PREVIEW – ITALIAN GRAND PRIX - MUGELLO
‘HOME’ RACE PRESENTS FRESH CHALLENGE
FOR CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM
The Camel Yamaha Team heads into its home Grand Prix this
weekend looking to turn a stuttering start to the season into
a consistent challenge for MotoGP World Championship honours.
The fast and flowing Mugello circuit in Italy presents an
entirely different challenge to the tight complexities of
recent tracks such as Le Mans and Shanghai and both Valentino
Rossi and Colin Edwards hope it can also deliver a similar
contrast in the fortunes that have followed them around the
world during a dramatic opening five rounds of the campaign.
Rossi, in particular, is keen to get his fifth title defence
back on track in front of his adoring Italian public. The
Tavulia-born superstar, who was last week honoured with the
‘Spirit of Sport’ award at the prestigious Laureus
Sports Awards, wants to add another prize to his trophy cabinet
by claiming his fifth consecutive victory at the Mugello circuit.
Edwards is equally focused on the top step of the podium
after again demonstrating winning potential at the last round
in France. The American was forced into the gravel in the
first turn but he battled through from last place to take
sixth overall and finish just eleven seconds down on the race
winner. Like Rossi, he knows that if things play in his favour
this weekend it can be a glorious return home for the Milan-based
team.
VALENTINO ROSSI: ELEVEN WINS SHOULD DO IT!
After failing to score points at the last two rounds because
of freak tyre and engine problems, Rossi now trails series
leader Nicky Hayden (Honda) by 43 points and lies eighth in
the championship – his worst ever start to a World Championship
season in any class. However, with a typical air of optimism
based on confidence in his unrivalled ability, the Italian
refuses to consider defeat at this early stage of the season
and says this weekend is the ideal time to turn things around.
“Mugello has been very good to me over the past few
years – it is a very special race and this season it
is even more important than ever,” admits Rossi. “I
have had some incredible emotions there over the years and
it is always a very busy weekend for me, but it is crucial
that we maintain our focus on the job because we have to be
at 100% if we want to win again. The new chassis worked well
at Le Mans and we have some good data from the test to improve
it at Mugello so I have reason to be confident.”
If Rossi did go on to win the title this year he would be
the first rider ever to do so having had only one podium finish
in the first five races of the year. It is the kind of challenge
he relishes. “We have had a lot of bad luck but I don’t
think 43 points is such a big gap when there are still twelve
races left,” he says. “It will be difficult to
win them all but I will settle for taking eleven wins and
one second place! When you look at what has happened to us
this season, mostly things out of our control, I probably
lost 25 points in France, 16 in China and 14 in Jerez so if
it wasn’t for all that I would be in a much better situation
in the championship now. I think we showed our true potential
last weekend and it is just a matter of our luck changing
now. Mugello would be the perfect place for that.”
COLIN EDWARDS: A FAMILY AFFAIR
Colin Edwards has more than one reason to look forward to
Mugello, both on and off the track. During a gruelling run
of races visiting all corners of the globe over the last two
months the Texan has not had much chance to see his young
son Hayes, but the baby, who was born in December, will be
making his first visit to Europe this week and staying on
the road with the whole family during the upcoming run of
races on the continent. The proud father hopes family life
on the road can provide the foundation to a series of positive
results.
“Hayes will be coming over with my daughter Gracie
and my wife Alyssia so obviously I’m really looking
forward to that,” admits Edwards. “I love being
with the family and living out of the motorhome instead of
travelling all over the place staying in hotels. I find it
helps me to focus on my performance on the track and hopefully
it can give me an extra edge this weekend. That is the most
important thing and at this stage of the season, with the
way things have gone recently, we need every advantage we
can get.”
Another plus point for Edwards this week will be the delivery
of a new chassis for his YZR-M1 machine, used by Rossi with
positive results at the last round in Le Mans. “My bike
has been the same since Turkey and whilst I have got comfortable
with it now I think we have reached the limit in some areas.
I did thirty laps with the new chassis in the Le Mans test
and I could clearly see the extra potential. Now I’ll
have one from the start at Mugello and so that’s something
for us to get our teeth into from the first session and see
how far we can go.”
VALENTINO ROSSI: INFORMATION
Age: 27
Lives: London, UK
Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1
GP victories: 80 (54 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia,
1996 (125cc) GP starts: 162 (102 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc,
30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 40 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: 53 x MotoGP
World Championships - 2 World Superbike
DAVIDE BRIVIO: EXCITEMENT AT HOME!
Whilst recognising that recent results have not lived up
to expectations, Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio
remains upbeat that his riders are still on course to meet
their objectives for the season. The Italian has been encouraged
by recent progress made by Yamaha’s engineers and says
a simple turn in fortune is now all that is required for both
Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards to be challenging at the
sharp end of the field.
“In the last race at Le Mans we had a lot of bad luck
but it was a very important and encouraging weekend for us
to confirm the general progress we are making with the bike,”
says Brivio. “Valentino was riding steadily in the lead
and probably would have won quite comfortably, whilst Colin
also had an excellent race to come through from last place
and finish sixth so we know we have something to build on
and we want to continue with this progression.
“We have twelve races left to get points back and the
first stage of the recovery is this weekend at Mugello. All
we can do is try to gather as many points from race to race
and that means taking victory on Sunday. It is a home race
for Valentino and for half of the team so it will be important
for us to have the support of the big Italian crowd to help
us do this. This has been an unpredictable championship so
far but something we can be certain of at Mugello is that
it will be very hot and very exciting!”
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING: MUGELLO ACCORDING TO DANIELE
ROMAGNOLI
At 5.245km the Mugello circuit is one of the longer contemporary
MotoGP circuits, in no small part due to the fact that it
has retained its original length and layout. Running across
two sides of an impossibly scenic Tuscan valley, Mugello differs
from other fast circuits in its frequent changes of gradient
and the speed of its chicanes. There is a mix of slower and
high-speed corners, although even the slowest corners are
wide, allowing several ‘ideal’ lines and putting
the emphasis on rider skill as well as chassis set-up precision.
“Mugello is a very technical track,” explains
Daniele Romagnoli, Colin Edwards’ Italian Chief Mechanic.
“Chassis set-up is perhaps the most important thing
but you also need a good engine for the straight because there
is around 950m with the throttle fully open. The gearing is
also important at this point – you need small gaps between
fourth, fifth and sixth gear to get the most out of the engine.
“Generally it is a very complex track and the rider
can make the difference. It has a very hard braking into turn
one, where the riders go from around 330km/h to just 85km/h.
Then there is a sequence of ‘esses’ where it is
important to have a bike that has good turning capabilities
and agility. There are some quick changes in direction, with
uphill and downhill turns, so you need a good compromise with
the set-up to make it turn well in both types of corner.”
Romagnoli adds that the delivery of a new chassis for Edwards
at this round could not have come at a better time. “The
new chassis has improved the performance of the front end
of the bike, particularly in terms of turning and stability
on corner entry. It has also improved the chatter problems
that we have experienced and this will be crucial at Mugello
because there are some very fast corners and a lot of lateral
load on the bike.”
CIRCUIT INFORMATION
Pole Position right
Length: 5245m
Width: 14m
Right corners: 9
Left corners: 6
Constructed: 1974
Mugello Lap Record: Max Biaggi (Honda) 2005 – 1’50.117
Mugello Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 – 1’49.223
2005 Results
1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Yamaha, 42’42.994
2. Max Biaggi (ITA) Honda, +0.359
3. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati, +3.874
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