PREVIEW - GERMAN GRAND PRIX - SACHSENRING
MORE TWISTS EXPECTED AT ROLLER-COASTER SACHSENRING
A roller-coaster season continues for the Camel Yamaha Team
this weekend at the vertigo-inducing Sachsenring circuit in
Germany, host to the tenth round of the 2006 MotoGP World
Championship. One of the tightest and most undulating tracks
in the world welcomes the most unpredictable season in recent
history, with Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards both having
played their part in a dramatic campaign that has seen five
different race winners, nine different riders on the podium
and thirteen different front row starters.
Rossi added to his season-tally of three victories with a
stunning second place in the last round at Donington Park,
where he rode through the pain of hand and ankle injuries
to put his YZR-M1 machine back on the podium and cut the gap
to series leader Nicky Hayden (Honda) to 35 points. That memorable
performance at his talisman track was the 121st time that
Rossi had stood on a Grand Prix podium - the same number as
Phil Read and a figure bettered only by the legendary Giacomo
Agostini and Angel Nieto. Rossi has now also scored a total
of 2977 points in all classes and victory in Germany would
make him the first rider in history to pass the 3000 mark.
Sixth place for Colin Edwards at Donington was the 30th successive
race at which he has scored points, a record made all the
more remarkable by the drama of the previous round at Assen,
when he crashed out of the lead in the final corner only to
remount and bravely struggle across the line in thirteenth
place. The only rider with a longer sequence of successive
point scoring finishes is Mick Doohan, who managed it for
37 races, but the more pressing issue for Edwards now is a
return to the form that saw him fighting for victory in that
breathtaking Dutch TT two weeks ago.
VALENTINO ROSSI: BACK TO FITNESS
Valentino Rossi arrives in Germany with the benefit of an
extra weekend to recover from the hand injuries he sustained
in the middle of a Grand Prix triple-header at Assen. After
struggling through the discomfort to score valuable points
in Holland and Great Britain, he is now hoping to be fit enough
to fight for his fourth win of the season and his fourth in
all classes at the Sachsenring circuit.
“I am very confident that by Sachsenring my hand will
be back to 100%, or near enough,” says Rossi, who won
the German Grand Prix for Yamaha last year to add to previous
MotoGP and 250cc successes in 2002 and 1999. “I have
been working hard with my physiotherapist Marco Montanari
and Dr Costa and hopefully it will continue to improve at
this rate. It’s really nice to have had time for a rest
now after three very hard weeks, even if it’s not so
long. I spent some time in Italy and then a few days at home
in London, relaxing and seeing friends.
“The important thing for Sachsenring is that we come
out of the box on Friday morning ready to make the most of
every available minute of practice time. We can’t afford
to lose time in practice with set-up problems like we had
in Donington, and I am sure that Yamaha has been working at
the maximum over the break so we will be ready to be competitive
from Friday morning. Sachsenring is quite a different track,
very tight and twisty, but last year our bike worked very
well there, we were able to win and hopefully that will be
the case again this year.”
COLIN EDWARDS: TO JAPAN AND BACK
Whilst his team-mate and most of their rivals have had time
to rest this week, the relentless pursuit of speed has continued
unabated for Colin Edwards, who has been out in Japan completing
testing work for Yamaha ahead of the Suzuka 8-Hour race. Edwards
was at Suzuka for two days as he prepares to compete in the
prestigious event on 30th July alongside Yamaha Superbike
rider Noriyuki Haga, but he is already back in Europe and
gathering his strength for another important weekend of MotoGP
action.
"It was hard to go straight out to Japan after such
a long run of races but I'm quite excited about doing the
8-Hour again, especially as it’s ten years since Nori
and I won it together before,” reflected Edwards, who
will ride for the Yamaha Blue Racing Team aboard a specially
prepared YZF-R1 SP. “Testing has gone quite well this
week, just getting used to being back on a Superbike again
and getting reacquainted with the track. We've got a competitive
package so hopefully we're going to be in a position to really
go for it when we go back for the race after Laguna.
