As the MotoGP circus returns from a short vacation the rumour mill starts going round a bit more quickly with Brno traditionally being the point in the season where contract discussions start to get serious and signatures are put on dotted lines.

With all of the three main factory teams already filled, the attention turns to the satellite riders and also the big question mark hanging over Suzuki’s involvment in the class next year.

While earlier in the season it looked increasingly likely that there might not be any blue bike at all on the grid in 2012, it now appears that Suzuki might give MotoGP another shot, if with a caveat. For the Hamamatsu factory might continue with a modified 800cc bike in the new 1000cc field, according to paddock rumours. But a bike that’s already looking slightly inferior compared to the other 800cc machines on the grid presumably won’t stand much chance against the even faster 1000cc bikes, making a competitive season on it a rather difficult affair.

Alvaro’s contract with Suzuki runs out at the end of this season, so his future in the MotoGP class at the moment is uncertain. Much of his decision where to go will likely depend on the involvement of Suzuki next year. For one if they will stay and if they do, with what machinery. Should Suzuki decide to develop a 1000cc prototype after all, it is likely that Alvaro will stay with them since working with a factory team has always been one the main points he wanted to have in the MotoGP class and the team so far seems happy to have him.

However, Suzuki is not his only option. Jorge Martinez is looking to extend his MotoGP team to two riders next season and Alvaro could well join Hector Barbera on the satellite Aspar Ducati. Aspar’s and Alvaro’s good relationship is well-documented and it continued over the last two years after Alvaro left the team to join Suzuki, refusing the offer to ride the Ducati. But in light of Ducati’s increased struggle this season Alvaro might still be more than reluctant to try that bike although the Aspar Team would probably welcome him back with open arms.

Which leaves another option, as reported by AS today. According to Mela Chercoles the Tech3 Yamaha team might also be interested in signing Alvaro for 2012 as team boss Herve Poncharal has already shown interest in him in the past. However, that satellite Yamaha seat is hotly contested. Currently Cal Crutchlow and Colin Edwards ride for the French team with Crutchlow already being secured for next year. The big question mark hangs over Colin Edwards. The Texan looks in good form this year, already bagged a podium in Silverstone and is repeatedly hailed as an excellent development rider which would be very helpful for Yamaha in the first year of the 1000cc rule. But at 37 years of age the rumours re-appear every season that this could be his last one. If Edwards does retire at the end of 2011, there are also other interested parties for the potentially vacant Yamaha. Poncharal has repeatedly expressed admiration for current Moto2 championship leader Stefan Bradl who looks set to move up to MotoGP next year. However, the German is in hot demand at the moment and his options are plenty, including a possible CRT entry with his current Kiefer Racing Team or a Viessmann-sponsored satellite Honda.

So, although it is not yet clear where Alvaro will ride next season, for the moment it looks almost certain that he will stay in the MotoGP class. But with which team or bike we shall find out in the coming months.

Sources: AS.com, motomatters.com

Rizla Suzuki will resume the 2011 MotoGP season at Brno after a short summer break with a double-headed assault at the Czech Republic circuit.

Álvaro Bautista will be joined by Wild-Card John Hopkins as the Spaniard plans to continue with the good vein of form that he has shown in recent races. Bautista looked to be heading for a top-six finish last time out at Laguna Seca – to follow his seventh at Sachsenring the weekend before – until a crash ended his hopes. Bautista has grown in confidence over the last few events and is now showing the kind of form that he displayed in pre-season testing, before a serious leg injury at the first race in Qatar halted his season before it had begun.

The Automotodrom Brno is situated in the south-east of the Czech Republic in the area of Kyvalka, about 16kms from Brno city centre. Its close proximity to Austria, Hungary and Poland, enables Brno to be one of the best attended races of the season, with approximately a quarter-of-a-million fans expected to pass through the gates over the weekend. The present 5,403m Brno Grand Prix circuit was built in 1987 and is located in woodland near to the old street circuit which previously staged the event.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP takes to the track with Bautista and Hopkins on Friday 12th August for the first two free practice sessions, with another 45-minutes of practice on the following morning. Saturday afternoon will see the all-important qualifying session where grid places will be decided for Sunday’s 22-lap race. The Brno event signals the start of the second half of the 2011 season and round 11 of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship will get underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) on Sunday 14th August.

