Suzuki kiss and make up!

Team Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki faces the Portuguese Grand Prix with a renewed sense of commitment, and with reinforced confidence for the future following top-level talks between team management and senior factory personnel in Japan after the Czech Republic GP - another disappointing event for the Suzuki squad.

The message that came back from the teams racing headquarters at Ryuo, close to Hamamatsu, was positive, and the effect on team morale likewise.

"The whole team was disappointed when Kenny Roberts retired unexpectedly at Brno," admitted team manager Garry Taylor, who headed the party to the factory on what was to have been a routine visit, but had doubtless been given more importance following the American's premature retirement after he began fading from the front in the Czech republic.

"We have discussed the matter with Kenny, but it is strictly an internal team affair, and we have dealt with it in private," Taylor stated.

"At the same time, we have had a very positive response from the factory racing department to all our requests. I firmly believe that we have addressed the problems that led to the development of that situation."

"Obviously the first part of the season has been hard for the team, and the rest of the season will probably be just as difficult," added Taylor. "The way forward is for everybody to work together - the team, the factory and the riders - to pull ourselves out of our slump."

"It seems odd," he continued, "to be talking about a slump in a year when our lap times and race average times are reliably faster than last year. It's very relative, and this is a very competitive season. The bottom line is that we have not improved enough to get satisfactory results.

"Nobody is under any illusions that we are going to get back to a winning situation overnight. The team needs to keep positive, and maximise whatever little benefits we can find, and to work closely with the factory engineers to make our recovery time as short as possible.

"The commitment we received from the factory was very strong - a clear and urgent goal to regain winning form with the two-stroke machine, while at the same time developing a competitive four-stroke GP bike for entry in 2003.

"The two-stroke project remains at the Ryuo race-shop headquarters, while the four-stroke development is under way in a separate factory facility at the Hamamatsu head office. There is no question of one programme taking anything away from the other," Taylor said.

"We have every confidence in our riders. Kenny is the World Champion, and deserves the best possible support. Sete is a real fighter, and the same goes for him. Both riders have been impressed with the factory's clear promise and commitment.

"Now it is time to get back to the job in hand - getting the motorcycles we have now to achieve their maximum potential, which will then help both of our riders to achieve the best possible results," Taylor added. "Starting in Estoril this weekend."

The Portuguese race, the 11th of 16 World Championship events, is the penultimate round in Europe - at a circuit that has good and bad memories for the Suzuki riders.

For Kenny Roberts, it was an important step towards his World Championship victory last year. On a tortuous and exhausting track made even more difficult by high winds, he kept eventual winner Garry McCoy in sight, and rode aggressively to fend of the challenging Valentino Rossi and claim a valuable second place.

For Sete Gibernau, the Portuguese race was one of highs and lows. Starting from the second row of the grid, he led the first five laps, and was still fighting for a rostrum finish when he crashed heavily - fortunately without serious injury - after 20 of the 28 laps.