MotoGP: Álvaro Bautista gets off to a positive start at the Dutch circuit of Assen

Rizla Suzuki is traveling to “the cathedral of motorcycling racing” the Assen TT in Holland, where the seventh race of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship will take place.

After the boost of confidence at Silverstone, Álvaro Bautista has a positive start to the 4,542 km long Dutch circuit, a circuit on which he tasted victory in 2008 in the 250cc class. In England the Spaniard's performances were good despite the cold and the wet track and the rider is convinced that the Suzuki package has made an important step forward which will allow him to push harder and bring his GSV-R closer to the leading group .

Assen is the only circuit to host a Grand Prix since the establishment of the World Championship in 1949 and is also unique because it is the only race held on a Saturday. The property is located in the north of Holland, near the city of Groningen. The track, modified in recent years to make it safer, remains very technical and tortuous, a track where there is little margin for error and which the drivers generally like very much. The Assen circuit was built in 1955 – before then races were held on the streets of that area – and is the only MotoGP circuit designed specifically for motorcycle racing. Among riders and enthusiasts it is commonly known as "the cathedral" of motorcycling, because both have high regard for it.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will take to the track on Thursday for two free practice sessions, followed by another practice session and qualifying on Friday. The 26-lap race will start at 15pm on Saturday 25 June.

Álvaro Bautista:

“This week in Assen we will try to continue the progress made at Silverstone. In England we made great progress because it was very cold all weekend and despite this we managed to be competitive and improve a lot compared to last year. In 2010 it was also cold in Assen and we had some problems there, so let's hope that what happened last week can help us if the conditions are the same, although I hope that it will be much warmer and that it won't be a problem! The two circuits are quite similar, they are fast and have some nice corners and it will be like continuing the work we left at Silverstone. In 2008 I won at Assen and although it will be tough to try to repeat the experience this year, I believe we have the right package to start regularly racing closer to the riders in front.”