Ryo continues development.

Team Suzuki's Akira Ryo qualified 21st for tomorrow's 9th round of the MotoGP Championship at the Sachsenring in Germany, as he continues to test
new settings on his GSV-R.

Ryo, who slashed 0.7seconds off his lap time from yesterday, was just 1.5seconds away from pole position. Normally that would put the Suzuki ace
much further up the grid, but today's final qualifying session was held in near perfect conditions and was hotly contested - 16 riders were within one
second of the pole time.

All Japan Superbike Champion Ryo, who is deliberately trying different chassis, suspension and set-up from the Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki squad, is helping to develop the GSV-R into a race winner as soon as possible. His sights are firmly fixed on gathering development information rather than outright race results.

It is the 34-year-old Japanese rider's first visit to the 3.707km track and he is pleased with how quickly he is picking up the fast lines. He is sure that he can run with the pack in the race tomorrow.

Ryo said: "Today I was working on the chassis set-up and really didn't have an opportunity to attack my outright lap time. I am happy with the way the bike feels and the tyre selection for tomorrow's race. The bike feels better than yesterday and I am confused why I wasn't able to go a lot faster. But my role as a test rider is not to look for a result tomorrow, it is to find improvements so results and wins will come for the team later in the season."

The GSV-R made its racing debut at the first round of the 2002 season, a full year earlier than expected. Ryo, riding as a wild-card entry at the first round of the Championship at Suzuka in April, finished runner-up in the bike's first race, despite atrocious weather conditions. He has been called in as a Team Suzuki wild card rider for a total of five races mid-season to speed up the GSV-R's development progress. He rode at Catalunya in Spain, finishing 11th, at the Dutch TT at Assen in Holland, finishing a credible 15th, and 13th at the British GP at Donington Park.
After competing in the German GP at Sachsenring this weekend, he will finish his time on the GP circuit at Brno in the Czech Republic in August.

Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki riders Yukio Kagayama and Sete Gibernau qualified 11th and 12th for tomorrow's race. Kagayama was within half a second of pole
position and Gibernau close behind. Kagayama replaces regular rider Kenny Roberts Jr., who is recovering from an operation to his right forearm in the US. Roberts will return for the next race at Brno in the Czech Republic in August.