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Rizla Suzuki MotoGP are preparing for this weekend’s Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya in Barcelona following a tough
event at the TIM TT Assen on Saturday that left the squad with much work ahead. Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista
ended in 13th and 14th positions respectively, these places being under their expectations at the Dutch track.
Capirossi
struggled with his Suzuki GSV-R as the problems he incurred at Silverstone last week carried on in the warmer temperatures
of Assen. He was instantly liaising with his squad following the race to assess the issues and endure modifications to assist
with the bike being more competitive at Catalunya.
Bautista tried his best as he struggled with a shoulder injury
on the physically demanding track. He started the event in major discomfort and though he pushed hard, was unable to locate
the strength required to battle with the other competitors. He raced a lonely ride following 26 difficult laps.
Loris
Capirossi explains, “I just don’t know what to say after this weekend - when I try to go quicker than I did today
I feel like I will crash and when I try to make a race I end up almost last. The effort we are putting in is a lot and I am
really angry and annoyed, because the whole team is trying really hard, we make so many changes to try to find the best solution
and we just cannot find it. We just had no feeling at the start of the race and we needed three or four laps to get any kind
of feel in the tyres, but by then it was too late. It is the same to finish 11th or 13th, both positions feel the same and
it is just not good enough, we need to make some big changes for the weekend so we can try to be more competitive.”
Álvaro Bautista adds, “This has been a very bad race for us for a couple of reasons. On Friday in qualifying
it looked like we had improved the bike, but when I woke up on race morning I felt more pain in my left arm. I think that
I did too much on Friday and my left arm was very tired and painful. This was a bad start for a race, but I tried to be positive
and have a good race. From the first lap though it felt very difficult riding the bike, because it felt like the tyres were
still not warm enough, so I tried to push and find my rhythm like in practice, but the bike just moved around much more than
it did in practice – I don’t know why. I struggled a lot in the race and I just tried to do the best I could.
I hope that the feeling is better for the next race because it is my home GP. I have a week to get some more strength in my
arm and try to recover a bit more and hopefully get a better result in Barcelona.”
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