TWO-RACE TITLE CHALLENGE STARTS IN PORTUGAL FOR ROSSI
Five years to the week since he won the MotoGP World Championship
for the first time, Valentino Rossi heads into the penultimate
round of the 2006 season at Estoril in Portugal next Sunday
aiming to finally overthrow Nicky Hayden from the top of the
standings and set-up his sixth premier-class title in a row.
After an amazing run of form for the Italian, who has made
up 39 points over the last four races, he is now just 12 behind
and on course to catch the American by the final round at
Valencia. A slip-up for Rossi, of course, could see Hayden
take the number 1 plate this Sunday, but the formbook suggests
that this should not be the case, with Rossi having finished
on the podium in each of his previous six visits to Estoril.
The 27 year old has won the race four times, including his
first appearance there for Yamaha in 2004, whilst conversely
for Hayden it is one of his least successful circuits - his
best result coming last year when he finished seventh.
Estoril’s location on the western tip of Europe, just
seven kilometres from the Atlantic coast, makes it vulnerable
to dramatic changes in weather and high gusts of wind, meaning
the riders can take nothing for granted. An autumn visit promises
to deliver similarly wild conditions to those encountered
when the event was held last year in the spring, culminating
in the first ever flag-to-flag race in MotoGP – although
unlike at Phillip Island three weeks ago none of the riders
opted to come in and change bikes. Rossi’s team-mate
Colin Edwards was a victim of the conditions on that occasion,
the Texan sliding off his bike on lap twenty-four and then
remounting to finish in sixth place. This year the 31-year-old
is hoping for much better fortune as he looks to build on
excellent recent progress with the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine,
including sensational lap times in the recent one-day test
at Motegi, and end his season on a high.
VALENTINO ROSSI: TWO DIFFICULT TRACKS
Valentino Rossi remains confident that he has the speed to
beat Nicky Hayden in any situation although he admits that
the upcoming circuits are not amongst his favourites. An intense
summer of hard work by Yamaha’s engineers on the YZR-M1
has given Rossi a competitive and adaptable package that he
believes can adjust to the demands of both Estoril and Valencia
and give him every chance of retaining the title, which he
has made his own in recent seasons.
“Now we have two difficult tracks but I think our M1
can be fast at both of them,” says Rossi. “Since
Brno, when we finally understood everything about what we
needed to do to make our bike work at 100% again, we’ve
been very strong everywhere and on the podium each time. I
think that we’re as strong as our rivals now and when
we’re at the maximum we’re always going to be
fighting at the front. Of course we know we could have won
more if we’d been like this earlier in the season but
we can’t do anything about that. Anyway we know our
potential and when we’ve started from the front lately
we’ve been on the podium each time, so we have to carry
on like this. “Everyone involved has helped bring us
back to this level. I think the team’s level of motivation
and concentration is the best in the paddock, it’s incredible,
more than anyone else, so I have to say thank you again. I
actually like Portugal - the ‘04 bike especially was
very good there. It’s twisty but we can go well there.
In ‘05 we had some problems with the tyre, plus it was
only the second race and early in the year so the weather
was bad. I hope that it will be a bit warmer and won’t
rain, and that we can find a good tyre with Michelin.”
COLIN EDWARDS: OUR TURN FOR SUNSHINE
Colin Edwards is also hoping that recent hard work on the
YZR-M1 can bear fruit in a final two-race swansong for the
990cc machine. With development of the 800cc bikes now well
underway ahead of the rule changes in 2007, the American is
hoping he can end the era on a high and finally fulfil the
promise he has shown on the current bike in brilliant flashes
over the past two seasons.
“We made a big step forward at the test after the last
race in Motegi and I was pretty much flying round the track
that day,” says Edwards. “We’ve only got
two more races with this bike but it is always important to
improve in testing so that you can translate that to race
conditions, which is what we hope will happen in Portugal.
Even though we haven’t had the exact results we’ve
hoped for at the last two races, the overall feeling with
the bike has been much better and so with any luck the recent
adjustments we made in Motegi will give us a competitive package
in Estoril. “I was unlucky to be one of the ones that
went down in the rain last year but I did get back on and
finish sixth, although I had better improve on that this time
around! I don’t have any particularly strong feelings
one way or another for the track, it’s got a bit of
everything but I think it suits our bike quite well. As a
place it’s not bad either - the coastline is beautiful
and the food is great. The only problem is the weather, but
we’ve been fairly unlucky with that this season so hopefully
it’s our turn for some sunshine!”
VALENTINO ROSSI: INFORMATION
Age: 27 - Lives: London, UK
Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1
GP victories: 84 (58 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc)
First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)
GP starts: 172 (112 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
Pole position: 43
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: 64 x MotoGP
World Championships - 2 World Superbike
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