Capirossi: New Suzuki already better than 2008 version

Tight lipped on their activities in Phillip Island this week, Rizla Suzuki waited until Friday for their riders to give their opinions on the latest test with the 2009 GSV-R. Regular riders Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen worked on development `Down Under´, with the results particularly pleasing for Capirossi.

`We were able to compare the old and new bikes and the 2009 prototype is definitely better, especially when the tyre is worn we can maintain a better lap-time, so this is a good step,´ says the Italian, who undertook more than 200 laps over the course of the three days, including two race simulations on Friday.

`We still have some work to do – especially to improve the engine still further – but it has been a really positive three days for us. The next version we get to try should be even better because that will have lots of new developments and we will be able to use all the information from this test to improve it even further.´

Two new chassis and a host of new parts featured in the Phillip Island outing, listed by Vermeulen after the run in his homeland.

`(We had) front forks, rear linkages, new frames and swinging arms and we also tested some control tyres from Bridgestone - which look like they will be the spec tyre for next year - and they worked pretty well with the bike straight away. We also tested the new engine spec that we had at the Valencia test and that worked pretty well – but I want more steps in the same direction!´ explains the Australian. `We also had some electronic modifications and with all this we were able to find some good improvements and we were consistently quicker around here than we were in the race.´

Capirossi´s fastest time of the three days was a 1´30.9, whilst Vermeulen´s was a 1´31.1. Both were faster than they were at last month´s race.