Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi will be going home for the next round of the MotoGP World Championship as the team heads to the Misano World Circuit in Italy for the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini Grand Prix.
Capirossi originates from Castel San Pietro Terme, near Bologna, about 100kms from the Misano circuit. He will be looking to continue with the good run of form at the 4,226m Italian track that has seen him score two top-five finishes in the past three seasons. Capirossi is still in search of his 100th podium and would like nothing better than to secure that in front of his home crowd.
Álvaro Bautista will be heading to the Misano circuit for the first time in the MotoGP class. The Spaniard is going there on the back of an impressive ride last time out at Indianapolis that saw him secure eighth place. Bautista is in a confident mood as he travels to a circuit that he has enjoyed success at in recent seasons. The 25-year-old won at the Misano circuit in 2008 onboard a 250cc machine and followed that with a third place last year in the quarter litre class.
The Misano World Circuit was designed in 1969, with racing starting there three years later. The Italian venue has held 11 motorcycle Grands Prix since 1980, with MotoGP visiting there for the first time in 2007, when Rizla Suzuki riders took second and third places on the podium.
Rizla Suzuki takes to the track for the first free practice session on Friday afternoon, with the second free practice the following morning. Saturday afternoon will have an hour of qualifying to decide grid positions for Sunday’s 28-lap race that is scheduled to get underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).
Loris Capirossi:
“It is always good to race at home and Misano is the closest track to where I am from. I am determined to put on a good performance there, because we have been working very hard all season and not getting the rewards that I think we deserve – so Misano will be the ideal place to start that happening and turn our season around. We still need to find the right solution to give us the best feeling from the GSV-R so will be trying to be as competitive as possible from the first day. We have to keep a strong mentality, we have seven more races to go this year and we have to keep fighting to get to the top.”
Álvaro Bautista:
“I have more confidence in myself and the bike after last weekend, so I will be trying as hard as I can right from the beginning at Misano to improve my performance on the bike. It was really important for me to finish the race at Indianapolis – as it seemed like a long time since that had happened. I still believe that we can fight with the top guys, so we need to make that the next target and keep improving for the rest of the season.”
