RIZLA SUZUKI:

Rizla Suzuki has completed the first Malaysian test of 2010 after two days of detailed testing, following a single day’s set-up work by test rider Nobuatsu Aoki, gave the team plenty of information.

Loris Capirossi had a good start to the test by recording the fourth fastest time on the timesheets on his Suzuki GSV-R during day one. His 2’02.102 from the 58 laps was also good enough to give him sixth place overall for the whole test. Capirossi spent day two running through a very detailed test programme and was unable to improve on his time during his 48 further laps, after the track had dried out from early morning rain.

New signing Álvaro Bautista equipped himself well at the 5,548m Sepang International Circuit during his first visit on an 800cc Grand Prix bike. He completed 88 laps during the two days and recorded a quickest time of 2’03.274. Bautista got into a good rhythm throughout the test and made many changes to his GSV-R to get the set-up right for his riding style, whilst improving steadily on his lap-time.

Capirossi and Bautista will now both head off to Suzuki’s headquarters in Hamamatsu, Japan before returning to Sepang for the second test later this month. The two will be in race action at the first event of the year at Losail in Qatar on Sunday 11th April.

Loris Capirossi:
“I was quite happy with the lap-time and the consistent rhythm on the first day, because we know there is still a lot to come from the Factory for this year’s bike. We were able to test two new chassis and we are now much clearer on our direction to improve more. I go to the Suzuki Factory before the next test, so I will be able to give some more direct feedback to the engineering group. I got quite frustrated today, because I always want to go quicker and the work today was really detailed stuff – but we have to improve the bike so I have to do it! I am excited for the next test to see what our guys can come up with, including the new engine spec, and I want to keep improving.”

Álvaro Bautista:
“It was a good test and I managed to learn a lot. This was my first time here on the MotoGP bike after a long time without riding, and it was amazing how much faster everything seemed to happen compared to the 250! Day one just felt like starting all over again! I made steps with my speed and it was a shame we lost some practice this morning due to the rain, but even with this the team improved the feeling of the bike a lot and now I think I can start to push more . I am now looking forward to the next test and we certainly have a good base, and I feel ready to work when we get back to Sepang later this month.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“This has been a good shake-down test and has answered some questions for us, but we still need to find the correct solutions in one or two areas. The engineers will take the information back to Japan and the race department guys will be working flat out to find the necessary improvements for the next two tests. At the moment, I have to really thank Loris because we rely on him to give us the direction, and this means he has a really detailed workload! It’s tough for him because he knows he can go so much quicker when the base is fixed, but he also knows that we have to improve the bike a lot to avoid the same problems as 2009. We would rather leave Sepang a bit further down the order than 2009 but have a better race bike come the first GP!

“Álvaro is working well, riding within himself and learning everything step by step. His riding style changed a little over the 2 days and he’s gradually becoming a MotoGP rider! At the moment he is doing everything we are asking of him, he improved steadily over the test and we are convinced that we will start to see big steps when he gets into the full rhythm of riding a MotoGP bike. Overall we are quite positive after this first test, but we all still know there is a lot more to do to achieve our targets.”