Álvaro Bautista is back in his homeland of Spain for the next round of the 2011 MotoGP Championship, this time at the Aragon circuit in the north-eastern part of the country.
The Rizla Suzuki squad are in a confident mood following very promising results in both practice sessions and races at recent events. Bautista had a tough battle at Aragon last year before finally securing an eighth place finish in the circuit’s inaugural Grand Prix. He is determined to improve on that and believes that the strong performances and the information from last season will enable him to push for a high placed finish at the Spanish circuit. Bautista is also looking forward to competing in-front of a home crowd again and is sure the added incentive of that will help to spur him on.
The Motorland Aragon circuit is situated near Alcaniz, approximately 120kms from Zaragoza. It is an ultra-modern facility which has its roots firmly established in a solid history of street racing in the nearest town of Alcaniz - which hosted events between 1963 and 2003. The track was built in 2009 and was used as a MotoGP venue for the first time last year after being announced as a replacement for the Balatonring on the 2010 MotoGP calendar. Aragon was already in place as a reserve event, but the Spanish circuit has its own place on the calendar now following an agreement with Dorna to make it a permanent venue until at least 2016. The circuit is 5,077m long and has 17 turns, it was roundly praised by riders and team alike after its first Grand Prix in 2010 and was rewarded with the IRTA Best Grand Prix of the Year award, the first time a circuit had received the prize in its debut year.
Rizla Suzuki takes to the track on Friday morning for a free practice session, followed by a further practice in the afternoon and another on Saturday morning. Bautista will be looking to secure a good grid position in Saturday afternoon’s qualifying for the weekend’s main event. The 23-lap race will get underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) on Sunday 18th September.
Álvaro Bautista:
“This was a really good event last year and I am looking forward to going back. It’s a fun track, a fantastic facility and a circuit that I think we can go really well at. I am feeling very confident that we can run well right from the start and get a good qualifying position. It’s great to race at home again, I do it four times a year, but each one seems special to me. I want to put on a good show for all the Spanish fans and think that we have the package and data to be able to do that.”
rizla suzuki press release
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