The Rizla Suzuki squad got the 2nd test underway today in Sepang with Ãlvaro Bautista completing a full evaluation of front and rear suspension parts and setups and engine control units. The young Spaniard completed 48 laps and finished in 10th on the timesheet.
As well as their sole rider this year, Suzuki have also shipped in their test rider, Nobuatsu Aoki, fresh from a private test at Suzuki’s own test track. Aoki completed 57 laps and secured lots of valuable data for the team, to help them with setups throughout the season.
Speaking after the session, Bautista was in a chirpy mood, “Well, I feel much better today than the last time I did some laps here – then it wasn't so nice with the sickness!”
“Today I wanted to ride in a calm way and concentrate on the details that we had to work on. Also, last time here in Sepang we really struggled to use the hard rear tyre, so we did many laps on it today and made some progress. Then finally we put in some softer tyres – the same as I used in the race last year – and the feeling was really smooth and very easy to make a low 2.02.” he continued.
Finishing on a positive note, “We didn't make an exciting lap-time today but we improved the bike, especially on corner exit where it now feels much smoother. I'm looking forward to pushing a bit harder tomorrow.”
