Arriving to the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia for the second testing of the year, Rizla Suzuki competitors Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista, together with Team Manager Paul Denning, stopped into Japan where they were greeted with a tour of Suzuki’s headquarters.

Suzuki’s Directors Mr. Toshihiro Suzuki and Mr. Masanori Atsumi and Managing Officer Mr. Sadayuki Inobe showed the group around the ‘Suzuki Plaza’ museum, Capirossi and Bautista also went to the race department where they visited with engineers and reviewed the development of the 2010 GSV-R they will race in this season's World Championship.

“It was a great experience to visit Suzuki’s Head Office and Motorcycle Technical Engineering Centre,” says Capirossi. “I have been to the factory before but I never visited the Suzuki Museum, and it was amazing to see Suzuki’s technologies going right back to the start of the last century, and the first motorcycle from 1952.”

He adds: “Our meetings in the Racing Department were also very important, and it really makes us understand Suzuki’s effort when we see so many engineers focusing on making the best possible bike for only two riders – Álvaro and me. I would also like to thank Toshihiro-san, Atsumi-san and Inobe-san for taking time to see us and giving us their support for the 2010 season. I am going to Sepang full of motivation, and I know that Suzuki is 100% behind me.”

MotoGP rookie Bautista comments: “The engineering facility is amazing, it really opened my eyes to what goes on to support us and after visiting the museum I know a lot more about Suzuki’s history. It is incredible to see such a huge company still feeling like a family business and everyone is so friendly and welcoming.”

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An agreement was made recently by Dorna Sports S.L. CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta and AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes for the nation’s best cost effective carrier to become the title sponsor of the 2010 AirAsia British Grand Prix.

AirAsia’s sponsorship is sure to deliver success by associating itself with the sport, the airline’s partnership with MotoGP is due to raise extra interest in the sport throughout the wider community of Asia.

AirAsia Group CEO Mr Fernandes comments, “We had our first taste of MotoGP when we sponsored the entries of Elly and Zulfahmi. It was a magnificent experience. The boys did Malaysia proud, and we were thrilled to have helped make their dream a reality. We are proud and excited to be back in the MotoGP this year, with a bigger role by being the title sponsor of the British Grand Prix in Silverstone.”

Dorna Sports CEO Mr Ezpeleta states, “We are extremely happy that the best low-cost airline has chosen MotoGP to increase its impact on both the European and World stage, and specifically in the United Kingdom. It is fantastic to go back to Silverstone for this year’s race, and to do it with a new sponsor who has shown its dedication to the promotion of new talent – by sponsoring young riders last season – and the sport in general makes it even more satisfying.”

AirAsia is the biggest low cost airline in Asia, its services extend over 130 routes throughout 70 destinations.

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DUCATI has unveiled Australian costs and availability for its fresh 2010 Multistrada 1200 and 1200 S recently shown at the EICMA Motorcycle Show in Milano, Italy.

The Multistrada 1200 will arrive in 3 different models, the 1200, the 1200S and the 1200S Touring, all three will come with the initial use of ABS on a Ducati.

The Multistrada 1200 range will be due in May/June next year.

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Rossi and Lorenzo, who arrived first and third quickest respectively in last week's testing, arrived at the Yamaha Riders Club where they excelled in a meet and greet with Yamaha VIP clientele before assisting with an exclusive TV interview on the Thailand Night Show.

The duo then took part in a press conference with Thai media before appearing on stage amongst 10,000 specators to release the fresh Yamaha Nuovo 150cc. Both competitors rode some laps on special 46 and 99 replica versions of the new model. Rossi and Lorenzo were then able to meet Mr. Nagashima, President of Thailand Yamaha Motor, and Mr. Yanagi who will shortly be Yamaha Motor Company's new president.

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The initial two day testing at Sepang was a tough ride for the San Carlo Honda Gresini pair of Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli, who were forced to work hard on the setting up of their Honda RC212V bikes.

Wet weather conditions halted both racers from testing in the morning of the second day, further complications occurred when Simoncelli crashed in the afternoon, scraping his elbow, left thigh and bruising the little finger of his left hand.

Despite the agony and being aware of the minimal testing time left prior to the beginning of the World Championship, Simoncelli courageously raced back onto the circuit to continue the work with the MotoGP Honda. He added pace once again and collected vital information for future tests.

Melandri finished the day well, leaving Sepang confident of extra improvement following the next test on February 25-26.

Marco Melandri – 2’02.810 lap time

“It's been a very difficult day, continuing our work on the geometry of the bike and trying hard to find the right balance, the feeling in the front end and on corner entry. We found both positive and negative solutions before discovering a setting later on which could serve as a base geometry from which to work in the future. Then we also worked on the suspension, finding considerable improvements, however we know there is still lots to do. With everything we've found we will be able to prepare a good working plan for the next test, it was just a shame about the rain here which cut the test an hour short and stopped us from testing with new tyres. The important thing however was to find the right direction and I think that in the end we've managed that so we now leave Sepang extremely confident.”

Marco Simoncelli – 2’03.245 lap time

“The first half of the day was relatively difficult because we couldn't get the bike to work properly and lost lots of time, then to top it off I had a crash. I had gone out with new tyres and after half a lap I came back in because of the same problems. I did a technical check and I went out once more. In the first left-hander although I was really paying attention – maybe not enough – the bike catapulted me off. I hit the asphalt hard and thinking about it now I was lucky just to get a few grazes, it could have been a lot worse.

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The race for the MotoGP World Championship title this year between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo will have an extra edge.

It has been announced by Masahiko Nakajima, MotoGP Group Leader and Fiat Yamaha Team Director, that there is no sharing of data between the two racers this season, as they rival each other for the crown which Rossi claimed last year.

