PRAMAC D’ANTIN FLIES TO DONINGTON FOR FIFTH EUROPEAN
ROUND OF CHAMPIONSHIP
The Pramac d’Antin team heads to Great Britain for
the eighth championship appointment on the 2007 MotoGP calendar
that at the Donington Park track in England. The track is
characterised by fast corners and hard deceleration that makes
life hard for the riders especially when weather conditions
are not favourable.
For Alex Barros, who is currently in eighth position in the
riders’ championship, the Donington track holds good
memories and is a circuit at which he achieved a string of
four consecutive podiums between 2001 and 2005. He also holds
the maximum speed record.
Team-mate Alex Hofmann is in positive frame of mind after
the post Catalunya test at the Monmelò circuit and
will use the British GP as an occasion to demonstrate the
progress made.
As usual, the race weekend will start on Friday 22 June with
free practice and end on Sunday 24 with the race that will
take place at 1pm local time (GMT +1).
Alex Barros (51 points – 8th in championship):
“The next race is very important for us. As I look at
my position on championship classification, I hope to arrive
in the first five positions this weekend to get important
points that will enable me to secure this eighth position
in the championship. During the last years, I always obtained
good results in Great Britain, between 2001 and 2005 I was
always able to visit the podium and in 2000 I recorded the
fastest lap. It isn’t one of my favourite tracks, also
because as I always say there isn’t any track I particularly
prefer, but I hope to be able to keep this positive tradition
in Donington and ride a good race. Maybe we will suffer because
there is not a long straight, but we will make our best to
get a good start and hopefully reach our target.”
Alex Hofmann (38 points – 12th in championship):
“I’m ready for the next race and I want
to do well. After my fifth position in Le Mans, I had some
difficulties both in Mugello and Barcelona, but after the
test we made in Montmelò, I’m more confident
and I hope to be able to show that I and my team have the
possibility to score good results. I know that this will not
be an easy track, but I will give my best. I hope to do another
good qualifying session and to start as high up the grid as
possible because we will not have a long straight to exploit
this weekend.”
Luis d’Antin – Team Manager: “The
next GP in Donington will not be very easy for us: the track
isn’t really suited to our bike characteristics, but
we will give our maximum to have a competitive race. Thanks
to the material that both Bridgestone and Ducati give us,
we have always shown ourselves to be capable of running inside
the top ten, and the next round could be an occasion to confirm
that the package at our disposal is really competitive and
to show that we can get results even if things seem to be
at a disadvantage. If all goes in the right direction, I’m
sure that we won’t be going to Assen without first obtaining
important points for the championship in Donington.”
THE CIRCUIT
The main Donington circuit characteristic, built in 1931,
is to be composed in two different stages. The first one was
very fast and racy, the second one born in 1987 welcomed MotoGP
after a track enlargement and breaks up the riders’
rhythm with fast corners and hard braking.
Opened: 1931
Modified: 1985
Length 4023m
Width:10m
Longest Straight: 564m
Right turns: 7
Left turns: 4
Pole position: left
Final Results – MotoGP Class
1° Dani Pedrosa: 44’54.878;
2° Valentino Rossi: 44’58.742;
3° Marco Melandri: 44’58.894;
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