The new bicycle racing team Ciclos Ébora-Cafés Camali had their official presentation in Talavera de la Reina yesterday and among the various famous guests from the region was Alvaro Bautista.
Seizing the opportunity, many of the attending journalists had a quick talk with Alvaro after the presentation, including the local newspaper La Tribuna de Talavera which published Alvaro’s statements today.

Ahead of the third and final preseason test in Qatar the questions logically revolved around Alvaro’s first impressions of the class and his expectations for the 2010 season. But understandably, Alvaro’s hesitant to make any predictions yet. “Of course this year will be a learning year and everything that happens will be welcome. Above all I will work with this philosophy; I’m gonna learn and try to enjoy riding, I don’t need to force a certain result.”
His reasoning behind this is simple: “There are other riders who fight for the championship and those are the ones who have to work hard for that. But for me there will be a lot of new experiences and I have to get used to these new impressions.”

Talking about championship candidates, Alvaro believes there’ll be the same four riders at the front as last year – Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo & Pedrosa – but at the same time “it’s important not to write anyone off.”
He is of course very excited about his first season in MotoGP, “because MotoGP is the highest you can get in racing and here you have the best riders of the world.”
However, while he respects the other riders on the grid, he doesn’t fear them: “Once you are on the track it doesn’t matter whether it’s Valentino Rossi, Stoner or Lorenzo; we are riders who are there to win and fight with each other. For me all are equal; the exceptional thing here is that the level is very high and the category is very tight; but other than that it is the same to me whether it’s Valentino Rossi or, for example, Mika Kallio; it’s another rider and it’s necessary to beat him.”

And that first race of the season can’t come quick enough for Alvaro who’s already counting the days. “I can hardly wait for the first race! The testing is great to get more kilometers on the bike, but the adrenalin of the races, the tension, the passion you have in a competition, you can’t have that during training. I have a lot more fun during the races, but I have to be patient, there’s still one more test to go and it’s important to take another step forward to go to the first race with the best possible preparation.”

But for Alvaro it is still too soon to make any predictions for results: “If you told me right now that I would get into the Top 10, I wouldn’t agree with you, because I have not arrived at the limit yet and I don’t know what results I can fight for. I want to achieve the maximum and when I’ve reached the limit of the bike and myself, I will see what I can aspire to and if I am able to reach my goals. When I know what I can fight for, we will see if I’ll be among the Top 10, the Top 5 or the Top 15, I just don’t know right now.”

So far he considers his preseason to have been a positive one, but still with a lot of room for improvement: “We can see the progression, little by little I adapt to the category and every time I ride the bike it feels a bit easier. We have only one last test left in Qatar which will be at night. The goal there is to continue improving and to feel more comfortable riding the bike. The first test in Malaysia was like the first time on the bike, because I had two months without riding the bike and it seemed completely new to me all over again, too much power, the weight of the bike…. but the second test in Sepang showed some progression. I understood what I need to do and what not to ride the bike the way I want.”

Also the work with the Suzuki factory and team leaves Alvaro very satisfied. “They try to give me everything I ask for and it is very pleasant to work with a factory.” Since Suzuki celebrates its 50th anniversary in racing this year “it would be great to get some good results. I have Capirossi as my teammate and he is the one who can fight at the front. I will try to give my best; when I’ve reached the limit with this bike, I will see if I can get some good results.”

Alvaro will fly to Qatar at the beginning of next week for the last test of the 2010 preseason which commences with test riders only on Wednesday, 17th March, and then see the factory riders on track on Thursday and Friday.

Translation by me.
Source: http://www.latribunadetalavera.es/notic ... 6BED4E9BCD

Many thanks for that Tamara