The second free practice at Misano was quite an eventful affair for Alvaro as he showed good improvement compared to the first session this morning and a very competitive pace throughout, despite having a short setback as his engine blew up early on.

Alvaro had moved into the top ten already in the first minutes of the session, but when coming back on the final straight his bike suddenly went up in smoke, meaning he likely lost an engine. Whether that engine was already an old one is not yet known, but with two engines stil sealed, he should be fine for the rest of the season regardless.
Fortunately Alvaro was close to the pitlane at the time of the incident and after parking his bike on the fence and just a short walk back into the box he quickly changed to his second bike and went back on track, losing only a few minutes in the process.

He then continued to improve his laptimes, moving as high up as sixth, and showing a very competitive pace. In the final minutes of the practice some rain drops started to fall, but those didn’t stop the riders from still improving and Alvaro posted his best time in the last lap, moving into 7th position. His consistent laptimes and a gap of just over a second to Lorenzo are a very encouraging start to the weekend.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha Factory Racing 1’33.929
2 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1’34.005 0.076 / 0.076
3 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’34.205 0.276 / 0.200
4 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’34.444 0.515 / 0.239
5 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1’34.469 0.540 / 0.025
6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’34.989 1.060 / 0.520
7 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’35.023 1.094 / 0.034
8 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’35.111 1.182 / 0.088
9 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’35.282 1.353 / 0.171
10 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’35.301 1.372 / 0.019
11 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1’35.331 1.402 / 0.030
12 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1’35.418 1.489 / 0.087
13 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’35.419 1.490 / 0.001
14 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’35.423 1.494 / 0.004
15 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’35.622 1.693 / 0.199
16 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1’35.826 1.897 / 0.204
17 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1’36.196 2.267 / 0.370

Glorious sunshine greeted the MotoGP riders at the track at Misano this morning for the first free practice session. Alvaro started slowly, staying outside the top ten for most of the session, but slowly working his way up and finally securing the eighth-fastest time with his last lap.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1’34.180
2 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1’34.466 0.286 / 0.286
3 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’34.529 0.349 / 0.063
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’35.011 0.831 / 0.482
5 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’35.088 0.908 / 0.077
6 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha Factory Racing 1’35.142 0.962 / 0.054
7 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’35.480 1.300 / 0.338
8 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’35.579 1.399 / 0.099
9 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’35.589 1.409 / 0.010
10 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’35.688 1.508 / 0.099
11 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1’35.745 1.565 / 0.057
12 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’35.950 1.770 / 0.205
13 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’35.960 1.780 / 0.010
14 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’36.067 1.887 / 0.107
15 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1’36.513 2.333 / 0.446
16 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1’36.646 2.466 / 0.133
17 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1’37.308 3.128 / 0.662

Rizla Suzuki has made a quick transatlantic dash to Misano in Italy following last weekend’s Grand Prix in America, for the 12th round on this season’s MotoGP calendar.

Álvaro Bautista will be looking to continue with the form he showed in Indianapolis – where he raced to sixth position – at a circuit that should suit both his riding style and the performance of the Suzuki GSV-R. Bautista’s result in America was achieved after the strong potential shown by rider and machine in previous races, and the Spaniard now believes the team can go from strength-to-strength and produce even better results as the season continues.

Located near Rimini on the Adriatic Riviera, the Misano World Circuit is a track that features many slower corners taken in first and second gears and where overtaking is very tough. It has a long sweeping curve with two very high-speed right-handers that certainly make for exciting action and is not a circuit where ultimate top-speed is essential, although a consistent and smooth riding style certainly plays a part in mastering the layout.

Bautista will take to the track on Friday 2nd September for the first of two free practice sessions on that day, with a further practice on Saturday morning. Qualifying on Saturday afternoon will see the Suzuki star aiming for the best possible grid position for Sunday’s 28-lap race, which is scheduled to get underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Álvaro Bautista: “I think we have a good reference at Misano from last year and we had a good race there in 2010. I want to improve on that and think that we can. It is a track that has every type of corner, it involves lots of hard braking and plenty of changes of direction – it is a real fun track to ride. I want to start with a similar rhythm to that which we had in the race last year and try to be as close as I can to the top as early as possible. I believe we have the package now to do that and we will keep working hard until we achieve our goals.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki

Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista rode a fantastic race at Misano in Italy today to bring his GSV-R home in eighth place after a hard-fought race.

