Álvaro Bautista and the Rizla Suzuki team are heading to Spain for his home Grand Prix this weekend to be held at Montmelo near Barcelona.
Bautista comes from Talavera de la Reina near Madrid and although there will be four Grands Prix held in Spain this year; the 25-year-old is focusing on the next race as his local event. He is sure to have plenty of home support at a circuit where he has tasted success with two victories in the last four years in the 125cc and 250cc classes.
Loris Capirossi has an equally impressive record at the Spanish circuit. He finished fifth there last season in Rizla Suzuki colours and has only once completed a race lower than sixth place. Capirossi is in a determined mood to put recent events behind him and get the Suzuki GSV-R back to a competitive package as soon as possible.
The 4,727m Circuit de Catalunya is situated at Montmelo near Granollers, about an hour’s drive from the city centre of Barcelona. It is a modern circuit and has all the ingredients you could want for a fantastic Grand Prix event. A kilometre-long straight where speeds in excess of 300kp/h will be achieved, fast right-handers, elevation changes and a huge fan-base of highly excited and colourful Spanish fans. The Catalan Grand Prix is certainly a highlight on the MotoGP calendar and one not to be missed.
Rizla Suzuki will take to the track for one practice session on Friday afternoon, followed by another on Saturday morning. An hour of qualifying on Saturday afternoon will decide grid positions for Bautista, Capirossi and the rest of the field for Sunday’s 25-lap race.
Alvaro Bautista:
“I have had a couple of days rest and my arm feels a lot better than it did in Assen and I am sure it will be much stronger this weekend. Barcelona is a very good track for me to go to next, because it is very long and very fast so it won’t be as physically demanding as Assen. It is a very special place for all the Spanish riders because you can feel every fan pushing you and wanting you to go fast, so it is a very good feeling to be there. I won in 2006 in 125 and 2009 in the 250, so I have very good memories of the circuit and with it being my home Grand Prix I will be trying to get a good result for myself and the whole team – we really need one now so this will be a good place to start.”
Loris Capirossi:
“We need to get back on track quickly to try and find a solution to what has been holding us back in the recent races. Barcelona is a good circuit for me and I know can go well there and that the GSV-R can perform there. The whole crew has been working hard at every race, but we just can’t find the answers we need at the moment and with a back-to-back race like this and so little testing in the season now, it doesn’t give you much time to make many major changes to work out what the problem is. These results are not good enough for anyone, but we are still focused on what we have to do and everybody in the team is still motivated that we will be able to turn things around very quickly.”
