Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista crashed out of this afternoon’s Japanese Grand Prix when he was fighting for the best MotoGP finish of his career.

Bautista started from eighth on the grid and found himself up into sixth early on after narrowly missing two riders that collided in front of him on the first lap. He was then promoted to fourth as two other riders were forced to complete a ride-through penalty for jumping the start, and then almost immediately found himself in a podium position when race-leader Casey Stoner ran off the track. Bautista held third position for six laps and fought off an attack from Nicky Hayden, before Stoner re-grouped and caught and passed Suzuki’s Spanish racer. Bautista looked comfortable in fourth and began to push to secure his best-ever MotoGP finish, but lost the front near the end of the 13th lap and crashed at high-speed. He walked away uninjured, but bitterly disappointed.

Today’s Japanese Grand Prix was a re-scheduled race after the initial date was cancelled due to the earthquake and tsunami that struck the country earlier in the year. A crowd of just over 34,000 showed their support for both the MotoGP racers and the people of Japan. The race was won by Dani Pedrosa, with current World Champion Jorge Lorenzo second. Current championship leader Stoner took the final place on the podium.

Rizla Suzuki now has one weekend off before heading over the equator to Phillip Island in Australia for the second leg in a trio of Pacific races.

Álvaro Bautista: “This was for sure not the result we expected today! I chose the softer rear tyre for the race because the conditions today were colder than yesterday and because for the first laps I needed to be as fast as possible. I didn’t get a good start because some riders jump-started and I was a bit confused by them and when the red light went off I was little bit late. There was a crash on the second corner and I then found myself in a good position. A few laps later some riders entered the pits because they did a jump start and I was then in third, but I knew it was not my real position! When Casey went past me and I saw what the distance was between me and Andrea – who was the next rider – and how many laps were left, I tried to follow Casey and keep the gap to Andrea. Near the last corner I lost the front and crashed and that was the end of the race for me. We worked very hard this weekend and improved in all the sessions, and in the race we were in a good position. Today the luck was just not with us!

“I am sorry for the whole team because this result would have meant so much to them, and I’m sorry for Suzuki at its home Grand Prix because we wanted to make a good race and a positive result. I have to keep the good things from this weekend in my mind and in the next race we have to keep doing the same things we have done here and keep our heads up!”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“When your rider crashes out of fourth position at Suzuki’s home Grand Prix it can only be described as disappointing! However, we have to take the positives from this weekend – the GSV-R performed well in cold and overcast conditions, Álvaro achieved his equal best qualifying and we were running very strongly in the race itself. We don’t quite have the speed of the Factory Hondas or Yamahas – at the moment – but apart from that we can race with anyone in the field, and when the opportunity presents itself – like today – fourth was definitely on the cards.

“Álvaro’s not stupid and with just over 10 laps to go, and Dovizioso only seven seconds behind, he knew he had to push hard to keep fourth place – fifth or sixth wasn’t going to do it as far as he was concerned. That’s racing; it was a high-speed crash and Álvaro’s completely uninjured, so let’s move on and look forward to the next Grand Prix.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki

Álvaro Bautista will start Suzuki’s home Grand Prix at Motegi from the middle of the third row after a consistent and strong qualifying session saw him equal his best MotoGP grid position.

Bautista (P8, 1’46.586, 28 laps) showed great determination to push his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R further up the grid and with just minutes left in the session occupied a second row spot, but he just couldn’t hold on to that position as time ran out and he wasn’t able to better his previous best lap. Bautista worked tirelessly with his crew on a thorough test programme in both the final practice session and this afternoon’s qualifying. He is now convinced he has a good package for tomorrow’s race and believes he will be able to compete with the group of riders that qualified just in front of him today.

Today’s sessions were held under overcast skies with temperatures lower than yesterday. Casey Stoner again led the field to become the first rider in the four-stroke MotoGP era to record 10 pole positions in a season, current champion Jorge Lorenzo was second.

Tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix is the 15th round of the season and the 24–lap race will get underway at 15.00hrs local time (06.00hrs GMT) in front of what promises to be a colourful and excited crowd determined to show its support for their countrymen who suffered in the tragedy that hit Japan early in the year and caused the postponement of the original Grand Prix date.

Álvaro Bautista: “With the time I did in qualifying – one-and-a-half-seconds quicker than last year – I would have been in pole position in 2010! This year the level is amazing and the lap-times are very fast, but our performance is also due to the hard work the guys in the Factory have put in, it has made a big difference. This morning we tested different settings in the two bikes, one of which was set a little bit lower to help me in the hard braking parts of this track, but I tried it too late in the free practice so I didn’t have a clear idea which setting was better. This afternoon we started with the lower bike and harder compound tyres, but the feeling was not what I wanted, so I changed to the other bike and it was better. I improved my lap-time at the end, but I got into some traffic on my last laps so couldn’t improve it anymore. Eighth is not too bad and I want to produce a good race for all the Suzuki company and factory guys that are here this weekend supporting us. I will try to get a good start and fight from the beginning, I think the first three or four will be difficult to catch, but after that I think we can be in the battle for the next few positions. We will see what the weather brings and the condition of the track, but I am looking forward to a good race.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “We needed a strong qualifying performance today and Álvaro delivered that. We just didn’t get the timing right on the last run, in terms of track position and traffic, but only half-of-a-second off fourth place on Honda’s home track is a decent result. The first couple of laps will be critical tomorrow and I believe if Álvaro is in the tow with the fastest riders there is a possibility of a very strong result.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki

Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista recorded the 11th fastest time at Motegi in Japan today, but knows there is more potential to come from rider and machine.

Bautista completed 38 laps of the 4,801m Japanese circuit, recording his quickest time of 1’48.097 on his last lap of the day. He will continue to work through a number of various set-up changes tomorrow and carry on searching for the best tyre choice, as he prepares for Sunday’s race.

Today’s practice sessions were held in warm and pleasant conditions with track temperatures reaching 41ºC. Dani Pedrosa clocked the best time, with current championship leader Casey Stoner second.

Rizla Suzuki has one more free practice session at its home Grand Prix tomorrow morning, before an hour of qualifying will determine grid positions for Sunday’s 24-lap race.

Álvaro Bautista: “We tested a different setting this morning and compared it against the one from Aragon. We used the new set-up in the bike with the new swinging-arm and it was definitely better. This afternoon we tried the harder option tyres, because although the softer ones were not too bad this morning, I still had a bit of movement entering the corners. This track has a lot of hard braking and the harder front tyre is much better for that because it gives me more stability. We still don’t know which compound we will use for the race, so we have to test a bit more tomorrow and it will also depend on the temperature on race-day. At the end I got into a fairly good rhythm, but I still don’t feel 100% with the bike. I had a little gear-shift problem and this made judging the braking points quite difficult, and I had a lot of movement because I was moving my whole body to change down a gear. We improved at the end, but not enough and I think that we can make some big steps tomorrow. With some hard work we can make the bike perform better and improve our lap-time.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “We didn’t get up to speed as quickly as we would have liked to here in Motegi. Álvaro has had a number of small restrictions that have held him back, but on the positive side his best lap-time wasn’t faster than his regular rhythm and was very repeatable. By the end of FP2 the gap to the top-six had reduced to a level which will hopefully allow us to make in-roads during tomorrow and the team will improve the bike overnight.
After much debate – which in the end I am glad we as Rizla Suzuki stayed away from – it’s a pleasure to be back in Motegi and find the circuit and the Japanese fans so welcoming to the MotoGP circus!”

Source: Rizla Suzuki

Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista produced a thrilling performance in front of his home fans at Aragon in Spain today to equal his best dry result of the season so far.

Starting from 11th on the grid, Bautista got boxed in on the first corner and was lucky to avoid a crash between two other riders, but by the end of the first lap the hard-charging Spaniard had moved up to eighth position. He then got involved in an almost race long battle with the Ducati’s of Hector Barbera and Nicky Hayden as the three of them traded places many times throughout the race, before Bautista got the better of the pair and made a break in the latter stages to secure a hard-fought, but deserved, sixth place.