Rossi says he believes the new method of procedure is a correct one.  “Speaking with Yamaha I think Jorge, especially last year and already in 2008, demonstrated great speed and a good attitude to fix and set the bike,” says the Doctor. “Now he has been in the team for two years, so everyone agrees that it’s possible for everyone to make their own way.”

Rossi adds: “Also, Jorge wants to work more on the development, so I think it’s right that everyone does his job alone. But at the end it doesn’t change a lot because all the comments between me and Jorge are quite similar, so it’s not a big change.”

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Conditions were as expected at Sepang this week following a temperature of 30ºC and circuit reading of 60ºC, it will be a trying time on Thursday when the official MotoGP racers arrive to test their bikes.

Norihiko Fujiwara and Wataru Yoshikawa (Yamaha Factory), Kosuke Akiyoshi (Repsol Honda Team), Nobuatsu Aoki (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) and Vittoriano Guareschi (Ducati Marlboro Team) were all present as they tested their 2010 prototypes.

Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Loris Capirossi, Nicky Hayden, Héctor Barberá, Álvaro Bautista and Hiroshi Aoyama were all present also. 

No confirmed times were available as the main goal was to focus on the set-ups of each motorbike, however the Yamaha box concluded that between Fujiwara and Yoshikawa a best time of 2’07.34.

As for Honda, Akiyoshi took the bikes of Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa to be sure that the basics on each bike were functioning properly.  Dovizioso and Pedrosa will together be testing machines that have evolved to new regulations and will test fresh electrics.

Guareschi, manager of Ducati and test rider, was on circuit and conferred with the satellite teams.

“We have a few different things to test,” comments Guareschi. “We have three forks of varying rigidity for the riders to choose the best from. It is very important because here it is very hot and that results in much tyre wear.”

He adds: “We also have two different fairings that Nicky will test tomorrow (Thursday), which are very similar to the 2009 ones and which we started to use in the final four races of last season.

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Alex de Angelis’ year has begun positively with his participation at the Rally Ronde in Val d'Orcia, where he claimed his taste for speed.

The competitor, who will ride this season in the Moto2 category with Team Scot, drove a Citroen C2 and ended the event in 15th spot where 85 teams began. De Angelis came off pretty good in a speed trial stage inclusion for various areas of the Italian Rally Championship.

The De Angelis-Costa squad won against their rivals in Group R, R2B class and were the highest placing two-wheel-drive duo.

“I’m very satisfied! I got a result I could not have hoped for the day before,” explains De Angelis. “In theory my little C2 was below the Clio 2000 and S1600 entries. It was a fun day and sunny too. The trial was very fast and at some points it was necessary to use the higher gears and hit high speeds. It was also very exciting to race on a different surface.”

De Angelis now focusses on Moto2, adding: “The motorsport season has begun very well, and I hope it now continues on two wheels. My focus is now dedicated to bikes, and on February 10 I plan to have my first test on board the GP209 of Team Scot.

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Suzuki Motor Corporation has confirmed an extra two year contract with ITL (Imperial Tobacco Limited) which will allow the Suzuki MotoGP squad to continue on carrying the Rizla brand on its GSV-R in the upper class of motorbike racing.

Rizla was the title sponsor of Suzuki’s MotoGP squad in 2006 and the extension of the partnership will let the Suzuki GSV-R race in the MotoGP World Championship as the now famous ‘Rizla Blue’ until 2011.

Loris Capirossi and newly signed Álvaro Bautista will arrive into action on their Rizla Suzuki prototypes at the initial testing of this season at Sepang in Malaysia this week, with the season due to begin in Qatar on April 11.

Paul Denning, Rizla Suzuki Team Manager, states: “Everybody involved with the Suzuki Grand Prix project is delighted that the Rizla brand will continue its partnership in 2010 and into 2011, and that we are able to continue with the now iconic Rizla Suzuki image for the next two seasons. It’s very clear that the 2009 season fell far below our expectations and targets, but Loris, Álvaro, the whole team and the Suzuki Racing group in Hamamatsu will be doing everything we can to take a big step forward and re-pay Rizla’s faith in the project during 2010 and beyond.”

Sales and Marketing boss of Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, Graham Blashill, adds: “The MotoGP platform fits perfectly with Rizla's global, premium status and the close partnership we have forged with the Suzuki team enables us to leverage the brand extremely effectively.

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The Moto2 category will give spectators the chance to observe the development of a number of new prototypes in their debut year, including a variety of talented racers.

Amid the 39 competitors named in the provisional entry list for the Moto2 World Championship this season are four 125cc World Champions - Thomas Lüthi (2005), Gabor Talmacsi (2007), Mike di Meglio (2008) and Julián Simón (2009). Alongside them are four racers who have claimed runner up positions on the World Championship podium - Fonsi Nieto (250cc in 2002), Roberto Rolfo (250cc in 2003), Alex de Angelis (125 cc in 2003) and Héctor Faubel (125cc in 2007).

Also amongst the line up will be six competitors with experience of the premier class - Toni Elías, De Angelis, Niccolò Canepa, Yuki Takahashi, Talmacsi and Rolfo.

Contesting the Championship will be 17 racers who have been victorious in a Grand Prix, with a total of 79 wins between them - Toni Elías (10), Mattia Pasini (10), Gabor Talmacsi (9), Julián Simón (8), Héctor Faubel (7), Mike di Meglio (5), Thomas Lüthi (5), Fonsi Nieto (5), Andrea Iannone (4), Sergio Gadea (3), Roberto Rolfo (3), Stefan Bradl (2), Alex Debón (2), Lukas Pesek (2),

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