Álvaro Bautista: “I’ve been relaxing since the last race with a few days at the beach and now I’m training hard and looking forward to Brno. The last two races have been very positive and I think as a whole we are in the best position we have been since I’ve been in MotoGP. We need to continue with the progress we’ve made recently and the results will start to come. I had an injured back at Brno last year and couldn’t ride at my best, but I’m 100% now and will be pushing from day one. I hope John has a good weekend and enjoys himself; it will be good to have him there as it will give us the chance to push each other along. I’m sure we can work well together to get a good setting for the GSV-R and it will be nice to have a team mate again! I’m excited about the Brno race – I will be giving my maximum!”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista both crashed out of today’s Czech Republic Grand Prix at either end of the 22-lap race with both riders able to walk away uninjured from their respective incidents.

Bautista battled heroically for the whole 22-laps as he fought against the pain caused by yesterday’s huge high-side and the other riders on track. Despite starting from the back of the grid he caught the battle for eighth position before the half-way point of the race. Bautista was fighting with the group and as the last lap arrived he was close enough to challenge Marco Simoncelli. He made a strong passing manoeuvre in the last corner and although he got past Simoncelli he lost the front of the bike and also slid into the gravel – as Capirossi had done earlier. Bautista was visibly disappointed with the outcome of the race after such a brave effort had proved fruitless in the end.

Today’s Brno Grand Prix was watched by nearly 150,000 people at trackside and they witnessed Jorge Lorenzo provide another commanding performance on his Yamaha to win his seventh race of the season and strengthen his grip at the top of the championship.

Rizla Suzuki will remain at Brno for a full day’s testing tomorrow as they try to unlock the potential of the Suzuki GSV-R and put today’s frustrations behind them. The next round of the MotoGP World Championship will require another crossing of the Atlantic, as the field prepares to line-up for the Indianapolis Grand Prix in America on Sunday 29th August.

Álvaro Bautista:
“The crash was a big disappointment for me as I went to overtake Simoncelli, because at the beginning of race I didn’t know what my condition would be at the end and I was pleased that I felt strong enough to make the move. The first few laps were difficult because I’d only had about 40 minutes of dry practice all weekend and needed to get my reference points sorted out. The pain was horrible but I was able to start to push and in the middle of the race I was in the group challenging for eighth position, which was not too bad. After about half of the race my body started to tire and although I was pushing to the maximum, when I came up to other riders it was difficult to pass because I was at my physical limit. I would have liked to finish this race as this is now three consecutive races that I have failed to complete. The rest of the race was not too bad and compared to other riders my rhythm was good. I hope for the next race in America to make a complete weekend and continue with my progression in MotoGP.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“In sport you have to make your own luck, but it really feels like we need to go to a Church and have a word with someone who can maybe help us out a little bit! Absolutely nothing seemed to go right here at Brno and the most disappointing thing is that without question the bike and riders had the capability to challenge for a top-six position. Álvaro made a heroic effort, we have to remember that he was in great discomfort and had only spent about 45 minutes practice time in the dry compared to everyone else’s three hours. Once he found his rhythm the bike was working well, his speed was good and he’d clawed his way into contention for an excellent finish. His commitment to catching and passing Simoncelli on the last lap was obvious and he nearly made it happen, but asked a bit too much of the front tyre in the final left. It was extremely disappointing, but we have to respect a superb effort.
“The result today doesn’t reflect anywhere near our potential and we’re going to work positively at the test tomorrow and set our sights on realising the true capability of the GSV-R, Loris and Álvaro for the rest of the season.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Alvaro crashed out of the Czech GP at Brno today in the last corner after he had just passed Simoncelli for 11th place. But despite that crash he did a great race until that point. Without having qualified yesterday he started the race from last position on the grid and fell back about two seconds in the early stages. But after only a few laps he started to constantly go laptimes quicker than everyone in front of him up to 8th position. And this is after having only one full practice session overall and while riding in pain. With several other riders crashing out he’d still been able to rake in some points while going calmly at the back of the field, but instead he decided to fight for the Top 10 positions. He passed several riders on his way up to 12th positions and had Simoncelli, who was going slower than everyone behind him for most of the time, firmly in his sight in the last lap. He passed him in the last lap for 11th, but then crashed out. He doesn’t seem to have aggravated his injuries in the crash, he got up immediately afterwards and was more angry with himself than anything else and he should be okay for Indianapolis in two weeks time.

In any case, despite the final result it’s been a very spirited race by Alvaro and a joy to watch his progress.

