The Rizla Suzuki squad and Álvaro Bautista have concluded the final day of testing at Valencia with a very encouraging result as Bautista recorded the seventh quickest time of the day.

Bautista (1’32.738, 86 laps) took almost a second off his previous best lap-time from both the race weekend and yesterday’s testing, as he moved to just over half-of-a-second off the quickest time of the day. The Spaniard tested various chassis configurations and several settings, along with evaluating new bodywork for the Suzuki GSV-R and numerous other parts in a thorough and comprehensive test programme. The whole team got through a significant amount of work and with the information collected at this two-day test, the engineers back in Japan will certainly have plenty to work with during the winter months.

Today’s weather was very similar to yesterday with strong winds and cold track temperatures making conditions very difficult. Casey Stoner on a Honda was the quickest rider on the timesheets, with World Champion Jorge Lorenzo in second, but Bautista certainly had them in his sights as he improved continuously throughout the day.

Rizla Suzuki, Bautista and the rest of the MotoGP paddock will now face an enforced winter testing ban that begins on December 1st and ends on January 31st. The next test will be at Sepang in Malaysia in early February, with the 2011 season due to kick-off at Losail in Qatar on Sunday 20th March.

Álvaro Bautista: “Today has been another good day because after testing the new forks yesterday and getting a good base setting, I was able to go straight out and improve my lap-time. We continued through the day to test other stuff and I tried a new frame with new specifications, and I quickly felt it was much better than the old one. That means that we have made a step forward and with it I was able to do my best time. At the end of the day I tested some new compound Bridgestone tyres, there were three different styles, but I didn’t feel much difference between them all. I am happy because the whole crew has done a good job today and I want to say thank-you to Suzuki because I think we made steps forward at this test and with the data from here I hope they can bring me some more new and better stuff from Japan for the test in February.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“It has been a very positive end to what has been a difficult season. We found a decent step forward yesterday compared to the race weekend and took more steps forward today. We have found something, based on today’s data at least, that may help Álvaro get the best out of the GSV-R on new tyres, which has been a weak point for us this year both in qualifying and in the first few laps of the races. We all know that he is a race-day guy and not a testing guy and that he always finds additional performance in the races themselves. So, for him to end up in seventh place and only 0.6 seconds from the fastest rider is a very positive result.

“Thanks to everyone involved with the team throughout 2010, hopefully today’s test will enable the Factory to have some interesting material prepared for the test in February and we can continue to take the next step forward.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Rizla Suzuki began its preparations for 2011 at Valencia in Spain with a constructive first day at the post-season test which saw Álvaro Bautista post the eighth fastest time.

Bautista (1’33.558, 44 laps) set about his testing duties with the same professional and thorough manner he has shown throughout his rookie season. He tested many new and re-designed parts for the Suzuki GSV-R and – although a big part of the day was lost to rain – he managed to improve on his times continually despite conditions being considerably worse than the race weekend due to strong winds blowing across the circuit.

Bautista was able to compare a range of two specifications of Öhlins front forks, new rear swing arm, different settings and various other items in the time that was available. The whole team finished the day in a very positive frame of mind and all eager to continue with the test tomorrow.

The blustery weather that blew across the 4,005m Valencian track made things difficult for all riders and was even responsible for one being blown off line and into the gravel! The fastest time of the day was set by World Champion and last weekend’s race winner Jorge Lorenzo.

Rizla Suzuki has one more day at Valencia tomorrow to continue with the evaluation of the Suzuki GSV-R in readiness for next season, before the winter testing ban comes in to force at the end of this month.

Álvaro Bautista: “Today we have had a good test even though we lost some time due to the rain. We started with the base setting from the race so we could get the feeling of the track, it was a bit different out there because there was less grip and it was very windy, this made it more difficult to ride than during the weekend. We tested two different front forks and one felt the same as the ones I’d used in the race, but the other one was much better overall. It helped me in the mid-corner braking, because it gave me more confidence to release the brake than it had done before and this gave me more speed so I could exit better. I also tested a new swinging arm, it was not a big difference but it also helped a little. I am very happy with the first day because I’ve done close to my best time and the conditions were much worse than in qualifying. I’m looking forward to tomorrow because we have more things to test.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“Álvaro and the team have completed a very solid first day’s work and given that the conditions were worse than race day, we can be pleased with the relative performance as well. We’ve struggled to generate grip and feedback in colder conditions and the track temperature was right down today, so this is also a step in the right direction. We’ve got roughly the same volume of work to get through tomorrow, so fingers crossed that the weather will remain good enough to get things done properly and we can take some more steps forward, before Alvaro and the team get a little down-time at the end of a long season.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Rizla Suzuki completed most of its full test programme and acquired a large amount of data from Monday’s test at the Brno circuit before rain brought the day’s proceedings to a premature end.

Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista were joined at the 5,403m Czech Republic track by Alstare Suzuki World Superbike rider Sylvain Guintoli, who was called up to provide cover for the test if Bautista was unable to participate following his huge crash in Saturday’s practice.

Capirossi and Bautista were able to test many new and revised parts for the Suzuki GSV-R including two new chassis, new Ohlins forks and updated engine management programmes. Guintoli was able to complete three runs to get some data for his riding style early in the morning. The talented Frenchman was then scheduled to do a longer test run in the afternoon, but the rain intervened and ruined any chance he had of assisting with further evaluation of the GSV-R.

Rizla Suzuki will now assess the information from the test and hopefully be able to make some important steps and decisive changes in-time for the next round of the season at Indianapolis in America on Sunday 29th August. Guintoli will next be in WSB action on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 at Nurburgring in Germany on Sunday 5th September.

Álvaro Bautista:
“The test was very short for me, because I felt a lot worse than I did on Sunday during the race. Today we wanted to do a full comparison of two different chassis and we were able to at least do that. I noticed an improvement in the exit of the corner with the new one, the bike had more stability. We still need to test it further and find out what the true potential is, but overall it was a good test and hopefully with what we found we can make a big difference.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

After the Czech GP on Sunday the highly anticipated post-race test took place at Brno yesterday. It is the last official test for the MotoGP teams this season and with Suzuki currently struggling with their performance, they had a lot of new parts and configurations to test in order to try and catch up with the other manufacturers for the rest of the season.
Following his horrifying crash in Saturday morning’s free practice session, Alvaro didn’t ride his bike much during the test. Instead the team brought current World Superbike rider Sylvain Guintoli on board who shared the bike and the workload with Alvaro. Guintoli has extensive experience in the MotoGP championship and did his best to help the team get all the scheduled work done. Alvaro only rode 24 laps in the morning session – the least laps of all riders – and didn’t go out again for the afternoon session, to further recover from the back injuries he sustained.
The afternoon session was also cut short by rain, forcing all riders back into the pits and ending the day about three hours early. Not the best conditions for Suzuki to test everything they brought to Brno. New parts and adjustments they tested included a new fairing, a brandnew and a modified chassis, different forks, an aerodynamics package and some electronics changes. Due to Alvaro being injured most of the work again fell back on his teammate Loris Capirossi.

Pedrosa and Simoncelli were the only crashers during the test, both walking away unhurt, and Randy De Puniet sat the day out to give his leg some rest and not having any new parts to test anyway.

The fastest laptime of the day:

Pos Rider Bike Time Diff
1 Jorge LORENZO YAMAHA 1’56.269
2 Casey STONER DUCATI 1’56.844 0.575
3 Dani PEDROSA HONDA TEST 1’56.944 0.675
4 Valentino ROSSI YAMAHA 1’57.129 0.860
5 Dani PEDROSA HONDA 1’57.424 1.155
6 Colin EDWARDS YAMAHA 1’57.512 1.243
7 Andrea DOVIZIOSO HONDA 1’57.691 1.422
8 Loris CAPIROSSI SUZUKI 1’57.700 1.431
9 Ben SPIES YAMAHA 1’57.753 1.484
10 Nicky HAYDEN DUCATI 1’57.991 1.722
11 Hector BARBERA DUCATI 1’58.017 1.748
12 Marco MELANDRI HONDA 1’58.070 1.801
13 Marco SIMONCELLI HONDA 1’58.160 1.891
14 Aleix ESPARGARO DUCATI 1’58.612 2.343
15 Hiroshi AOYAMA HONDA 1’58.830 2.561
16 Mika KALLIO DUCATI 1’58.926 2.657
17 Alvaro Bautista SUZUKI 1’59.454 3.185
18 Sylvain Guintoli SUZUKI 2’01.474 5.205

A couple of news bits concerning Suzuki and their technical as well as professional future.

There will be one day of testing immediately after the Czech Grand Prix at Brno this weekend and Suzuki has brought quite a few new parts in order to improve their obvious current disadvantages on track. In fact, they have so much stuff to test that team boss Paul Denning already fears that the track time won’t be enough for them to get all the work done in only one day.

