Suzuki’s Alvaro Bautista submitted himself for examination before the MotoGp’s Chief medical Officer overnight and was declared fit to ride. This, an improbable 41 days since he broke his femur at Qatar. Now, having sustained a similar, though more complex, break of the femur 6 MONTHS ago and it still not being fully healed, I can’t even begin to tell you what an amazing story this really is. Alvaro will test his RACE fitness tomorrow in Free Practice before deciding whether or not to ride. If he believes that he is not fit to ride, the factory test rider, Noboatsu Aoiki will ride instead to fly the Suzuki flag.
In industry news, BMW received what is probably the biggest and most satisfying prize it has been given since the launch of the S1000RR, winning Bike of the Year, IN JAPAN!
Given that Japanese manufacturers, specifically Honda and Kawasaki, have ruled the big bike awards world-wide since the arrival of the 750/4 more than 40 years ago, this is a great achievement and space will certainly be made in a prominent place at the BMW factory to accommodate this prestigious trophy.
Back to MotoGp for a minute or two, the always entertaining Julian Ryder has had some very perceptive comments to make about yesterday’s pre-race press conference at Estoril. You can read it here, it’s well worth a look.
And finally, a postscript to my article of a couple of days ago about bike sales improving in the USA. 7% rise in sales in the first quarter of 2011. Sounds like good news, yeah? Well, it is and it isn’t. You see the 7% sales increase was accompanied by a 3% DROP in overall revenue. So, while the manufacturers are shifting more units, they are NOT shifting the high-end high-RRP bikes, but rather the cheaper ones and shifting those at discount prices. Clearly the GFC is still biting hard in the land of the free.
And, speaking of the land of the free, spare a thought this morning for the people of Alabama and other surrounding states. It’s hurricane season at the moment and, along with widespread devastation and property loss, the death toll is already up to 278 people, a real human tragedy.