Suzuki chief ready for Sepang

Paul Denning talks to motogp.com about the forthcoming MotoGP tests at Sepang in February, as his Rizla Suzuki team prepare to give their 2010 prototype a first run-out.

Rizla Suzuki Team Manager Paul Denning is looking forward to the first official MotoGP test of 2010 at Sepang at the start of February, as his team prepare to assess the latest version of the GSV-R prototype.

Lots of hard work has been undertaken over the winter months to make the bike as competitive as possible for riders Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista for the forthcoming campaign.

“The development team is focusing on making the bike more adaptable and there will be some significant chassis developments, and at least one complete new design frame to test at Sepang. We’ll also be making the power delivery smoother and easier for the rider to use. The feedback (from the factory) has been positive,” Denning explained to motogp.com.

“It involves a lot of simulation, bench and dyno testing, because in terms of new developments you can’t really run in Japan at this time of year because of the weather or very cold temperatures, so we’ll really find out when we hit the track at Sepang.”

A three-day test at Estoril last November, where Bautista and Suzuki test rider Nobuatsu Aoki gave last season’s GSV-R a run through, provided valuable information for the work which has been undertaken on the 2010 bike in preparation for Sepang.

“I don’t think we’ll be concentrating on trying the set the world alight in terms of lap times at Sepang,” Denning stated. “It’s more about working on the bike’s weaknesses and making it more adaptable, and also to different conditions and lower temperatures. How much we’ll be able to do of that at Sepang is difficult to say, but the Suzuki factory did a lot of work before the Estoril test and that’s provided very good direction, because it was very cold there and we managed to get over some of the problems we’d had. So fingers crossed the developments will be in the right direction, but it will be the first time we’ll see the 2010 bike. We know what’s going into it in terms of development, but how that will all come together we’ll just have to wait and see when the guys ride it in February.”

Denning added: “The bike was definitely better at the Estoril test than in the race. It was more rideable, easier to maintain a consistent lap time and add a bit more grip. Towards the end of the Estoril test was the first time Álvaro was starting to give detailed feedback about the bike, because until that point his job was to become accustomed to the bike.”

Finally, in the year which marks the 50th anniversary of Suzuki’s racing activities, Denning confirmed that his team will run a special logo to mark the milestone.