Bautista goes to Australia in high spirits after recent good results

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP heads over the equator to the single Grand Prix held in the southern hemisphere, as the team travels to Phillip Island in Australian this weekend.

This Grand Prix will bring to an end a gruelling run of three back-to-back races around the Pacific Ocean, which has seen Álvaro Bautista record fifth and seventh place finishes in Malaysia and Japan respectively. He is high on confidence after last weekend’s fine ride in Sepang and is looking to continue from where he left off when he takes to the track in Australia on Friday. Bautista has good form at Phillip Island after winning there in 2006 on his way to the 125cc world title and also taking two second places in the 250cc category.

The Phillip Island circuit is located about 130km/s south-east of Melbourne and track is so far south that the cold winds that blow over the exposed venue from the icy waters of the Pacific Ocean often bring heavy rain and even wintry showers. Track temperatures are also quite low at Phillip Island and due to the long corners that are entered at speed; it is regarded as the track on the calendar which is hardest on tyres. This doesn’t give the whole story of the circuit though, because it’s position right beside the Pacific Ocean and its mix of fast corners, changes of elevation and a 900m straight that gives the riders the perception they are heading out to sea, makes this one of the most spectacular and beautiful circuits on the MotoGP calendar.

Rizla Suzuki takes to the 4,448m track on Friday afternoon for the first of its two free practice sessions, the second being held on Saturday morning. Qualifying will take place on Saturday afternoon with all riders battling for the best grid position to start Sunday’s 27-lap race, which gets underway at 16.00hrs local time (05.00hrs GMT).

Álvaro Bautista: “I’m looking forward to going to Australia, it is a track I like a lot and after the last few races we are going there with a lot of confidence. I have never ridden a MotoGP bike at Phillip Island so that will be a whole new experience for me and it has some very fast corners so I will need to learn my braking points and get my references very quickly. I think that we can do well there, because the bike is going well and we have some good developments that should make the Suzuki GSV-R work a lot better around the track.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP