Difficult weekend at Misano. It began with me picking up a stomach virus, then I started and finished the race in eighth. Good position, but I’m not content with that, I want more. The best was the hattrick of victories for Jorge, Marc and Nico. The championships are tightening up…

Greetings. Ciao amicci! How are you? I am taking advantage of the flight from Italy to Spain to write, returning home after two consecutive weeks of racing and I will tell you how the weekend in Misano was, where I arrived with a bit of jetlag from the last race at Indianapolis, but with a lot of motivation after the good result I achieved there.

Happy virus. I didn’t start the weekend very well, on Thursday I felt bad all day, the doctors said it was a stomach virus and I could barely eat anything and didn’t sleep much either. Together with the heat and humidity that meant I was exhausted, in fact on Saturday after practice I had to get an injection with saline solution and vitamins to recover. And for me to get an injection I have to be in very, very bad shape. What I hate most in the world are needles, well no, what I hate most is that they get stuck into me and I had to do it again on Sunday because I had no energy reserves left and the race would be tough in these conditions.

Improvements. During practice on Friday and Saturday I was at a good level, not far from the fourth or fifth in terms of pace and the feeling with the bike wasn’t bad. And that after on Friday one of my engines blew up, but it was the one with the most miles I had. I also used a new swingarm which we had already tested in Brno and I didn’t like it much, but here we changed the setting a little and it convinced me, we took a step forward. In fact, in qualifying I was fourth with 20 minutes to go, with used tyres, and I just needed to make a good lap at the end, but I ran into some traffic and could not improve. But the pace was good.

I wanted heat. For Sunday we did the fairing of the bike in chrome, so that when it reflects the sun it’ll blind the other riders and I can take advantage, but we screwed up! It was cloudy and the sun couldn’t be reflected, so the race did not go as I wanted; well, because of that and because the track temperature was 20 degrees cooler than Saturday, which meant that if I could do 28 laps with the soft tyre in 50°C and most riders use the hard one, then with 30°C everyone used the soft and I would have needed one that is softer. Together with the raindrops which fell at the start that meant I couldn’t push from the first lap like I did in practice and I lost positions and time to the second group, which was where I thought we could be. But anyway, the conditions are what they are and we need to improve so that when are they are good we can go well. In the end, eighth behind all the factory bikes is not a bad result, but I want more.

Spain takes over. The championship gets a little more interesting with the victory of Lorenzo and Stoner in third, although it will be difficult for Jorge to catch up, because he, Dani and Casey are a step above the rest and it will be difficult for another rider to get among them. In Moto2 it was a great fight for the victory, which again was taken by Marquez after demonstrating an amazing maturity on the bike and knowing how to push when he had to. Every time he is getting closer to Bradl and it will be an interesting final of the championship. Right now I see Marc as stronger, but at the moment Bradl is the leader and he has to take risks. And in 125cc I still can not understand Zarco’s actions on the finish straight. I’m glad because it helped Terol to win and increase the gap in the standings, but after going on the home straight in first position, knowing that you have a rider in your slipstream, you can not look back and get up, you tuck in behind the fairing as good as you can and open the throttle all the way. It is a pity for Zarco, because he has been very close to victory several times and still has not achieved it. Congratulations also to Efren Vazquez, let’s see if we see him fighting for the podium in more races.

Until MotorLand. Oops! We’re almost landing already, how fast did that flight to Spain go by, I need to stop as I have to turn off the computer. Now I will spend a week at home – Ah! And remember that next Saturday there will be a party in Talavera of my fanclub. You are all invited. Being with people who love me and who I love will certainly give me strength for the next round at MotorLand, in Alcaniz. I can’t wait to race in front of the Spanish fans. Hopefully I can give you a good result and I hope you enjoy it as much as the Spanish riders enjoy riding in front of you. A big kiss!

Source: AS.com

Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista had a hard-fought and somewhat lonely race at Misano in Italy today to record eighth place in the San Marino Grand Prix.

Bautista started from eighth on the grid, but was unable to produce one of his good starts and lost a couple of places during the first lap, as light spots of rain caused him to be extra careful in the early stages. Bautista got involved with a group of riders early on and by the time he had found his rhythm he had lost touch with the leading pack. Bautista gave chase to Colin Edwards, who had over a two-second advantage on the Spaniard, but the Suzuki racer hunted him down and passed him on lap-17. Bautista tried to catch the group further in front and although he made a valiant effort to close the gap, he had to settle for eighth after completing the last third of the race with no other riders for company.

Bautista and the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R looked spectacular at Misano today as the team showcased a one-off chrome livery to celebrate the launch of the Rizla ‘Micron’ paper in Italy.

Over 53,000 fans at trackside witnessed current World Champion Jorge Lorenzo take a comprehensive victory and close the gap at the top of the championship on Casey Stoner, who finished third.

Rizla Suzuki now has a week off before heading to Spain for the 14th round of this season’s calendar and the Aragon Grand Prix, to be held on Sunday 19th September.

Álvaro Bautista: “Maybe this was not the result we expected after qualifying, but I didn’t have a lot of confidence on the first lap because it was raining a little bit and I didn’t feel like I could push too much – so I lost some positions and distance from the group. When I got into my rhythm the group was far away and I couldn’t follow them. Eighth position is not a bad result but we expected more this weekend. We have done a good job during the last few races, but still we have to improve in qualifying to be nearer the front of the grid and make good starts and first laps. Thanks to all the team for this weekend and thanks to Rizla for their support with the new livery. The bike today was looking amazing and I think we all expected more than eighth, but we are confident that we can do better in the next races.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “A couple of months ago we would have been happy with eighth place, but our performance level has increased and today we are a little disappointed with the result. If the conditions had been the same as yesterday afternoon, when the track was 10 degrees warmer I think, there was a chance we could have competed for fourth place, but as it was we were so far behind after a couple of laps that to achieve the real potential was impossible. We have managed to get a decent, solid finish, so it’s not all bad!
We were very happy to help Rizla launch its new ‘Micron’ product in Italy this weekend and we will now move on to another home race for Álvaro at Aragon in two weeks time with a positive attitude.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki

A not very exciting but solid race for Alvaro at Misano, finishing the weekend with 8th place.
He got off the line okay, but then dropped down several positions in the first few corners, being pushed out of the top ten after the first lap. He recovered some ground, but struggled to get into a good rhythm with a full tank and settled into 10th for a while. Aided by a crash of Nicky Hayden in front of him he moved up to 9th where he stayed for the first half of the race, trying to catch Edwards in 8th but only matching his pace, not being able to make up the gap, until Edwards started to drop back more and more. Alvaro took 8th from him with relative ease a few laps later, fending off some attacks from his Tech3 teammate Crutchlow. He finally rode a very lonely race in the final laps, with several seconds to the riders in front and behind of him.

He did show a good and very consistent pace in the second half of the race which might have enabled him to fight with the second group that was battling for fourth, at the very least have another scrap with Ducati’s Valentino Rossi to the line, but the big gap that rapidly opened up in the first laps meant he was too far away to do any better than 8th on his own even though he and his team probably thought they would be fighting further up front.

Pos. Rider Team Time/Gap
1 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha Factory Racing 44’11.877
2 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team +7.299
3 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team +11.967
4 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini +17.353
5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team +17.390
6 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing +18.092
7 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team +23.703
8 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +30.678
9 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP +37.502
10 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +37.720
11 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini +39.548
12 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing +40.506
13 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +53.349
14 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team +1’02.366
15 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP +1’20.156

Not Classified
Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 20 Laps
Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 26 Laps

A good start to the day for Alvaro who went out with his new special “Rizla Micron” livery for the first time in the warmup session this morning.