Pos. Rider Team Km/h Time/Gap
1 Jorge LORENZO Fiat Yamaha Team 164.4 43’22.638
2 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 164.1 +5.494
3 Casey STONER Ducati Team 163.7 +11.426
4 Ben SPIES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 163.6 +13.723
5 Valentino ROSSI Fiat Yamaha Team 163.3 +17.930
6 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 162.7 +26.815
7 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 162.3 +33.396
8 Marco MELANDRI San Carlo Honda Gresini 162.0 +39.406
9 Hector BARBERA Paginas Amarillas Aspar 162.0 +39.639
10 Randy DE PUNIET LCR Honda MotoGP 161.9 +40.893
11 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 161.8 +42.032
12 Aleix ESPARGARO Pramac Racing Team 161.5 +47.091
13 Alex DE ANGELIS Interwetten Honda MotoGP 161.2 +51.368

Not Classified
Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 161.8 1 Lap
Mika KALLIO Pramac Racing Team 160.9 15 Laps
Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 149.7 16 Laps
Loris CAPIROSSI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 151.5 21 Laps

Alvaro was finally out on track again after his heavy crash yesterday that left his back severly bruised and sore. He took a cautious few laps in the warmup to assess his level of fitness and we will see how he can hold up for the whole race distance later today.

The warm up session started under already very grey skies and with high humidity, but stayed dry until the final two minutes when it started pouring down heavily from one second to the next. All riders except Simoncelli made it safely back into the pits on their slick tyres.

The race is scheduled to start at 2PM local time today.

Pos Rider Bike Time Diff Diff Previous
1 Andrea DOVIZIOSO HONDA 2’10.135
2 Dani PEDROSA HONDA 2’11.817 1.682 1.682
3 Casey STONER DUCATI 2’11.817 1.682 0.000
4 Jorge LORENZO YAMAHA 2’11.869 1.734 0.052
5 Marco MELANDRI HONDA 2’12.129 1.994 0.260
6 Mika KALLIO DUCATI 2’12.138 2.003 0.009
7 Nicky HAYDEN DUCATI 2’12.156 2.021 0.018
8 Alex DEANGELIS HONDA 2’12.829 2.694 0.673
9 Colin EDWARDS YAMAHA 2’13.053 2.918 0.224
10 Loris CAPIROSSI SUZUKI 2’13.284 3.149 0.231
11 Randy DEPUNIET HONDA 2’13.450 3.315 0.166
12 Aleix ESPARGARO DUCATI 2’13.650 3.515 0.200
13 Hector BARBERA DUCATI 2’13.686 3.551 0.036
14 Marco SIMONCELLI HONDA 2’13.765 3.630 0.079
15 Ben SPIES YAMAHA 2’13.917 3.782 0.152
16 Valentino ROSSI YAMAHA 2’16.185 6.050 2.268
17 Alvaro BAUTISTA SUZUKI 2’17.877 7.742 1.692

Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi will start tomorrow’s Czech Republic Grand Prix from the front of the fourth row after qualifying in 10th place, whilst team-mate Álvaro Bautista will start from 17th place after a crash in this morning’s practice forced him to miss this afternoon’s qualifying session.

Bautista missed the qualifying this afternoon because the Spaniard was still in the Brno hospital when the session started. He suffered a 140km/h high-side in this morning’s practice session and early indications showed that he might have a severe spinal injury. Bautista was taken straight to the hospital, but further examinations and a CT scan showed no fractures and just some heavy bruising to his back. Bautista will take to the track in tomorrow’s warm-up session and if he shows no ill effects he will be able to start from 17th on the grid, due to him posting a time in the practice session better than the qualification maximum from this afternoon.

Today’s qualifying was held in dry conditions with track temperatures getting up to 38ºC. Dani Pedrosa recorded the fastest time of the day to give him his third pole-position of the season.

Tomorrow’s race is the 10th round of the season and both Rizla Suzuki racers will be looking to line-up on the grid as the lights change to go at 14,00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Álvaro Bautista:
“Fortunately there is nothing broken, so this is the most important thing and tomorrow I will try and do the race. The crash was because as I entered turn three I lost rear grip and I couldn’t do anything about it. I did a big jump in the air and I could do nothing to save it. Tomorrow morning I hope I feel much better and I will try to race because I need to do as many kilometres as I can.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“The best news from the qualifying session didn’t even come from the race-track, it was the report back from the hospital that Álvaro’s CT scan had shown no broken or damaged vertebrae and apart from severe bruising he’s fine and will attempt to race tomorrow. After the bad luck he’s had with injuries this year it’s nice to have the roll-of-the-dice for once and that he won’t be forced to miss the next few races is a big boost.

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Before his nasty crash in FP2 at Brno in which he banged up his back severly, but which he fortunately escaped without any fractures, Alvaro was interviewed by the German-language Motorsport Magazin and talked about how his season went so far and what he expects for the future. For the most part it’s well known stuff, but interesting to read regardless.

