Some more photos from the first test of the 2012 preseason in Sepang this week.

Photos: Honda Pro Images, Gresini Racing

As the preseason testing for the 2012 championship finally began at Sepang today, here are a few photos of Álvaro and his new 1000cc Honda RC213V out on track for the first time.

Photo Copyright: Honda Pro Images, Gresini Racing

Alvaro scored his best result in a dry race this season at the Sachsenring last weekend. Here are some exclusive shots from the German Grand Prix.

Photo Copyright: Vroom Media

When the Rizla Suzuki Team signed a new agreement at the beginning of 2010 for a collaboration with the legendary designer Troy Lee, it also meant that all the team gear, the bikes and the rider’s helmets were to be designed by the American company. This created an interesting overlap of designs as Starline Designers‘ Roberto Marchionni had already created the 2010 helmet for Alvaro. However, due to the team’s new deal with Troy Lee Alvaro never actually got to wear this helmet on track and it disappeared into the depths of the designer’s locker.

But recently an Italian helmet design blog unearthed this “helmet that never was” and posted some pictures of the original Starline design.

What do you think of the design? Do you prefer this one or the official 2010 design by Troy Lee?

You can also check out all of Alvaro’s previous helmet designs since he started in the world championship here.

Photos: Starline Designers via Racing Helmets Garage

New season, new livery. At least a slightly changed one. From afar it might look like not much has changed for Alvaro this year with the team keeping their trademark Rizla blue, but when you get up close… Fortunately for you and us, the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team has published a couple more studio shots of our very favourite smiley Spaniard where you can discover the new darker “metallic blue” tone of his leathers which also feature some cool stripes on the side of the chest and lots of black leather on the back of the legs, in colour and style matching the new livery of the Suzuki GSV-R perfectly.

You can also get another close up look at his shiny new helmet and the re-designed devil logo. The stylish and intricate design of his Shoei helmet has an immediate appeal to it and is a big change from last year’s version in bright blue-yellow-pink. In combination with the new leathers Bati’s livery for this year looks quite a bit darker than last season, but in a good way. In any case it’s a cool and grown-up design to attack his second year in the MotoGP class with.

You can download these photos and the rest of the photoshoot in high-resolution from the Rizla Suzuki official website here.

Rizla Suzuki has published the first official photos of Alvaro and his 2011 Suzuki GSV-R in the new livery. The shots were taken ahead of the final preseason test at Qatar yesterday.

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

The final preseason test of the year gets underway tomorrow and everyone is getting antsy, including us. It’ll be the first time for all riders and teams to show up with their definitive 2011 liveries on track and many have been using the day before the actual testing starts – i.e. today – for various photoshoots, filming and interview sessions. Both Ducati and Suzuki had special permission for their riders to go out on track for a few laps to film footage for promotion videos while the official MotoGP profile photos and videos were also produced today. A busy day all around, even though most riders don’t enjoy this kind of work nearly as much they do riding their bikes.

But they will get back to that tomorrow and the final results of the two days of testing at Qatar will be scrupulously analyzed by everyone even remotely interested in MotoGP, putting out more or less educated guesses about what they might mean and why – until the actual race in just one week’s time will finally end all preseason speculation. Yes.
Nevertheless, the Qatar test this year in many ways takes over the “Grand Prix Zero” title the IRTA test in Jerez used to have in previous years. There’ll be no BMW up for grabs in Qatar on Monday and no points given for the fastest laptime, but instead it will hopefully give us a real glimpse of what everyone is capable of this season for the first time.

The problem with the first two tests of the preseason being held at the same track is of course that it’s difficult for teams and riders to work out bike issues which might only be related to the specific layout of the Sepang track or the weather conditions in Malaysia and vice versa. In the case of the Alvaro’s Suzuki team there’s quite a lot of suspense to see how the slightly revised GSV-R can perform in the comparatively colder conditions of the Losail circuit. They’ve always gone good at Sepang, the bike works well in the heat and it’s one of Alvaro’s favourite tracks. But if the engineers’ work during the winter can really pay off will only show at Qatar. We’re surely keeping our fingers crossed it does.

The other big uncertainty for Qatar is how the Ducatis will fair. Will Valentino Rossi finally be up to speed again after having a couple more weeks of rest and training for his shoulder? Are the engineers from Bologna able to pull a red rabbit out of their hat and surprise everyone? And speaking about magic, will the Honda riders keep on blitzing the field with incredible laptimes, making Yamaha rider Lorenzo again scream for more power because his bike can’t quite keep up?

It’ll be a very interesting two days of testing for sure and the riders, teams and media on location are at the ready. And fortunately for us fans who have to stay at home there are lots of them very active on Twitter, posting behind-the-scenes photos and tidbits from the preparations at the circuit. This includes of course Alvaro who spoilt his followers today with two shots showing him in his new Rev’it! leathers as he gets on the bike for a few laps of filming. And even though they are not the best quality, you can already see that this year’s leathers fit much better with the bike, being the same tone of a darker blue. Combined with his cool new helmet design Álvaro is already off to a good-looking start to the season. Now we’re keeping our fingers crossed it’ll also be a successful one.

Photos: Twitter Alvaro Bautista

The updated 2011 Rizla Suzuki GSV-R today makes its worldwide premiere on the team’s new-look website – images are now exclusively available to view and download in hi-res from www.rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk

The machine which Álvaro Bautista will be riding in this season’s MotoGP World Championship is the final generation of the 800cc GSV-R four-stroke prototype Grand Prix bike, due to the change in capacity limit to 1000cc next season. The latest – and most technologically advanced – version of Suzuki’s MotoGP challenger features an engine that has improved on its horsepower, driveability and durability through many detailed development changes throughout winter and pre-season testing. It also features improved acceleration characteristics – especially out of slower corners – to assist Bautista in his challenge for MotoGP glory.

To compliment the upgraded engine specifications, Suzuki’s Factory Engineers have also improved the chassis performance by significant developments to the stiffness balance of frame and swing-arm and have optimised the weight balance geometries from last season’s machine. These updates to the chassis have been paired with the most advanced ECU software ever used on a Suzuki Grand Prix machine, to give Bautista more precise traction and wheelie control without losing direct machine control or power, adding to the versatility of the GSV-R in all conditions.

The 2011 Rizla Suzuki GSV-R also features a revised Troy Lee Designs inspired livery, incorporating a new, contemporary and dynamic Rizla logo that will be launched by the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team. The 2011 Rizla Suzuki GSV-R will make its official debut during this weekend’s final pre-season test at Qatar, before making its racing debut – also at Qatar – on Sunday 20th March.

To compliment the latest version of the GSV-R, Rizla Suzuki has also redesigned and refreshed its website for the 2011 season, so visit www.rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk to see what’s new.

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP