PREVIEW AUSTRALIAN GP
WELCOME TO PHILLIP ISLAND
A round the world trip continues for the MotoGP paddock this
weekend, moving from Malaysia to Australia for the next race
of the season at Phillip Island. The Australian Grand Prix
is the fourteenth round of the season and promises to be crucial
to the outcome of the title chase, with five riders still
holding out hope of outright glory. Marco Melandri, fifth
in the series on 168 points and with a 46 point gap to leader
Nicky Hayden, is keen to once again show his true potential
at a circuit he particularly likes .It was here that the Italian
lifted the 250cc world title in 2002 at the age of 20 and
he currently holds the MotoGP lap record there having clocked
1’30”332 last season.
MARCO MELANDRI:
“I can’t wait to race at Phillip Island, a track
I really love. I’m glad to be getting straight back
on my Honda after a disappointing race at Sepang. I’m
motivated to have a good race and get back to the competitive
level I know I should be at. The championship is really difficult
for me now but I will still be going out to give it my best
shot every Sunday. In Malaysia we worked hard over the three
days to find the right feeling with the front end. Hopefully
we can start off on the right foot at Phillip Island, a track
which requires a perfect set-up.”
TONI ELIAS:
“The team are doing a great job at the moment and we’re
taking steps forward every time. That’s why I’m
really looking forward to the next round at Phillip Island,
a circuit I really like a lot. The design is beautiful and
the track is one of the fastest and most spectacular in the
world. Just the speed makes it very technical and difficult
to understand, it’s very demanding. I’ve always
had good results here – firstly in the 250s and then
last year in MotoGP, when we had two really good days of practice
and I qualified seventh. Hopefully I can do that again this
year but with a better end result.”
THE TRACK: Right on the coast, the Phillip
Island circuit is perhaps the favourite of most of the riders,
a simple and original layout that casts the mind back to days
of old. Here there is no huge grandstand looming over the
start-finish straight as there are at so many modern circuits;
the grey of the track mixes with the rolling green hills and
the bright blue of the ocean. Adding to the natural beauty
of the place, the track is technical and complete, characterised
by slow sections mixed with fast, hard acceleration, strong
braking and frequent changes in line and elevation.
A LAP WITH TONI ELIAS:
“Phillip Island has some of the fastest corners in
the world and it is a spectacular and fun place to be –
for the riders and for the fans. It is a technical track which
requires a perfect bike set-up. The main unknown is the weather
because the climate can change very quickly and within a matter
of a few minutes it can go from bright sunshine to rain. There
is also a constant wind that whips up onto the circuit from
the sea.”
Marco Melandri AND Phillip Island:
Marco has celebrated victory at this track on two occasions
in the past – firstly in the 125cc class in 1999 and
then secondly in 2002 when he took the win and the world title
in 250. In total Marco has visited the Phillip Island three
times. Last year he missed out by a hair’s breadth,
finishing fourth in a truly spectacular race.
FOCUS: PADDOCK TRAVEL
The MotoGP World Championship circus continues its journey
around the planet over the next couple of weekends as the
season enters its final phase. Next Sunday the paddock will
be ready to host another race some 17,000km away at the Phillip
Island circuit in Australia, some 22 hours of flight time
away from Europe and with an eight-hour time difference.
The tiredness and pressure that the riders have to put up
with at this stage of the season is not just limited to the
track as they attempt to deal with the dramatic time changes,
hours of travel, airport queues and climatic differences between
the countries.
Over the course of a season each member of a MotoGP team
takes around 50 flights, without including the IRTA tests
at the start of the season. Each team covers an average of
110,000km – around eight and a half times around the
world – and each member of staff spends between 230
and 250 hours sat on board an aeroplane.
The logistical arrangements of each team falls on the shoulders
of one person, who is in charge of making all of the hotel
bookings, car rentals and transport of team materials. Fulvia
Castelli is the person in question for Team FORTUNA HONDA.
Alongside the structure of each team, within the MotoGP World
Championship paddock there is also a specialised travel agency,
Fly Away Sports Travel, which also journeys around the world
during the season. The agency has its own office with satellite
connection so that it can connect to the Internet from anywhere
in the world. It began in 1994 and currently employs nine
people, three of whom regularly travel.
“On occasions we’ve even bought flight tickets
whilst travelling in the car!” says Massimo Bertozzi,
who runs the business alongside his wife Daniela.
TRAVEL IN NUMBERS
110,000 - the number of kilometres covered during a season
by a MotoGP team – around eight and a half times around
the world.
50 - the number of flights taken by a member of a MotoGP team
each year.
230 - 250 – the hours spent on an aeroplane by a member
of a MotoGP team each year.
17.000 – the number of kilometres a team member must
cover to attend the Australian GP.
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