Rizla Suzuki got back to MotoGP action at Jerez in Spain today with both riders inside the top 10 after the first free practice session.

Capirossi’s fastest time of 1’40.716 from his 23 laps of the 4,423m Spanish circuit gave him sixth place overall in the standings. He made some big changes to the set-up of his GSV-R in preparation for this weekend’s event and from the first evaluation he is pleased with the new settings, but also knows there is extra to come to make his machine more competitive.

Bautista is making his home MotoGP debut this weekend and acquitted himself well during the first day. He recorded a quickest time of 1’41.093, to give him ninth place overall after his 25 laps of the Jerez track. He is eager to make a good impression in front of his home fans and will be determined to continue to improve over the weekend.

Today’s single hour of practice was held in warm and sunny conditions, with air temperatures getting up to 26ºC and track temperatures in the high 40s. Casey Stoner on a factory Ducati set the fastest time of the day with a lap of 1’39.731.

Rizla Suzuki has one more practice session on Saturday morning followed by qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday’s 27-lap race will get underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Álvaro Bautista:
“This is a new circuit with new reference points for me on a MotoGP bike, so it felt like I had to start working all over again. I tried to find a good line on the track and worked with the team to get a good base setting. At the end of the session I tried the softer compound tyres and I had a lot of grip from the rear and I was able to exit the corners much quicker, but I think I felt a bit too much movement from the front and I wasn’t able to enter the corner like I could on the harder tyres, so that is something we have to work on tomorrow. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow and we will have to work very hard to get everything right. I think we are in a good position in the classification because we are in the top 10 and at my home GP I want to have a good race, but before that we have a lot of work to do on the bike and we must get a good setting so I can compete and enjoy myself!”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“It’s been a solid start to our preparations for the Jerez Grand Prix. There is not a lot of space around this circuit for the big bikes to stretch their legs and I’m sure the GSV-R felt a bit of an animal to Álvaro on his first run around here on anything bigger than a 250. He certainly didn’t look out of place during the course of the session and to be in the top 10 at the end is a very encouraging result.

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

After a slow start into the session, Alvaro improved quite considerably towards the end and managed to finish the day in a good 9th position.

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Alvaro Bautista makes his home country MotoGP debut for the Rizla Suzuki team at this weekend’s Gran Premio bwin de España in Jerez as the European leg of the season gets underway.

Alvaro hails from Talavera de la Reina, near Madrid, which is over 500km/s away from the Andalucian circuit, but he will certainly be guaranteed plenty of home support from the huge partisan crowd. Bautista has a good record at the 4,423m Jerez circuit, with a victory in the 125cc class in 2006, as well as two second places and a pole position in the 250cc series in the last three seasons.

The Jerez circuit is situated on the south coast of Spain in the Andalucian region. It is one of the most intense races of the season with over 250,000 people expected to turn up over the weekend, creating one of the most amazing atmospheres experienced at a Grand Prix track.

Rizla Suzuki takes to the track on Friday afternoon for a one hour practice session, followed by a further hour of free practice on Saturday morning. Qualifying for the 27-lap race takes place on Saturday afternoon, with the main event getting underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) on Sunday 2nd May.

Here’s Alvaro’s words ahead of the race weekend:

“I am still disappointed from Qatar, it was not the best way to start in MotoGP, but this is another race and I must learn from what happened last time. I like the Jerez circuit and got on the podium there last year so that is a good sign. It will be a big weekend for me because it will be the first time I have raced in Spain for Suzuki, so I hope to put on a good show for all the Spanish fans.”

Friday 30 April

12.40 – 13.40 :: 125cc Free Practice 1
13.55 – 14.55 :: MotoGP Free Practice 1
15.10 – 16.10 :: Moto2 Free Practice 1

……………………………………….

Saturday 01 May

09.00 – 09.40 :: 125cc Free Practice 2
09.55 – 10.55 :: MotoGP Free Practice 2
11.10 – 12.10 :: Moto2 Free Practice 2
13.00 – 13.40 :: 125cc Qualifying
13.55 – 14.55 :: MotoGP Qualifying
15.10 – 15.55 :: Moto2 Qualifying

……………………………………….

