The second official MotoGP test begins tomorrow in Malaysia and the Rizla Suzuki squad arrive with a comprehensive test schedule to complete. After an impressive first test, Ãlavaro Bautista is looking forward to gaining further experience on this years GSV-R, which features an upgraded chassis and a reworked ECU for this test.
All experience gained from this test is vital, as the final test in Qatar is just days away from the race, so Suzuki also have test rider Nobuatsu Aoki at the Sepang circuit on his own GSV-R to make full use of the track time.He had some time on the bike at a private test at Suzuki’s private test track in Japan last Saturday, which also saw long time factory racer and tester Yukio Kagayama got his hands on this years bike.
“I am eager to get to the test and continue with what I started earlier this month.” said Bautista on arrival in Malaysia “I tried many new things in the first test, but didn't finish the whole schedule because I was ill on the last day.”
He continued “I am sure the engineers at the factory will have some more updated parts for me to check out in Sepang, because with even missing the final day we still did lots of laps and I'm sure they've put the data to good use. I know after the first test that we can be more competitive and fight for podiums at some races – I feel very positive about 2011.”
His positive vibes continued “As I am the only rider in the team it's great feeling to know that a Factory like Suzuki is working just for me! We know the bike works well in hot conditions – like we have in Malaysia – but in this test we will be trying lots of components and strategies that should make it work better in other situations.”
