PREVIEW - BRITISH GRAND PRIX - DONINGTON
CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM SEEK DONINGTON RETRIBUTION
The Camel Yamaha Team head for the third race in as many
weekends looking to end a gruelling run of races on a high
as the MotoGP World Championship arrives in Great Britain
this weekend. Following on from the elation of victory at
Catalunya and the double disappointment of an injury for Valentino
Rossi and a final-bend crash for Colin Edwards at Assen, the
Donington Park race represents an ideal opportunity for both
riders to bounce back before a well earned two-week break.
Rossi, in particular, is in desperate need of a boost after
conceding further ground to Nicky Hayden (Honda) at the top
of the World Championship standings. The Italian fought bravely
to eighth place despite riding with cracked bones in his hand
and foot at the Dutch TT, but crucially he now trails the
American by 46 points in the championship. Rossi has won seven
times in all classes at Donington Park, one of his favourite
MotoGP circuits, but a return to the top step of the podium
will be a huge challenge as he battles to recover his fitness
and as many points as possible.
Edwards is sure to be given a hero’s welcome by his
army of British fans, thousands of whom cheered him to the
verge of his first MotoGP victory just across the North Sea
at Assen last Saturday. The British Grand Prix ranks equally
with the Dutch TT as Edwards’ most successful event
in the premier-class, having finished second there two years
ago and narrowly missing the podium last year, so he has high
hopes that he can bounce back from that disappointment with
another top performance.
There is a slight change to the order of the races this weekend,
with the main event taking place after the 250cc race but
before the 125cc race. The red lights will go out for the
MotoGP riders at 1pm local time, although this will not affect
the regular schedule for fans around the world since it still
coincides with the standard starting time of 2pm CET.
VALENTINO ROSSI: A RACE AGAINST TIME
MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi returns to his country
of residence this weekend keeping the fingers on his good
hand crossed that he will be in sufficiently good shape to
challenge at the front of the field once again. The Italian
left Assen on Saturday evening with his physiotherapist Marco
Montanari, who will remain by his side for the rest of the
week as he tries to recover as much strength as possible before
the crucial ninth round of an intriguing championship.
“We have a lot of work to do to improve the situation
with my wrist and try to reduce the swelling and heal the
bone as much as possible,” explains Rossi. “It
would be better to have a month now to recover but we are
racers and we have to go straight to the next race, which
is a pity. Anyway I hope we can improve it as much as possible
so that I can ride well at Donington. For sure I won't be
at full fitness, but we have five days to improve. Colin showed
that the bike is working really well so hopefully it will
be like this at Donington also for both of us.
“Donington is like a second home Grand Prix for me
and I hope the fans give me all the usual support because
I need all the help I can get right now. It has been one of
my favourite tracks ever since I rode the 125 there for the
first time in 1996 and I have a lot of good memories –
especially my first win with the 500 in 2001 and victories
with Yamaha for the last two years. It’s going to be
a big challenge for me to stand on the top of the podium on
Sunday, but as long as my hand continues to improve throughout
the week, then I think we can try!”
COLIN EDWARDS: A CHANCE FOR REVENGE
The British Grand Prix can’t come soon enough for Colin
Edwards, who heads to another of his favourite tracks looking
to bury his Assen nightmare with that elusive first MotoGP
win. The amiable American refuses to dwell on the final corner
calamity that denied him a visit to the top step of the podium
in Holland as he looks on the positive side of a weekend that
should provide the platform to another bid for the winners’
champagne in England.
“I can’t deny that I’m still disappointed
after what happened at Assen, but now I have to put that behind
me and focus on Donington, which is one of my best tracks
and a place I have always gone well,” says Edwards.
“I have to forget about what happened at the end of
the race in Assen and focus on the fact that my bike worked
perfectly all weekend, I was consistently fast and I was able
to do a really great race up to the last chicane.
“Now we have to hope that the situation is the same
at Donington because my aim is to go out there and get my
revenge! I want to make up for the disappointment for the
team and my fans, and give them something to cheer about again.
I always have loads of fans in the UK, a lot of them were
there for me at Assen so let’s hope they’re all
back to cheer me on again this 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: 165 (105 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: 56 x MotoGP
World Championships - 2 World Superbike
DAVIDE BRIVIO: A LONG BATTLE AHEAD
Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio is also in good
spirits despite a weekend of drama and ultimate disappointment
in Holland. The Italian knows that he could not have asked
for much more from his riders on Saturday and he is confident
that a similar level of effort from the whole team this weekend
will finally reap the rewards they deserve.
“Hopefully this week before Donington will be enough
time for Valentino to make a decent recovery and we all hope
to see him in better shape when he comes into the garage for
practice on Friday morning,” says Brivio. “Assen
was a big disappointment for us in lots of ways but with Valentino
in better shape and Colin in good form we have a chance to
put things right at a circuit both riders like and in a country
where they are both very popular.
“Whatever progress Valentino makes this week we know
he will not be at 100% but we expect him to show the same
fight and determination that took him into the points at Assen.
It was important he did that but the gap to Nicky Hayden at
the top of the championship is significant and we can’t
afford to let him get too far ahead. He is a strong rider
and I think it will be a hard push now until the final race
of the season at Valencia.”
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING: DONINGTON ACCORDING TO MATTEO
FLAMIGNI
A dramatic viewing experience, Donington Park sits inside
an amphitheatre style setting, with the spectator bankings
ringing around the outside. The prevalent off-camber nature
of the track is one of the main factors at play during the
British Grand Prix, with a large tendency for the front tyre
to push, making the right, left, right flick down the Craner
Curve section something of a high tension rollercoaster ride.
This sequence of sweeping corners is one of the fastest in
the world and, according to Valentino Rossi’s Data Technician
Matteo Flamigni, it is a place the top riders can really make
the difference.
“I don’t know of any other circuit in the world
with a series of corners as fast as Craner Curves,”
says Flamigni. “The rider is more important than the
machine here because it takes a lot of courage and skill to
make up time through the first section of the track. In any
case the bike setting must be stable enough to give the rider
confidence at speeds of around 200km/h and agile enough to
cope with the quick changes of direction.
“Donington is like two circuits in one. After the fast
opening two sections the second half of the lap is much slower
because of the last section, which has two hard braking zones.
Turn nine in particular is crucial because the riders go from
something like 280km/h to around 60km/h, so the bike has to
be good under braking – especially because these are
key points to overtake at the end of the race. Setting up
a motorcycle is always a question of making the right compromises
but at Donington Park this is particularly true. The best
bike out there will have the most accurate balance between
performance in these two contrasting halves of the track.”
CIRCUIT INFORMATION
Pole position left
Length: 4023 m
Width: 10 m
Right corners: 7
Left corners: 4
Constructed in: 1931
Last modified: 1985
Donington Lap Record: Colin Edwards (Honda) 2004, 1’29.973
Donington Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005, 1’27.897
Nº of laps: 30 (120.69 km / 74.99 miles )
2005 Results (Wet Race):
1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Yamaha, 52.58.675
2. Kenny Roberts (USA) Suzuki, +3.169
3. Alex Barros (BRA) Honda, +4.006
4. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Yamaha, +10.292
|
