Suzuki pair hope for progress at test

The team had a disappointing 2008 season, scoring 60 points fewer than they had in their promising 2007 campaign. But Vermeulen and Capirossi believe that if Suzuki have been able to put their suggestions into practice over the winter, they should be more competitive when the 2009 build-up starts in earnest at the Malaysian test.

"It's been a couple of months since the last test, but that has been two months when Suzuki has been working really hard to make the 2009 GSV-R as good as it can be at this moment in time," said Vermeulen.

"It will be great to ride this year's bike and see the improvements and alterations the factory has made to last year's bike.

"All the other teams will be there so we will be able to see where we are at the moment in comparison to them and how we have moved on since the last time we were at Sepang."

Capirossi is also looking forward to seeing what progress Suzuki have made during the off-season.

"I'm very excited to see what the guys back in Japan have done to the GSV-R and for Chris and myself to get the chance to ride the latest version of the bike at Sepang," Capirossi said.

"I am sure that all the recommendations we made during the last tests will have been analysed and any improvements the factory could make they will have done in the winter."