Let’s start with the difficult part: It’s your Rookie season and it’s probably been a bit more difficult for you than expected. Can you describe it from your view?
Alvaro Bautista: Sure, it was much more difficult than I expected. In the first few races I felt that we made good progress. But after Jerez I crashed while practising motocross and got injured. I lost a few races because of that and also the rhythm. I had to start again from zero, try again to get a feeling for the bike. Okay, Barcelona was very nice [he finished 5th]. But in the last two races I had crashes which weren’t my fault. Now it depends on me improving myself further.

Does the experience of Loris Capirossi help you?
Alvaro Bautista: Yes. He has a lot of knowledge and experience and he’s very nice to me. And when I have a problem with the bike or the setup I can go over and ask him. He’s happy to help me out and this is of course good for me. I’m very happy to have him as my teammate. He’s got so much experience with the bike and he knows so much about the setup and how to ride and this is really good. I’m more than happy about that.

Paul Denning and the team often say that you’re doing a good job and learn quickly. Does this give you confidence when other people say this about you?
Alvaro Bautista: Sure it’s nice when people say something like this. Okay, I know we have some problems with the bike and I still need to learn. But we’re all working extremely hard and I’m really happy with the team.

Are you satisfied when the team praises your work and says you’re good?
Alvaro Bautista: We all push very hard to achieve something great. I always try to do a good job.

How are your injuries? Is it especially difficult to ride a MotoGP bike when you’re injured?
Alvaro Bautista: We’ve seen with Valentino and others that it is possible. It’s always difficult to ride a MotoGP bike, but with injuries it’s really very, very hard.

You’ve won in 125cc and 250cc. Do you think you can win in MotoGP with Suzuki?
Alvaro Bautista: I hope so! I will try. I want to continue like before, continue to improve myself, develop the bike and then win races some time, of course.

One of your problems is the lack of grip. What could be improved about the bike? Does it need to be better on a whole, do you need more power?
Alvaro Bautista: I’m not completely sure. What I do know is that, when I ride it I, I feel like our problem is that we can’t make the tyres work. They need to be really used up before they work for us. That is our problem.

Do you think the testing limitation are hitting Suzuki especially hard, because you already have to catch up with the others?
Alvaro Bautista: Yes, the thing is that we have so many things to test and we need some help to get closer to the others.

So it is more difficult, because you can’t test so much, I guess?
Alvaro Bautista: Yes, this year it’s been difficult, because I need more kilometres on the bike. But anyway, that’s the situation and we have to get the best out of it.

Not long ago you’ve been 125cc world champion. What do you think about the bikes disappearing in 2012 and being replaced by Moto3?
Alvaro Bautista: I don’t know, it will be a completely different class, like 250cc and Moto2. Of course I prefer the 125cc bikes, because to start out on them it was just perfect for the riders. But surely the Moto3 will be good too. When you switch from two-strikes to four-strokes you feel a big difference, but when you start out on four-strokes right away, maybe it’ll get easier to ride in MotoGP as well.

You’re still at the very beginning of your MotoGP career and of course you’ll want to win the title one day. But is there something else you want to achieve in racing, other than the title?
Alvaro Bautista: No, this is exactly my dream. When I was in 125cc, it was my dream to become world champion. When I became world champion there, my dream was to come to MotoGP. Now I am here. My next dream now is to become world champion here. But I also have to be happy now to be where I am, because the best racers of the world are here. It will be hard work, but I am confident that I can fulfill my dream.

Do you have any idols inside or outside of racing?
Alvaro Bautista: Idols, no. When I was a kid I liked Mick Doohan. But now I don’t have any idols.

And outside of racing?
Alvaro Bautista: Neither, because all my idols are actually my friends, like Rafa Nadal or Alberto Contador.

Source: Motosport-Magazin.com
Translated by the crew of www.alvarobautista.co.uk and www.batifans.com

It appears things have turned around a bit for the positive now. Various news reports say that Alvaro is not as heavily injured as initially feared, there are no fractures and his CT scan came back clear. However, he’s taken a heavy hit to his back and got some severe bruising that will certainly need some treatment with painkillers and physiotherapy. He is currently on his way back to the circuit and might even attempt to take a qualifying lap around the circuit. If he doesn’t qualify today but gets the green light from the Clinica Mobile tomorrow, then he should be able to still get on the grid via special exception from race direction as he was within qualifying time in both FP1 and FP2.

We will keep you updated.