With temperatures already reaching 30°C, Alvaro managed to go under 1’35 with his final lap and finish the session in sixth position, looking competitive for the race.
The main worry for the paddock at the moment is a possible thunderstorm brewing which could spoil today’s racing if it reaches the track too soon.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1’33.925
2 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha Factory Racing 1’34.165 0.240 / 0.240
3 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’34.216 0.291 / 0.051
4 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’34.390 0.465 / 0.174
5 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’34.691 0.766 / 0.301
6 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’34.915 0.990 / 0.224
7 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’34.950 1.025 / 0.035
8 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1’34.986 1.061 / 0.036
9 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’35.045 1.120 / 0.059
10 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’35.192 1.267 / 0.147
11 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1’35.236 1.311 / 0.044
12 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’35.251 1.326 / 0.015
13 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’35.325 1.400 / 0.074
14 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1’35.395 1.470 / 0.070
15 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’35.480 1.555 / 0.085
16 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1’35.508 1.583 / 0.028
17 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1’37.287 3.362 / 1.779

Álvaro Bautista will start tomorrow’s San Marino Grand Prix from the third row of the grid after qualifying in eighth place this afternoon at Misano.

Rizla Suzuki’s Spanish racer equalled his best qualifying position in MotoGP so far, at the Misano World Circuit in Italy. He went one better than his ninth at Indianapolis last week as he continues to show that the recent potential shown by the Suzuki GSV-R is starting to come to fruition. Bautista’s best time of 1’34.360 from his 29 laps could have been even better, but he got caught in traffic at the end of the session when he was on his final run and was left a bit frustrated that he was unable to climb further up the grid.

Beautiful blue skies and warm sunshine was the order of the day as air temperatures rose to 29ºC. Current championship leader Casey Stoner took pole position, his eighth of the season, with reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo second and Dani Pedrosa in third making up the front row.

Tomorrow’s 28-lap race will not only see Bautista aiming to get in amongst the front runners early on and make a serious attempt at a high-placed finish, but it will also be the first time that the one-off Rizla ‘Micron’ paint-scheme that will adorn the Suzuki GSV-R will be seen and raced. The new livery will be launched tomorrow morning before Bautista takes to the track at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) for the 13th round of the season.

Álvaro Bautista: “This morning we made some changes to the gearbox, but after the practice we switched back to the settings from yesterday. In the qualifying I started with the harder tyre in the hot conditions to see if it worked well. It was not too bad and I was riding at 35.0 on most laps, but the exit from the corner with hard gas caused me to slide and go wide. We changed to the softer rear we had been using in the morning and I had a good feeling with that compound, and could ride mid 34s all the time. At the end I couldn’t make a best lap because there was a bit of traffic and some slower riders that I couldn’t get past, so I lost the chance to make a good lap-time. I think we have a good setup for tomorrow and the grid position is even better than last week, so if I get a good start I think I can push right up there. I want to stay with the front guys for the maximum amount of time as possible and make a race and get a result like Indy – or even better!”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “It’s strange that Misano has seen our best qualifying result of the year so far, but in fact we are a bit disappointed by the result. Álvaro made a steady rhythm at 35.0 with the hard rear tyre and then we compared it to the soft rear tyre from this morning, and he immediately made his qualifying time of 34.3, which at the time was good for fourth. Having put on fresh tyres we were all hoping – Álvaro included – that a 33 something was possible, but a combination of traffic and a couple of errors took the chance away. We still need to improve the qualifying performance, but it is getting better and as always the points are in the Grand Prix tomorrow. We’re looking forward to the race!”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Rizla will reveal a special one-off paint-scheme at the Misano World Circuit tomorrow morning to celebrate the launch of its new ‘Micron’ premium rolling papers.

The Suzuki GSV-R will feature an amazing chrome livery to reflect the design of the new Micron pack, and Álvaro Bautista will sport unique REV’IT leathers, Sidi boots and a special version of his Shoei race helmet to complete the package.

Rizla Micron is the thinnest, and therefore the most sophisticated and technically advanced naturally gummed rolling paper within the Rizla family. Rizla Micron will be launched this month in Italy and subsequently rolled out across the globe over the next couple of months.