“Obviously there’s a lot of work to do before
then and the small matter of two GPs in two weekends, including
my home race! Sachsenring will be really important because
we had a lot of problems with the bike at Donington that we
didn’t solve and we can’t afford to lose any more
time. The track itself has two different parts – one
where it’s very difficult to overtake and another which
requires a massive physical effort because it works the left-hand
side of your body really hard The tyres are under a lot of
strain and it's vital to make the right choice so they don't
overheat on the left-side. Generally I get along pretty well
with the layout and there are always a lot of fans so it should
be a good weekend”.
VALENTINO ROSSI: INFORMATION
Age: 27
Lives: London, UK
Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1
GP victories: 82 (56 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia,
1996 (125cc) GP starts: 166 (106 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc,
30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 41 World Championships –
7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4
x MotoGP)
COLIN EDWARDS: INFORMATION
Age: 32
Lives: Conroe, Texas
Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1
First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP)
GP starts: 58 x MotoGP
World Championships - 2 World Superbike
DAVIDE BRIVIO: STILL ENOUGH TIME
Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio is hopeful that
a fully fit Valentino Rossi will appear at the Sachsenring
on Thursday afternoon in readiness for a renewed assault on
the championship standings when the action gets underway on
Friday morning. Rossi’s recent progress has been hampered
by his injuries but with the benefit of a brief rest behind
him Brivio remains confident that the World Champion has enough
races to turn the situation around and successfully defend
his title for the fifth time.
“Now it’s funny because we almost consider a
weekend off as a break!” smiles Brivio. “Anyway
we are hoping that this week gives Valentino a chance to recover
and arrive at the Sachsenring with his injury troubles behind
him. We are expecting him to be fit from Friday morning so
we are hopeful of a ‘normal’ weekend for both
him and Colin. The situation with Valentino has delayed our
recovery in the championship over the past couple of rounds
but there are eight races left and we still have enough time.
“Our aim is to close the gap even further before the
summer break so this race and the next one at Laguna Seca
are very important. As far as the Sachsenring is concerned
we had some problems with our bike there the first season
with Valentino but we found a good setting last season and
he was able to win the race. Sincerely I think the track suits
the characteristics of the 2006 version M1 but we will have
to wait and see on Friday morning. I hope so!”
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING: SACHSENRING ACCORDING TO MIKE
NORTON
Located in the heartland of the former East Germany’s
once glorious motorcycle racing industry, the Sachsenring
is built right next to the old road course, a characteristic
the track shares with Brno in the nearby Czech Republic. The
current circuit could not be more different, its ultra-modern
nature showing in its relatively slow lap times, with slow
corners juxtaposed with some dazzlingly fast ones –
including a super fast downhill right hander which was added
in 2003. It is this that provides the circuit’s biggest
challenge, for riders and technicians alike.
“The Sachsenring is a difficult track – it’s
quite short and it’s not one of Valentino’s favourites,”
explains Mike Norton, Öhlins Suspension Technician for
Valentino Rossi. “It’s one of my busiest weekends
because the set-up of the bike is all about finding a compromise
between braking for that monstrous downhill section and handling
through the slow sections. It’s a bit of a trade-off
really between getting Valentino good through the slow part
and good enough to stop the bike at the bottom of the hill.
Valentino often wins races on the brakes so he’s a little
bit different to most riders and you always have to have some
margin in the front fork.
“You also spend a lot of time on the edge of the tyre
at Sachsenring, right on the angle, and again that causes
us an imbalance in the bike compared to normal. But Valentino’s
feedback is very good compared to other riders I’ve
worked with. You can give him a change and be miles off centre
but he’ll ride around it and you’ll either see
a good lap time or a bad one, which then gives us an idea
of where to go. From that point of view he’s very good
to work with and he always gives you 100%.”
CIRCUIT INFORMATION
Pole position left
Lenght: 3671 m
Width: 10 m
Right corners: 4
Left corners: 10
Constructed in: 1996
Last modified: 2003
Sachsenring Lap Record: Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2005, 1’23.705
Sachsenring Best Lap: Max Biaggi (Honda) 2004, 1’22.756
2005 German Grand Prix Results:
1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Yamaha, 35’04.434
2. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Honda, +0.685
3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda, +885
8. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Yamaha, +14.849
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