Bautista started from 16th on the grid and was lucky to avoid a first corner incident that caused him to lose time on the pack of riders in front of him. He quickly regained his composure and set about chasing the field. Bautista caught and passed a number of riders as he made his way up to eighth on lap 18, he then tried to catch Colin Edwards who had a large gap between himself and Bautista, but the Rizla Suzuki man was unable to bridge the distance – even though he made huge in-roads into the American’s lead.

Today’s race was won by Spaniard Dani Pedrosa with World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo in second. Sadly today’s race was overshadowed by tragic events in the Moto2 race earlier in the day. Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa was fatally injured in an accident that involved two other riders. The 19-year-old was taken to hospital, but was pronounced dead upon arrival. The thoughts and prayers of the whole Rizla Suzuki team are extended to Tomizawa’s family, friends and team during this traumatic period.

Rizla Suzuki will next be in action at a brand new racetrack to the MotoGP calendar, as it travels to the Aragon circuit in Spain for the next round of the season on Sunday 19th September.

Álvaro Bautista:
“It has now become a very difficult day and I don’t really know what to say. I had a good race, even though I had to avoid Loris and Nicky after they crashed and I lost my position. I tried to get in my rhythm as quick as I could because I knew I had a good pace. When I was catching the group in front of me I made a mistake and put the bike into neutral – so I lost some more distance on them. I concentrated hard and pushed to the limit and I managed to go faster than I had in practice and I caught the group up. Once I was with them I knew I was faster so I got past them and pulled away. Today nobody crashed in front of me during the race so it was a true eighth position and I was very pleased with that. I was happy at the end of the race because the position was good and I was happy with the race-pace, but when we had finished the race I heard the news about Tomizawa and I am just so sorry for him and all his family. It is a hard day for all riders, I am sure he will stay with us always and I hope he is now in a better place.”

Tom O’Kane – Álvaro Bautista’s Crew Chief:
“Firstly I want to say to Tomizawa’s family and friends that we all send our deepest sympathies – it’s a terrible thing that has happened and Álvaro was very upset when he heard the news at the end of the race. With regards to the race, he got a very good start off the line, but took a few laps to find his rhythm. Then it looked like he had a really fun race, he was chasing guys down and passing them with what looked like ease. His fastest lap in the race is the fastest one he has done all weekend and we as a team will be doing all we can to move him up in qualifying to see what he can do from the second or third row.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

The rain stayed away for the MotoGP race at Misano today and so it turned out pretty much as expected in the end. Pedrosa lead into the first corner and immediately started to open up a gap to the rest of the field which just got bigger and bigger with every lap and he took home his first back-to-back win.

Alvaro managed a decent start, but then was slowed down in the second corner when his teammate Loris Capirossi and Nicky Hayden crashed out, causing everyone behind to slow down and avoid their bikes on the track. After that Alvaro was down in 14th position, but then slowly started with his trademark comeback from far behind. As expected from the practice and qualifying sessions the laptimes throughout the field were close together which resulted in a big group of riders battling for the 8th position. Alvaro’s speed was as fast or faster than of all the guys in front of him, up to 5th or 6th position, so he quickly passed a lot of riders and found himself in 8th place after about half of the race. He pulled away from the battling group and closed down the gap to Edwards in 7th by several seconds, but it’s already been too big for him to close it all on his own. With a better grid position and first lap, he might have been able to fight for 6th or even 5th, but considering his 16th position on the grid and the crash in the first lap, he did a very good job once again.

But much more importantly than anything happening in the MotoGP race we’d like to express our condolences and send our very best wishes to Shoya Tomizawa’s family and friends. Shoya passed away in the Riccione hospital this afternoon after a horrible crash in the Moto2 race and he will be sorely missed. Rest in peace, Shoya.

Full Results MotoGP Race:

Pos. Rider Team Km/h Time/Gap
1 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 160.0 44’22.059
2 Jorge LORENZO Fiat Yamaha Team 159.9 +1.900
3 Valentino ROSSI Fiat Yamaha Team 159.8 +3.183
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 159.6 +6.454
5 Casey STONER Ducati Team 158.9 +18.479
6 Ben SPIES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 158.3 +28.385
7 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 157.9 +34.934
8 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 157.8 +38.157
9 Hector BARBERA Paginas Amarillas Aspar 157.6 +40.943
10 Marco MELANDRI San Carlo Honda Gresini 157.5 +42.377
11 Aleix ESPARGARO Pramac Racing Team 157.3 +45.906
12 Hiroshi AOYAMA Interwetten Honda MotoGP 157.3 +46.394
13 Randy DE PUNIET LCR Honda MotoGP 157.0 +50.481
14 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 155.2 +1’23.143

Not Classified
Mika KALLIO Pramac Racing Team 155.3 11 Laps
Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 122.9 25 Laps
Loris CAPIROSSI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 0 Lap

Clouds and lower temperatures at the Misano circuit made for slightly different conditions than the last two days. Some weather forecasts predict rain showers for the afternoon which would shake up the MotoGP field a bit.