The Rizla Suzuki ‘Micron’ GSV-R will be on display in the pit-lane at Misano on Sunday 4th September at 08.00hrs local time. This will be the first time this amazing Troy Lee Designs paint-scheme will be on view to the public and if you are not lucky enough to see it in the flesh, then Bautista will be on track at 14.00hrs for the San Marino Grand Prix, complete with his new ‘Micron’ machine and clothing. There will also be a gallery of images of the livery available on www.rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk from Sunday morning.

Source: Rizla Suzuki

Alvaro managed to equal his best qualifying position in the MotoGP class today, but he might be left with the feeling that it could have been much better.

After being well within the top ten throughout the first part of the qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano, he jumped into fourth in the second half of the session, vastly improving on his best laptime this weekend. He went on to try and further improve that time in the next lap, but was held up slightly in the final corners. The last sector has also been the one he most struggled with in general, posting the 5th and 6th fastest partial times in the first three sectors, but only the 13th fastest in the final one.

Unfortunately he wasn’t able to post a faster time for the remainder of the qualifying, being relegated to 8th in the end, but he did set several laptimes very similar to his fastest one, proving to have a competitive pace for the race tomorrow.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1’33.138
2 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha Factory Racing 1’33.258 0.120 / 0.120
3 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’33.318 0.180 / 0.060
4 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1’33.947 0.809 / 0.629
5 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’33.990 0.852 / 0.043
6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’34.026 0.888 / 0.036
7 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’34.054 0.916 / 0.028
8 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’34.360 1.222 / 0.306
9 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’34.592 1.454 / 0.232
10 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’34.637 1.499 / 0.045
11 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1’34.676 1.538 / 0.039
12 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’34.727 1.589 / 0.051
13 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’34.791 1.653 / 0.064
14 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1’34.870 1.732 / 0.079
15 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’34.955 1.817 / 0.085
16 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1’35.502 2.364 / 0.547
17 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1’36.167 3.029 / 0.665

Álvaro Bautista got Rizla Suzuki’s San Marino Grand Prix weekend off to a strong start today in Misano as he recorded the seventh fastest time.

Bautista (1’35.023, 40 laps) continued where he left off at Indianapolis last weekend and produced another positive two sessions, this time at the Misano World Circuit in Italy. Suzuki’s Spanish racer tried a new swinging arm this afternoon on his GSV-R and immediately noticed an improvement in the cornering ability of his machine. Bautista and the crew will work further on the set-up tomorrow to obtain the best setting for Sunday’s race.

Today’s practices were held in warm and sunny conditions with air temperatures hitting 30ºC. Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo produced the fastest time of the day with current leader Casey Stoner second.

Bautista has another practice session tomorrow morning, followed by an hour of qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday’s 28-lap race is round 13 of this season’s championship and it will also see the Spaniard and the Suzuki GSV-R sport a fantastic one-off limited edition ‘Rizla Micron’ livery that will be launched at Misano on Sunday morning.

Álvaro Bautista: “I think we did a good job today! This morning we started at the same sort of pace that we had in qualifying last year, so that gave us a good base to begin with for the weekend. The feeling with the bike was quite good, but I did not feel very well because I had been a bit ill yesterday – I think it was an upset stomach from something I had to eat. Thanks to the guys at Clinica Mobile because in the afternoon session I was feeling much better. We wanted to test a new swinging arm in the second session and I started on the bike with the standard setting, but after three laps my engine said ‘stop!’ and I couldn’t continue with that bike, so I jumped on the other machine- with the new swinging arm. The feeling was good and we were able to turn a little bit better in the corners and this is good because this is what we wanted to improve. I think we have made a step forward and now I am sure we can improve the lap-time and the rhythm. We are not so far from the first place and I am quite happy about that. Thanks to all the crew for their hard work today after the long trip straight back from Indianapolis.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “I think we can be happy with the performances today of both Álvaro and the Suzuki GSV-R. We made some further detailed changes compared to the Indianapolis weekend and so far everything we have done has taken the bike forward a little bit each time. Unfortunately we lost our first engine of the year – there was definitely no hiding from that! But it was very much a Friday engine that had already covered a lot of miles so it wasn’t completely unexpected. We’ll just keep pushing and try to improve tomorrow, and then something special in qualifying.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki