Suzuki confirmed on Thursday that Loris Capirossi will be staying with the team in 2010 alongside newcomer Alvaro Bautista although the former's current team-mate, former World Superbike star Chris Vermeulen, will not be retained by the outfit as the Australian leaves the team at the end of the year.
With one rider retained, the other will be looking for employment elsewhere come the end of the season as Suzuki looks to put all plans firmly into place before the end of 2009. "I am very happy to continue working with Suzuki and everyone involved with the Racing Group and the team," commented Capirossi.
"I love working with my crew and feel really at home here. When I joined Suzuki I really wanted to win races and that is still the target. I love the competition and the challenge and my ambition to succeed is as strong as ever; we are one-hundred percent focused on developing the GSV-R into a race-winning machine and the improvements that have come through recently show that Suzuki is working in the right direction."
Team boss Paul Denning summed up the situation regarding his current second rider: "This announcement confirms that Suzuki and Chris Vermeulen will not be working together in 2010. On behalf of Suzuki Motor Corporation and the whole team, including title sponsor Rizla, I want to wish Chris the best of luck in his future career. He has been a great asset to us and a true professional at all times, even when things have not quite gone to plan.
"We have had some amazing high-points with Chris - taking Suzuki's first four-stroke Grand Prix win at Le Mans in 2007 being the obvious highlight. We hope that he continues to have success throughout his career and trust that Chris, Toni and his family will always remain friends of the team."
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