HOPING FOR A REPEAT AT VALENCIA
A party within a party. Toni Elias has more than one reason
to look forward to the final round of the MotoGP World Championship
as it heads to his home country for the Valencian GP this
weekend. Just a few days after his emotional debut win in
Portugal the Spaniard renewed his contract with Team Honda
Gresini, meaning he will campaign the new Honda V4 800cc machine
alongside his current team-mate Marco Melandri in 2007.
Buoyed by the confidence of that first win at Estoril and
the belief and support shown in him by Team Gresini, Elias
is aiming for a repeat result in front of his home fans at
Valencia.
That stunning victory represented a huge turnaround in fortunes
for the Fortuna Honda star in his second season of MotoGP
action. “I have always believed in my own ability but
now I know for sure that I can do it and I want to win again,”
promises Toni.
Marco Melandri is also keen to end the season with a top
result. The Italian is ready to work hard from the opening
free practice session on Friday as he aims to put himself
in a position to repeat his success here from last season,
when he clinched victory and the runner-up spot in the championship.
This time he is fighting to defend his current standing of
third place overall.
THE TRACK
Designed as a huge stadium complex, where spectators get
to view the whole circuit, Valencia is always packed out with
passionate fans, creating an unbelievable atmosphere. Crowd
figures regularly break records and this year promises to
be no different, with all 225,000 tickets for the three days
already sold out. Valencia looks certain to be the most exciting
event of an incredible season: it is all set up for an intriguing
shootout between Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi as they
fight for the destiny of the world title.
MARCO MELANDRI:
“After such a tough race in Portugal I still managed
to hold on to third in the championship and on Sunday I’ll
try to defend that. I’d like to end the season with
another good result and I’ve had a lot of joy at this
circuit in the past – you only have to think about my
victory here last season. We will work hard to solve the problems
we encountered at Estoril. Hopefully we can find a good compromise
between the bike and tyres and be up there from the start.
Sunday will be a highly-charged race with a tense atmosphere
and I think the title won’t be decided until the very
last corner of the very last lap.”
TONI ELIAS:
“The victory at Estoril was a wonderful surprise but
also the fruit of a lot of hard work from the team, confirming
that we are working in the right direction. I want to thank
the whole team, especially my chief mechanic Fabrizio Cecchini,
who always believed in me and made me feel relaxed and confident.
In Portugal I just tried to have a good race – I never
overstepped my limits – but when I saw the chance was
there to go for the win I wasn’t going to let it slip.
I feel really satisfied and now things have changed; now I
know I can do it and be up front so I’m determined to
do it again. Hopefully it can happen as soon as possible.
It would be great to put in another top performance at Valencia,
in front of the Spanish fans. I don’t really like the
track itself but the fact it is in Spain, with so much support
and an incredible atmosphere, makes up for that. Hopefully
we can work well all weekend and provide the encore. To have
signed a contract for next year with Fausto Gresini gives
me an extra boost. My priority was to continue working with
Honda as part of Gresini’s team with my current chief
mechanic Fabrizio Cecchini. Now that is in place I think I
have the fundamental elements to continue growing and improving.
Now I’m already looking forward and I can’t wait
to start preparing for 2007. I’ll have an 800cc Honda
and I can’t wait to ride it. There is no reason why
we can’t have a really successful winter and prepare
well for the new season.”
THE OTHER TITLE: THE TEAMS’ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
The Honda Team led by Fausto Gresini has once again proved
to be one of the standard-bearers in MotoGP, standing out
as the only private team to successfully tackle the official
representatives. Third in the championship on 323 points,
Team Fortuna Honda has been bettered only by the major factory
outfits - Repsol Honda, who have already won the series on
438 points, and Camel Yamaha.
With four wins (3 for Marco Melandri and 1 for Toni Elias)
and eight podiums in total, the squad run by the former double
125cc World Champion has taken the same amount of victories
as the official HRC team and has one more than Ducati Marlboro,
who are fourth overall.
The constantly improving Team Honda Gresini has doubled its
number of victories from 2005 to continue a run of success
that has seen them twice finish with the runner-up spot and
once with the third placed rider in the final standings over
the past four years.
TEAM HONDA GRESINI IN NUMBERS (up to Portugal 2006)
10 seasons in the World Championship (since 1997 with Barros
on a Honda 500 NSR)
1 title – the 250cc World Championship in 2001 with
Daijiro Kato
175 Grand Prix races contested
32 World Championship victories - 14 in MotoGP (8 with Sete
Gibernau, 5 with Marco Melandri and 1 with Toni Elias) and
18 in 250cc (15 with Daijiro Kato and 3 with Loris Capirossi)
87 podium finishes (32 wins, 32 second places and 23 thirds)
3,027 points scored - 1,762 in the premier-class and 1,265
in 250
23 pole positions - 12 in MotoGP (11 with Sete Gibernau and
1 with Daijiro Kato ) and 11 in 250 (9 with Kato, 2 with Loris
Capirossi)
VALENCIA - THE TRACK
Constructed: 1999
Latest modification: 1999
Length: 4,005m
Width: 12m
Pole position: Right
Right corners: 5
Left corners: 9
Longest straight: 876m
TRACK RECORDS:
Circuit record: 2005 Melandri (Honda) 1’33”043
Pole position: 2005 Gibernau (Honda) 1’31”874
Race 2005: 1st Melandri (Honda) 2nd Hayden (Honda) 3rd Rossi
(Yamaha)
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