Alvaro finished the warm up in 13th position. Behind the top five riders there’s a small gap, but the rest of the field is again very close together and if all riders can keep their pace up, it should make for some very interesting racing later today.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’34.654
2 Jorge LORENZO Fiat Yamaha Team 1’34.803 0.149 / 0.149
3 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’34.886 0.232 / 0.083
4 Valentino ROSSI Fiat Yamaha Team 1’35.220 0.566 / 0.334
5 Casey STONER Ducati Team 1’35.314 0.660 / 0.094
6 Randy DE PUNIET LCR Honda MotoGP 1’35.634 0.980 / 0.320
7 Ben SPIES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’35.701 1.047 / 0.067
8 Loris CAPIROSSI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’35.716 1.062 / 0.015
9 Aleix ESPARGARO Pramac Racing Team 1’35.814 1.160 / 0.098
10 Hector BARBERA Paginas Amarillas Aspar 1’35.892 1.238 / 0.078
11 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’35.895 1.241 / 0.003
12 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’35.965 1.311 / 0.070
13 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’35.985 1.331 / 0.020
14 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’35.987 1.333 / 0.002
15 Marco MELANDRI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’36.074 1.420 / 0.087
16 Mika KALLIO Pramac Racing Team 1’36.394 1.740 / 0.320
17 Hiroshi AOYAMA Interwetten Honda MotoGP 1’36.715 2.061 / 0.321

Rizla Suzuki team-mates Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista were both left to think what might have been as they were held-up on their final lap in qualifying at Misano this afternoon.

Bautista (P16. 1’35.629, 29 laps) was extremely annoyed that he had been baulked on his final fast lap, which would almost certainly have given him a much improved time and seen him move up the grid. He had made huge steps today with his Suzuki GSV-R as he shaved almost two-and-a-half-seconds of his lap-time from yesterday. Bautista was extremely unlucky not to be rewarded with a much better qualifying position after his impressive efforts today.

Today’s qualifying was held in very warm conditions as air temperatures got up to 26ºC and the track heated up to 42ºC. Spaniard Dani Pedrosa took his fourth pole position of the season on his factory Honda, with World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo in second.

Tomorrow’s race is the 12th round of the season and will see Capirossi, Bautista and the rest of the field head off for 28 laps of action at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Álvaro Bautista:
“This morning we improved the bike a lot from yesterday and I was able to get a good pace. In the qualifying it was a bit difficult at the start because I used the hard front tyre and I didn’t get the feel from it under braking. At the end of the session we put in the softer compound and that was much better. Unfortunately on the last lap some riders slowed me up and I couldn’t improve my lap-time – which I am sure I would have done. I feel good with the bike here and if I can get a decent start tomorrow I have a strong enough rhythm to be able to battle my way into the top 10.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Pretty much a horrendous qualifying session for Alvaro today, finishing the session only in 16th position. But on a positive note, aside from Pedrosa at the front, the field is very close together and Alvaro is not too far off a possible fight mid-pack. He would need a good start and a decent first few laps tomorrow to get up to the positions where he can still fight with other riders, because he’s managed a decent enough race pace today.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’33.948
2 Jorge LORENZO Fiat Yamaha Team 1’34.256 0.308 / 0.308
3 Casey STONER Ducati Team 1’34.397 0.449 / 0.141
4 Valentino ROSSI Fiat Yamaha Team 1’34.470 0.522 / 0.073
5 Ben SPIES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’34.472 0.524 / 0.002
6 Randy DE PUNIET LCR Honda MotoGP 1’34.751 0.803 / 0.279
7 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’34.782 0.834 / 0.031
8 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’34.826 0.878 / 0.044
9 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’34.934 0.986 / 0.108
10 Marco MELANDRI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’35.018 1.070 / 0.084
11 Loris CAPIROSSI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’35.096 1.148 / 0.078
12 Hector BARBERA Paginas Amarillas Aspar 1’35.259 1.311 / 0.163
13 Hiroshi AOYAMA Interwetten Honda MotoGP 1’35.286 1.338 / 0.027
14 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’35.303 1.355 / 0.017
15 Aleix ESPARGARO Pramac Racing Team 1’35.438 1.490 / 0.135
16 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’35.629 1.681 / 0.191
17 Mika KALLIO Pramac Racing Team 1’35.724 1.776 / 0.095