So, it is confirmed, Suzuki will field only one bike in MotoGP next season – Alvaro Bautista will certainly have his work cut out for 2011.
It is going to be very difficult staying competitive with only one bike, a lack of data, and a reluctance to spend development money on a bike that is in its last year as an 800cc.
That said, Bautista showed in Valencia that he still has a fighting spirt and can certainly push the Suzuki hard, as he fought for a 10th place finish after starting in last place on the grid.
Álvaro Bautista:
“After having such a difficult weekend with all the problems on Friday and Saturday, today has been a big step for us. This morning in warm-up we went back to a setting that I used in the last races and it quickly felt a little bit better, it wasn’t a big difference but I thought it would be good for the race. I wanted to give my maximum in the race and give the team the best result possible today. I had a normal start and made up one position straight away, but then I was behind Loris and I lost some time because he brakes so late and is difficult to pass. When I got past him I pushed to my limit and I got in to a good rhythm – the best I’ve had all weekend. I caught the group fighting for eighth and I finished ninth at the end, but it was a great battle with the others because I managed to overtake them all and it was good fun. Before the race started if someone said I could finish ninth I would have signed for that, but after the battle with Hector I am disappointed because I think I could have been eighth! It is a good result for the whole team after a hard weekend, but it is not the result I expected before I came to Valencia because I came with the mental attitude to finish in the top-five. Now that we have finished the season we know we have many things that we need to improve on the bike and I also need to improve my riding style, so we have a very hard winter ahead of us – I hope to get to the first race next season with the bike better than it was this year. I will also have more experience so I expect to improve on my results next season.
“I would like to the thank Suzuki, all the team, Rizla and all the other sponsors, because if they didn’t help us it would be impossible for us to be racing, so thank-you to all of them. Next year we will certainly be trying even harder and I really believe we can be competitive!”
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I’ve always thought Suzuki to be tops in the moto world – sad to see them not willing to put the dollars and therefore the bikes into racing. It’s hard to understand their logic or strategy. Please reconsider boys!!!