Ryo's Euro tour points way forward for GSV-R.

Team' Suzuki's reigning All-Japan Superbike Champion Akira Ryo took 14th place aboard his GSV-R development machine in this, his final European MotoGP race of the season. Ryo has been race-testing a number of experimental parts and settings on the development Suzuki GSV-R machine and will stay on at the circuit for two days of testing with Team Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki riders Sete Gibernau and Kenny Roberts.

Originally on a three MotoGP event wild-card schedule, Ryo's European tour was extended to include last month's German GP and this weekend's Czech GP when the Suzuki Race Department decided that the extra technical feedback was providing valuable additional information for the development program of the new GSV-R machine.

Said Akira Ryo afterwards. "This was a tough race for me because I have spent so much time testing experimental parts and settings as part of the on-going development programme of the new GSV-R.

Certainly my set-up improved with every session, but it is not perfect yet. The rear tyre was spinning out in places, but that was due to chassis set-up and not through any problem with the Michelin tyre.

Of course I would have liked to have finished in a better position, but I think the true value of the development program can be seen in Sete's excellent forth place here today.

These five races in Europe have proven to be an excellent experience for the GSV-R development team. Although my personal race results have not been as good as I would have liked, these races have helped us to identify our strengths and weaknesses and to decide on the next steps in the development program. We have already ordered new and re-designed parts and we will be testing them back at the factory in Japan over the next few weeks.

If I can get another wildcard entry this year then I am certain that I can improve on my results. The important thing is that the GSV-R is improving all the time and we still have plenty of ideas to improve it even more."