Sunday 02 May

08.40 – 09.00 :: 125cc Warm Up
09.10 – 09.30 :: Moto2 Warm Up
09.40 – 10.00 :: MotoGP Warm Up

11.00 :: 125cc RACE (23 laps)
12.15 :: Moto2 RACE (26 laps)
14.00 :: MotoGP RACE (27 laps)

(*Shown: local time)

After a three-week break in which the Grand Prix of Japan was rescheduled for October 3rd due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland (“virtually” replaced by the fab and funny TwitGP), the 2010 FIM MotoGP World Championship resumes at Jerez this weekend with the Gran Premio bwin de España.

It is a circuit which has been a favourite of Valentino Rossi who has most recently won there in 2007 and 2009, finishing second in the year in between. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo’s pace at the track is undoubted – he has secured pole position there in his two MotoGP races to date, but is yet to win in the premier class at Jerez. The pair arrive in Spain first and second respectively in the 2010 standings after the opening round in Qatar.

The Gran Premio bwin de España will provide Ducati Marlboro rider Casey Stoner with the opportunity to get his campaign off to a genuine start after he crashed out on lap six when leading at Losail in round one. The Australian finished third at Jerez last season, and a podium will be the only result he will have his eyes this time around on as he looks to make up the early points deficit on Rossi and Lorenzo.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) got his season off to a thrilling start by beating Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro) to the final podium spot in Qatar, and the duo will both be looking to at least consolidate if not better their respective results at Jerez.

Displaying his lightning pace off the starting grid in round one was Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) and the Spaniard will want to carry that through to race distance at Jerez where he won in 2008 and finished second last year, whilst Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) are still striving to get the most out of their bikes. The veteran Italian won the race in 2006, whilst Edwards finished on the podium in 2007.

Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech3) announced his arrival as a full-time member of the MotoGP grid in style with a fifth-placed finish in Qatar, and the American now heads to a track he does not know. Spies was the highest finisher of the rookies in round one, but Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP), Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) and Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) will all look to capitalise on their experiences of winning in the 250cc or 125cc classes at Jerez.

The Gran Premio bwin de España takes place from April 30th-May 2nd, with the opening practice session in the 125cc class commencing proceedings on Friday April 30th at 12.40pm local time. The 125cc race takes place at 11am local time on Sunday May 2nd, with Moto2 at 12.15pm and MotoGP at 2pm.

Source: www.motogp.com

After a thrilling 125cc race, it was the turn of the 250cc riders to put on a show in Spain. The packed grandstands saw an exciting four way battle between Álvaro Bautista, Hiroshi Aoyama, Héctor Barberá and Marco Simoncelli for the win, with Álex Debon having started from pole position. In the end it was Aoyama who took the victory, thanks to a last-lap overtaking move on home rider Bautista.

From fourth on the grid, Álvaro Bautista pushed his Harvest for the Mapfre Aspar team and the home fans. The Spaniard had a breathtaking duel with Aoyama in the final stages het he race, clocking a new circuit record of 1’43.338 on lap fifteen. He was outbraked by Aoyama for the win, but took a creditable runner-up spot and his second consecutive podium.

2nd Álvaro Bautista: “This second place tasted like victory for me. Obviously I know that first is always better, but we were really battling out there at 100%. Before the race I wasn’t sure of what my race pace would be like, not knowing if I could keep up, as during the practice sessions I couldn’t find the right pace. In the warmup we worked on the setting and found a new configuration that I really liked, and when I saw the crowd I knew that I had to leave any excuses behind me and go for a good result. Jorge told me to remember 2007 just before I went out, and the motivation worked. At the end of the race I tried to take the victory, but it was a pity that Hiroshi is so fantastic on the brakes. I tried to do it later but it wasn’t possible, he was at the limit. We finished second but it is almost a victory, and I learnt that we will never back down.”

Pos | Rider | Nation | Team | Total time | Gap

1 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Scot Racing Team 250cc 45’08.805
2 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team 45’08.937 0.132
3 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA Metis Gilera 45’11.511 2.706
4 Hector BARBERA SPA Pepe World Team 45’11.574 2.769
5 Thomas LUTHI SWI Emmi – Caffe Latte 45’26.751 17.946
6 Mattia PASINI ITA Team Toth Aprilia 45’26.755 17.950
7 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Balatonring Team 45’35.093 26.288
8 Jules CLUZEL FRA Matteoni Racing 45’35.277 26.472
9 Roberto LOCATELLI ITA Metis Gilera 45’36.451 27.646
10 Raffaele DE ROSA ITA Scot Racing Team 250cc 45’41.174 32.369
11 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc 45’41.422 32.617
12 Shoya TOMIZAWA JPN CIP Moto – GP250 45’43.046 34.241
13 Lukas PESEK CZE Auto Kelly – CP 45’45.694 36.889
14 Hector FAUBEL SPA Valencia CF – Honda SAG 45’46.042 37.237
15 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT SAG 46’25.591 1’16.786
16 Imre TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia 46’34.314 1’25.509
17 Bastien CHESAUX SWI Racing Team Germany 45’17.952 1 Lap
18 Aitor RODRIGUEZ SPA Milar – Juegos Lucky 45’24.420 1 Lap
19 Vladimir LEONOV RUS Viessmann Kiefer Racing 45’45.476 1 Lap
20 Valentin DEBISE FRA CIP Moto – GP250 46’27.875 1 Lap

Not classified
7 Axel PONS SPA Pepe World Team Aprilia 39’34.811 4 Lap
76 Ivan MAESTRO SPA Milar – Juegos Lucky Aprilia 32’52.278 8 Lap
25 Alex BALDOLINI ITA WTR San Marino Team Aprilia 17’59.444 16 Lap
6 Alex DEBON SPA Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens Aprilia 15’50.963 17 Lap
17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Aprilia 5’24.344 23 Lap

Pos | Rider | Team | Lap time | Gap

1 Hiroshi AOYAMA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1’43.031
2 Marco SIMONCELLI Metis Gilera 1’43.205 0.174
3 Alex DEBON Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens 1’44.029 0.998
4 Gabor TALMACSI Balatonring Team 1’44.121 1.090
5 Alvaro BAUTISTA Mapfre Aspar Team 1’44.292 1.261
6 Mike DI MEGLIO Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc 1’44.430 1.399
7 Raffaele DE ROSA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1’44.430 1.399
8 Mattia PASINI Team Toth Aprilia 1’44.438 1.407
9 Roberto LOCATELLI Metis Gilera 1’44.529 1.498
10 Hector BARBERA Pepe World Team 1’44.590 1.559
11 Thomas LUTHI Emmi – Caffe Latte 1’44.818 1.787
12 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’44.841 1.810
13 Lukas PESEK Auto Kelly – CP 1’45.434 2.403
14 Hector FAUBEL Valencia CF – Honda SAG 1’45.695 2.664
15 Alex BALDOLINI WTR San Marino Team 1’45.758 2.727
16 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP Moto – GP250 1’45.779 2.748
17 Jules CLUZEL Matteoni Racing 1’45.817 2.786
18 Imre TOTH Team Toth Aprilia 1’46.457 3.426
19 Vladimir LEONOV Viessmann Kiefer Racing 1’46.614 3.583
20 Ratthapark WILAIROT Thai Honda PTT SAG 1’46.626 3.595
21 Axel PONS Pepe World Team 1’46.710 3.679
22 Aitor RODRIGUEZ Milar – Juegos Lucky 1’47.760 4.729
23 Valentin DEBISE CIP Moto – GP250 1’48.768 5.737
24 Bastien CHESAUX Racing Team Germany 1’49.018 5.987
25 Ivan MAESTRO Milar – Juegos Lucky 1’50.861 7.830