“We will bring so many new parts to Brno that we would really need more than one day. I assume the track time will be from 9 in the morning to 6 PM and during that time we won’t leave a minute unused, hoping that we can get through our whole task list. We definitely need to take a step forward. For my taste the Brno circuit is the wrong place to test at, because the flowing line is comparable to the Catalunya circuit. However, our bike shouldn’t go too bad there. And normally the temperatures are pretty high at this time of year as well.” Concerning the new parts that are up for testing, Denning explained: “We have important changes to test for the aerodynamics package. Those affect not only the speed, but also the handling when entering the curves. Additionally we have tests planned for the chassis, the swingarm and the ECU where we want to sort out the best parts.”

Looking further into the future, Denning revealed during the Suzuki anniversary celebration at Brands Hatch last weekend that Suzuki’s participation in the MotoGP championship for 2011 is definitely secured. Alvaro will be starting his second year with the team and Rizla seems almost certain to be the title sponsor again. With the possibility of Toni Elias joining the team in the coming season [see various Silly Season reports on that, we recommend the excellent summary on MotoMatters] it would also be desirable for Suzuki to get a big Spanish sponsor on board as well, supporting the potential All-Spanish lineup and giving them a few more opportunities than with only the reportedly meager funding coming from Rizla.

However, it is still not clear whether we will still see Suzuki in the championship in 2012 when the new rules come into effect. The reports are a bit contradicting on that matter. On the one hand the development department at Suzuki is apparently already working on the prototype for 2012, on the other hand the team itself didn’t get any official confirmation yet about the continued participation in the championship beyond 2011.

Source: Motorsport Aktuell

Laptimes from the test at Jerez, after the Spanish GP.

Alvaro had a little crash at turn 1 in the afternoon session, but walked away unhurt.

Read the full story

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has ended its final pre-season test session in positive spirits following a successful final night in Qatar.

Loris Capirossi shook off the sickness he suffered yesterday to put in a strong performance and take fifth place on the night. He recorded a quickest time of 1’56.195 from his 58 laps of the Losail circuit and had no reoccurrence of the ailment that caused him to end the test early on Thursday evening. Capirossi did a thorough evaluation of the new spec higher durability GSV-R engine, as well as testing a new chassis and various other new specification parts. His valuable data will now be analysed back in Japan to prepare the bike for the first round of the season early next month.

New-signing Alvaro Bautista made a huge improvement during the second part of the two-day night-test in Qatar by taking over a second off his previous night’s time. He covered the 5,380m lap of the Losail International Circuit a total of 71 times this evening and made advances to his performance and control on a MotoGP machine ahead of his race debut this coming April. Bautista’s best time from the session of 1’56.898 was good enough to give him 12th overall from the two-day test.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will be back In Qatar in three weeks time for the first round of the MotoGP Championship, which will be held under floodlights on the night of Sunday 11th April.

Alvaro Bautista:
“Today has been a lot more positive than yesterday, because on Thursday we had a lot of other things to do and never really got much done in the test. Today I could concentrate just on riding and during the first time out I felt more comfortable than at any time yesterday. I improved my lap-time by more than one second and also my riding was much better. We tried different settings for geometry and suspension, for both the front and rear of the bike and think that we have a good base set-up for the race already. At the end I tried to do a long run and did 15 laps, but after a full day riding I was a bit tired! I am happy because I am improving every time and I now know I am ready to race!”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“The first night here in Qatar was really tough for a number of reasons, but we’re pleased to have taken a significant step forward with both of the guys tonight. Suzuki has been working very hard to improve the consistency of the bike and without question there has been some progress in that direction. That said, we have still got a lot of work to do to close the gap, but to end the test with Loris in the top six and Alvaro the fastest of last year’s 250cc riders is a good sign – particularly as Qatar is a track that has never been too kind to us in the past!”

Combined laptimes Qatar Test

Pos Rider Session 1 Session 2 Lead. Gap
1 Casey Stoner 1:55.717 1:55.353 -
2 Valentino Rossi 1:55.402 1:55.860 +0.049
3 Andrea Dovizioso 1:56.811 1:55.879 +0.526
4 Ben Spies 1:55.954 1:56.779 +0.601
5 Nicky Hayden 1:56.855 1:56.115 +0.762
6 Loris Capirossi 1:57.099 1:56.195 +0.842
7 Jorge Lorenzo 1:56.838 1:56.504 +1.151
8 Randy De Puniet 1:56.588 1:56.504 +1.151
9 Colin Edwards 1:56.540 1:56.722 +1.187
10 Mika Kallio 1:56.923 1:56.767 +1.414
11 Aleix Espargaro 1:57.898 1:56.897 +1.544
12 Alvaro Bautista 1:57.960 1:56.898 +1.545
13 Dani Pedrosa 1:57.047 1:56.935 +1.582
14 Marco Melandri 1:57.605 1:57.222 +1.869
15 Hector Barbera 1:57.822 1:57.223 +1.870
16 Hiroshi Aoyama 1:57.888 1:57.251 +1.898
17 Marco Simoncelli 1:57.891 1:57.379 +2.026

Regular laptimes updates from the second day of testing in Qatar.

