sessions this morning at the Brno circuit.

Alvaro was not able to be quite as competitive in the the wet and much colder conditions as he was yesterday, finishing the session down in 13th position. But his temporary teammate John Hopkins got it even worse when he had a fast crash early in the session and walked away with what might be a broken finger, putting a questionmark on his participation in Sunday’s race.

At the moment it has stopped raining, so it remains to be seen if the qualifying session this afternoon might be held in dry or at least semi-dry conditions, should the track dry up quickly enough.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 2’07.321
2 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha Factory Racing 2’07.326 0.005 / 0.005
3 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 2’07.443 0.122 / 0.117
4 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 2’07.652 0.331 / 0.209
5 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 2’07.695 0.374 / 0.043
6 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 2’07.743 0.422 / 0.048
7 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2’07.806 0.485 / 0.063
8 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 2’07.877 0.556 / 0.071
9 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 2’07.944 0.623 / 0.067
10 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 2’08.089 0.768 / 0.145
11 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 2’08.460 1.139 / 0.371
12 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2’08.516 1.195 / 0.056
13 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2’08.644 1.323 / 0.128
14 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 2’08.881 1.560 / 0.237
15 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 2’08.936 1.615 / 0.055
16 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 2’08.985 1.664 / 0.049
17 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 2’10.046 2.725 / 1.061
18 John HOPKINS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2’13.479 6.158 / 3.433

Rizla Suzuki’s twin attack of Álvaro Bautista and John Hopkins got off to an impressive start in the Czech Republic today, with both riders inside the top-10.

Bautista completed 32 laps of the 5,403m Brno circuit to record a best time of 1’57.857 and eighth place on the leader-board. Bautista was regularly in touch with the top six throughout both of today’s practices and is confident that with a few more adjustments to his GSV-R tomorrow he can make further steps forward.

Today’s sessions were both held in bright and sunny conditions with track temperatures reaching 32ºC. Honda’s Dani Pedrosa set the fastest time of the day, with current championship leader Casey Stoner second.

The Rizla Suzuki duo will have one more free practice session tomorrow morning, before an hour of qualifying in the afternoon will determine grid positions for Sunday’s race. The 11th round of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) on Sunday 14th August.

Álvaro Bautista: “Today was my first full MotoGP day at Brno when fully fit, so I am pleased to have done that. Last year I crashed in the second free practice and the rest of the weekend was quite hard for me. The first thing today was to get a good feeling with the bike, but this morning I felt the bike slide a bit in the corners, this might have been because the track was a bit dirty, but we made a change that also helped to improve the problem. I can do a long run with used tyres and after 26 laps my rhythm was good and I could do low 58s. We then put in a new front and rear tyre and I was able to push a bit more, but I found some traffic on the last laps and I couldn’t improve my time. I am happy with today because I have done the fastest lap I’ve ever done at Brno, my previous best was 59.1 and today I did 57.8 so that is a good improvement. I have a good feeling with the bike and I’m sure we can improve the rhythm and the lap-time, so on Saturday we will work on a couple of things to do that. I am really looking forward to tomorrow because I think we can make a good position in qualifying to get a good start in Sunday’s race.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Another decent practice session for Alvaro who again spent almost all session well inside the top ten. He held on to sixth for quite some time, but eventually finished the day in 8th, repeating his position from FP1 this morning.

Overall his pace seems to be reflected quite well by his practice results so far, posting several laptimes very similar to his fastest one and showing a very consistent rhythm.
However, the gap to the front is still well over a second as Dani Pedrosa continued to dominate the field, albeit with a smaller margin than this morning.

Alvaro and his team will now look to further improve the bike for the qualifying tomorrow and strengthen the pace to again fight for a strong finish inside the second or third group for Sunday’s race at Brno.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’56.454
2 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1’56.831 0.377 / 0.377
3 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’57.136 0.682 / 0.305
4 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha Factory Racing 1’57.174 0.720 / 0.038
5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’57.535 1.081 / 0.361
6 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1’57.631 1.177 / 0.096
7 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1’57.745 1.291 / 0.114
8 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’57.857 1.403 / 0.112
9 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’57.859 1.405 / 0.002
10 John HOPKINS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’57.880 1.426 / 0.021
11 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’58.120 1.666 / 0.240
12 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’58.313 1.859 / 0.193
13 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1’58.454 2.000 / 0.141
14 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’58.568 2.114 / 0.114
15 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1’58.573 2.119 / 0.005
16 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’58.607 2.153 / 0.034
17 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’58.999 2.545 / 0.392
18 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1’59.157 2.703 / 0.158

Good start to the weekend for Alvaro and the Suzuki team. He started the first practice session at Brno rather slowly, coming right back into the box after his first flying lap to adjust the bike and only getting back out to post further laps several minutes later. Aside from Casey Stoner he’s done the fewest laps during the session, but quickly came up to speed once he went back on track, breaking into the top 10 with his third flying lap and moving up from there, looking well on the pace.
He eventually finished the session in 8th, just behind his temporary teammate John Hopkins who put in one scorcher with almost the same laptime. However, Alvaro’s gap to the front is over two seconds as Dani Pedrosa dominated the proceedings and went almost a second faster than the rest of the field.

Still, it is an encouraging start to the Grand Prix with Alvaro already showing a great pace and aside from the second sector being very competitive in the partial times.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’56.328
2 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1’57.294 0.966 / 0.966
3 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’57.408 1.080 / 0.114
4 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha Factory Racing 1’57.587 1.259 / 0.179
5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’57.776 1.448 / 0.189
6 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1’57.903 1.575 / 0.127
7 John HOPKINS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’58.321 1.993 / 0.418
8 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’58.345 2.017 / 0.024
9 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’58.390 2.062 / 0.045
10 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’58.497 2.169 / 0.107
11 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1’58.819 2.491 / 0.322
12 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1’58.927 2.599 / 0.108
13 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’58.973 2.645 / 0.046
14 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’58.975 2.647 / 0.002
15 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’59.289 2.961 / 0.314
16 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’59.334 3.006 / 0.045
17 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1’59.706 3.378 / 0.372
18 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 2’00.201 3.873 / 0.495