Rizla Suzuki will have a solo representative at this weekend’s Motorland Aragón Grand Prix in Spain with Álvaro Bautista flying the flag after Loris Capirossi was ruled out with a hand injury.
Bautista will be competing in his third ‘home’ GP of the season after the Aragón round was included in the 2010 calendar as a replacement for the cancelled Hungarian race. The 25-year-old Spaniard is based near Madrid and will have plenty of native support from his countrymen, as he plans to build on his two promising performances in the last two races.
Capirossi has been forced to miss the race due to the injury sustained in the first lap collision with Nicky Hayden in Misano. The surgery to re-attach the tendon to his right-hand little finger is healing well but, on the advice of his surgeon, he must keep it immobilised for at least another week in order to avoid damaging the repair.
Aragón is a brand new venue on the MotoGP schedule and the riders will be given an extra session to acclimatise themselves with the 5,078m track, as the Friday morning free practice is re-introduced into the timetable. The Motorland Aragón circuit is situated near Alcaniz, approximately 120kms from Zaragoza. The track was built in 2009 and features seven right-hand and 10 left-hand corners over its anti-clockwise layout. The longest straight is just under a kilometre in length and with a selection of flowing curves, tight hairpins and fast sweeping bends the circuit looks like providing plenty of entertainment.
Rizla Suzuki will take to the track on Friday morning for a free practice session, followed by further practice in the afternoon and on Saturday morning. Bautista will battle it out on Saturday afternoon in the qualifying session to secure his grid position for the race. Sunday’s main event will cover 23 laps and gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).
Álvaro Bautista:
“I am really excited about this race as it is a new circuit for everyone and we are all starting from the same place. It will be good to have an extra practice on the Friday so we can get the bike set-up and start to learn the track as soon as possible. We went there earlier in the year for a PR event and rode some street bikes around the circuit; it is a great facility and one that I am looking forward to racing at. It is a shame for Loris that he won’t be here and it puts more responsibility on me as I’m the only Rizla Suzuki rider, but I am determined to get a good result for the whole team in front of another home crowd for me.”
Loris Capirossi:
“I am extremely disappointed not to be racing at Aragón, but the surgeon has told me to rest the hand for another week. I am still feeling a bit of pain and I’m going to the hospital every day to have the wound cleaned and dressed, so although I could possibly be able to ride I wouldn’t be fit enough and it might jeopardise my attendance and competitiveness at Motegi if I did – so it’s best to stay at home. I wish Álvaro all the best for the weekend and hope that he gets a good result for us - we certainly need one. I’ll be back for the trio of races next month and will be looking to get some good results at circuits where I know we can go well.”
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