Laptimes at 19.05h local time

Pos Rider Fastest lap Lead. Gap Laps
1 Casey Stoner 1:55.922 - 8
2 Valentino Rossi 1:56.322 +0.400 7
3 Andrea Dovizioso 1:56.581 +0.659 13
4 Loris Capirossi 1:56.660 +0.738 8
5 Randy De Puniet 1:56.673 +0.751 5
6 Ben Spies 1:56.860 +0.938 15
7 Dani Pedrosa 1:56.935 +1.013 13
8 Colin Edwards 1:57.028 +1.106 14
9 Jorge Lorenzo 1:57.083 +1.161 15
10 Mika Kallio 1:57.098 +1.176 12
11 Alvaro Bautista 1:57.189 +1.267 12
12 Nicky Hayden 1:57.205 +1.283 10
13 Hiroshi Aoyama 1:57.365 +1.443 17
14 Hector Barbera 1:57.469 +1.547 20
15 Marco Simoncelli 1:57.712 +1.790 14
16 Marco Melandri 1:58.025 +2.103 12
17 Aleix Espargaro 1:58.230 +2.308 11

Laptimes at 8PM local time

Pos Rider Fastest lap Lead. Gap Laps
1 Valentino Rossi 1:55.860 - 21
2 Casey Stoner 1:55.922 +0.062 16
3 Loris Capirossi 1:56.195 +0.335 16
4 Jorge Lorenzo 1:56.504 +0.644 21
5 Nicky Hayden 1:56.561 +0.701 19
6 Andrea Dovizioso 1:56.581 +0.721 20
7 Randy De Puniet 1:56.673 +0.813 15
8 Ben Spies 1:56.860 +1.000 27
9 Dani Pedrosa 1:56.935 +1.075 24
10 Colin Edwards 1:57.028 +1.168 21
11 Mika Kallio 1:57.029 +1.169 22
12 Alvaro Bautista 1:57.186 +1.326 19
13 Aleix Espargaro 1:57.240 +1.380 30
14 Hiroshi Aoyama 1:57.365 +1.505 24
15 Hector Barbera 1:57.444 +1.584 31
16 Marco Melandri 1:57.607 +1.747 25
17 Marco Simoncelli 1:57.712 +1.852 20

Laptimes 21.05h local time

Pos Rider Fastest lap Lead. Gap Laps
1 Casey Stoner 1:55.353 - 34
2 Valentino Rossi 1:55.860 +0.507 36
3 Andrea Dovizioso 1:55.879 +0.526 39
4 Nicky Hayden 1:56.115 +0.762 34
5 Loris Capirossi 1:56.195 +0.842 26
6 Jorge Lorenzo 1:56.504 +1.151 34
7 Randy De Puniet 1:56.605 +1.252 28
8 Ben Spies 1:56.779 +1.426 32
9 Alvaro Bautista 1:56.898 +1.545 34
10 Mika Kallio 1:56.923 +1.570 40
11 Dani Pedrosa 1:56.935 +1.582 30
12 Colin Edwards 1:57.028 +1.675 25
13 Aleix Espargaro 1:57.121 +1.768 37
14 Marco Melandri 1:57.222 +1.869 31
15 Hiroshi Aoyama 1:57.251 +1.898 40
16 Marco Simoncelli 1:57.379 +2.026 31
17 Hector Barbera 1:57.444 +2.091 39

Laptimes 21.30h local time
Pos Rider Fastest lap Lead. Gap Laps
1 Casey Stoner 1:55.353 - 35
2 Valentino Rossi 1:55.860 +0.507 36
3 Andrea Dovizioso 1:55.879 +0.526 39
4 Nicky Hayden 1:56.115 +0.762 34
5 Loris Capirossi 1:56.195 +0.842 31
6 Jorge Lorenzo 1:56.504 +1.151 34
7 Randy De Puniet 1:56.605 +1.252 32
8 Ben Spies 1:56.779 +1.426 32
9 Alvaro Bautista 1:56.898 +1.545 34
10 Mika Kallio 1:56.923 +1.570 40
11 Dani Pedrosa 1:56.935 +1.582 30
12 Colin Edwards 1:57.028 +1.675 25
13 Aleix Espargaro 1:57.121 +1.768 37
14 Marco Melandri 1:57.222 +1.869 38
15 Hiroshi Aoyama 1:57.251 +1.898 41
16 Marco Simoncelli 1:57.379 +2.026 34
17 Hector Barbera 1:57.444 +2.091 39

