Italian Michel Fabrizio was born in September 1984 and lives 12 kilometres from Rome with his wife Deborah and their two children; Nicolas (6) and Micol (3). Here, in his first Blog for Team Suzuki Racing, he talks about his season so far with the Alstare Suzuki WSBK team. Ciao everybody. This is my first blog with Alstare Suzuki and I’m really not sure what to say – except that I’m pretty happy with things so far. Racing with Alstare Suzuki this year felt like I was returning to a family. I raced with them in 2003 when we won the Superstock Championship, so I have many good memories. I think the team has the best atmosphere in the paddock and working with all the guys again is a pleasure. I had no big expectations before the season began, I just wanted to learn the bike and keep on improving. After many years on a twin, it took a little while to get used to as four-cylinder bike, but one thing I can tell you is that my current bike definitely handles better! I knew this would be a tough season for many reasons: First – this Championship is so hard and very, very competitive. Often the top-10 in qualifying are separated by less than a second and the smallest of margins can mean the difference between a good or bad position on the grid. This is a problem for all of us, but if you do not qualify well, it’s almost impossible to make good results in the race, even though your lap times may be as good as the top guys. Even if you do qualify well, it’s very important to make a good start, otherwise everything you have gained will be lost in turn one and you have to over-ride to try and get back into contention. Second is that there is only one rider in our team and so I have nobody to share information with. When there are two riders in a team, often you can make progress more quickly and so be in good shape going into final qualifying and Superpole. But I knew about this before the season started and know that the team and I have to work very, very hard to be competitive and that’s what we’ve being doing. I know that, when the bike has a good set-up, I can run with the top guys OK and I think I proved that with the podium in Monza. Podiums are always nice, of course, but to get one in your home country is always a bit special. Away from the track, I spend a lot of time with my family and play video games and listen to all sorts of music. I don’t find it easy to relax and prefer to be doing things – like playing football. I try and play twice a week and always play with some ex-professionals like Di Biagio, Gottardi and Favalli… When I was a small boy I dreamed about becoming a professional footballer but I discovered mini-motos and pocket bikes and that was more or less that. I am a big fan of my local team, AC Roma, and know some of the guys quite well. Apart from football, to keep fit, I do quite a bit of running and also go to the gym. Many racers like cycling, but not me: I am happy with my own fitness regime. In fact, you could say that I am pretty happy generally and a few more podiums would make me even more happy. Ciao, Michel