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Suzuki to Retain Capirossi in 2010

Only 6 races to the end of this year's MotoGP season, another riders' lineup for 2010 seems to have been unveiled. Although Suzuki is yet to confirm their second rider for the upcoming season – after previously confirming Alvaro Bautista for 2010 & 2011 – it seems the Spanish rider's teammate next year will be veteran Loris Capirossi.

The Italian rider hinted that he will continue with Rizla Suzuki for at least another season during a media outing on Monday. As the MotoGP field is currently conducting testing on their 2009 machineries, Capirossi admitted that he looks forward to working with the former 125cc champion.

I think the team have made a great choice to pick Álvaro because he is a very strong rider and I believe he will be very comfortable in the team. Everyone here is very relaxed and I am happy to be able to work with him,” said Capirossi yesterday, according to the MotoGP official site.

The Italian began testing on Monday after completing a solid performance during the Czech Republic Grand Prix last weekend. He led his Suzuki to a strong 5th place overall, and his 11 points on Sunday helped him pass teammate Chris Vermeulen in the overall classification. However, this doesn't seem to be the reason for Suzuki's preferring the Italian rider over Vermeulen.

If retained for an extra year, Capirossi will have the sole aim of working with him team and develop a strong package for the upcoming season. His immense experience in the MotoGP is also regarded as a great advantage over his struggling teammate, who has had some oscilating performances this year.

We were quite satisfied with how things went in the test. We rode all through the morning, trying settings and working on the new chassis, which seems to be better. In the afternoon we also did a few laps in the rain to try a few more things and that also went quite well,” added Capirossi, who scored the 4th best time in yesterday's testing.
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