Laptimes as of 22.25h local time
Pos Rider Fastest lap Lead. Gap Laps
1 Casey Stoner 1:55.353 - 35
2 Valentino Rossi 1:55.860 +0.507 36
3 Andrea Dovizioso 1:55.879 +0.526 46
4 Nicky Hayden 1:56.115 +0.762 34
5 Loris Capirossi 1:56.195 +0.842 35
6 Jorge Lorenzo 1:56.504 +1.151 34
7 Randy De Puniet 1:56.605 +1.252 35
8 Ben Spies 1:56.779 +1.426 34
9 Alvaro Bautista 1:56.898 +1.545 43
10 Mika Kallio 1:56.923 +1.570 44
11 Dani Pedrosa 1:56.935 +1.582 40
12 Colin Edwards 1:57.028 +1.675 34
13 Aleix Espargaro 1:57.121 +1.768 39
14 Marco Melandri 1:57.222 +1.869 48
15 Hiroshi Aoyama 1:57.251 +1.898 53
16 Marco Simoncelli 1:57.379 +2.026 41
17 Hector Barbera 1:57.444 +2.091 47

Laptimes at 22.55h local time
Pos Rider Fastest lap Lead. Gap Laps
1 Casey Stoner 1:55.353 - 41
2 Valentino Rossi 1:55.860 +0.507 36
3 Andrea Dovizioso 1:55.879 +0.526 53
4 Nicky Hayden 1:56.115 +0.762 41
5 Loris Capirossi 1:56.195 +0.842 38
6 Jorge Lorenzo 1:56.504 +1.151 34
7 Randy De Puniet 1:56.605 +1.252 48
8 Colin Edwards 1:56.722 +1.369 41
9 Mika Kallio 1:56.767 +1.414 53
10 Ben Spies 1:56.779 +1.426 43
11 Alvaro Bautista 1:56.898 +1.545 48
12 Dani Pedrosa 1:56.935 +1.582 50
13 Aleix Espargaro 1:57.121 +1.768 48
14 Marco Melandri 1:57.222 +1.869 54
15 Hector Barbera 1:57.239 +1.886 51
16 Hiroshi Aoyama 1:57.251 +1.898 57
17 Marco Simoncelli 1:57.379 +2.026 44

Laptimes at 23.20 local time
Pos Rider Fastest lap Lead. Gap Laps
1 Casey Stoner 1:55.353 - 50
2 Valentino Rossi 1:55.860 +0.507 51
3 Andrea Dovizioso 1:55.879 +0.526 56
4 Nicky Hayden 1:56.115 +0.762 49
5 Loris Capirossi 1:56.195 +0.842 42
6 Jorge Lorenzo 1:56.504 +1.151 40
7 Randy De Puniet 1:56.504 +1.151 55
8 Colin Edwards 1:56.722 +1.369 48
9 Mika Kallio 1:56.767 +1.414 62
10 Ben Spies 1:56.779 +1.426 44
11 Aleix Espargaro 1:56.897 +1.544 57
12 Alvaro Bautista 1:56.898 +1.545 55
13 Dani Pedrosa 1:56.935 +1.582 56
14 Marco Melandri 1:57.222 +1.869 55
15 Hector Barbera 1:57.223 +1.870 60
16 Hiroshi Aoyama 1:57.251 +1.898 65
17 Marco Simoncelli 1:57.379 +2.026 51

Final laptimes Day 2
Pos Rider Fastest lap Lead. Gap Laps
1 Casey Stoner 1:55.353 - 51
2 Valentino Rossi 1:55.860 +0.507 57
3 Andrea Dovizioso 1:55.879 +0.526 66
4 Nicky Hayden 1:56.115 +0.762 51
5 Loris Capirossi 1:56.195 +0.842 58
6 Jorge Lorenzo 1:56.504 +1.151 44
7 Randy De Puniet 1:56.504 +1.151 66
8 Colin Edwards 1:56.722 +1.369 48
9 Mika Kallio 1:56.767 +1.414 74
10 Ben Spies 1:56.779 +1.426 44
11 Aleix Espargaro 1:56.897 +1.544 64
12 Alvaro Bautista 1:56.898 +1.545 71
13 Dani Pedrosa 1:56.935 +1.582 56
14 Marco Melandri 1:57.222 +1.869 64
15 Hector Barbera 1:57.223 +1.870 74
16 Hiroshi Aoyama 1:57.251 +1.898 81
17 Marco Simoncelli 1:57.379 +2.026 56