A crowd of over 63,000 spectators arrived at Aragon today to be greeted by overcast skies, strong winds and temperatures considerably below what they had been previously this weekend. Championship leader Casey Stoner produced another commanding performance to take victory on his Honda and further strengthen his position at the top of the standings.

Rizla Suzuki and the rest of the MotoGP paddock now embark on a far eastern tour that will see them all race in Japan, Australia and Malaysia in the month of October. The first of these three races will be the re-scheduled round at Motegi in Japan on Sunday 2nd October, a race that was originally planned for earlier in the year, but was postponed due to the tragedy that struck that country shortly before the GP was due to take place.

Álvaro Bautista: “Today we had very different conditions from the practice and the temperature was much lower. I wanted to have a good race in front of my home fans, so I pushed as hard as I could to make the bike and tyres work right from the beginning, but I didn’t get a good start and other riders got in my way in the first corner and it was quite difficult to overtake early on. I got up to Hector and Nicky we had a big battle and fought a lot between us and when I got into sixth the riders in front were very far away and I was still fighting with the other two, so I couldn’t get a good rhythm. In the last laps I made a break from the other two and was able to ride more consistently and smoother and pull away to secure the sixth place. It was a good result, but I think if the conditions had been the same as qualifying we had the potential to be with the group fighting for podium positions. I am happy with all we have done this weekend and looking forward to the next race and to continue with this work.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “Another strong race performance by Álvaro, he again kept things tidy and used controlled aggression to climb from a fourth row start to a sixth placed finish. We are really happy with Álvaro’s efforts and the performance of the GSV-R, and the focus continues to be the same as it has been – that is to qualify better and get more out of the fresh tyres at the start of the race. Those two things are definitely connected, in that if we qualify better and are following the quick guys in the early laps we have a much better chance of hanging in there with them. I think Motegi will suit Álvaro and the Suzuki, and we are looking forward to giving Suzuki’s Japanese fans something to remember when we go there next month.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki

Rizla Suzuki’s Spanish racer Álvaro Bautista has a lot of work to do at the start of tomorrow’s Aragon Grand Prix in Spain after qualifying 11th this afternoon.

Bautista (1’49.883, 26 laps) will start from the middle of the fourth row after he was unable to capitalise on the promise that he showed in the early stages of this afternoon’s qualifying session. He had been as high as fourth in the classification with about a quarter of the session left, but was unable to maintain that position and will now have to make a good start tomorrow to get up amongst the front pack in the early part of the race.

Today’s qualifying was held in mixed weather conditions, from bright sunshine to overcast and humid, with track temperatures reaching 41ºC. Current World Championship leader Casey Stoner recorded his ninth pole position of the season, a feat that equals the record of the most poles in a season by an individual rider in the current MotoGP four-stroke era – currently held by Stoner in 2008 and Valentino Rossi in 2003.

Tomorrow’s race is the 14th round on the 2011 calendar and the 23-laps of action will get underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Álvaro Bautista: “I am not happy with the position because we are too far back, but all the laptimes are very close and I am only just over three tenths from the second row, so that shows how close it is. I did a lot of laps on the harder tyre and after I had done a race distance it started to slide a little bit, but I think this was the same for most of the riders. At the end with the softer tyre I improved my lap-time, but I made a mistake on the last two laps and couldn’t improve enough to get a better position on the grid. Tomorrow I will try to make a good start and get past as many riders as possible in the first laps. I think if I can get a good start and stay with the second group – Stoner and Pedrosa are very strong and will probably pull away – then I think I can battle with that group. I will push to the limit to get a good position and fight all the way tomorrow!”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“Eleventh is below our expectation and also below the potential of the bike and rider package, and we still need to find a little bit of an extra spark in qualifying to get up towards the second row. That all said, we’ve had some of our best races from the fourth row of the grid and tomorrow is going to be a big challenge for all the riders to maintain a consistent rhythm over race distance. I think we are in good shape to put in a strong performance and improve dramatically over the qualifying result in tomorrow’s race.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki

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

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

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