REPSOL HONDA LEADS THE WORLD TO GERMANY
MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT PREVIEW
GERMAN GRAND PRIX, SACHSENRING
July 11/12/13 2008, round 10 of 18
Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa will be aiming to cement
his World Championship points lead at the Sachsenring where
last year he scored a dominant win and team-mate Nicky Hayden
took third place to give Repsol Honda its first double podium
of 2007.
Pedrosa retook the 2008 points lead with a fine ride to second
place at the recent Dutch TT, while Hayden came close to completing
the team’s first double podium of the year.
This is the busiest time of year for the Repsol Honda Team
– the German GP is the fifth MotoGP round in just seven
weeks and is immediately followed by next weekend’s
US GP. Pedrosa, Hayden and their crews are thus working very
hard. Pedrosa knows he needs to find a few extra tenths to
strengthen him World Championship charge while Hayden is getting
to grips with Honda’s pneumatic-valve engine which he
raced for the first time at Donington Park, the weekend before
Assen.
The German GP sees the MotoGP circus switch from one historic
race venue to another. The original Sachsenring street circuit
was first used for racing in the late 1920s and hosted the
first GP behind the Iron Curtain in 1962. The track regularly
attracted crowds of 350,000 and was last used for World Championship
racing in 1972. Following reunification a Sachsenring short
circuit was constructed. The venue hosted its first GP in
1998 and since then has undergone substantial upgrades. It
is now a complex and challenging circuit, with an ultra-tight
first section that leads into a rollercoaster series of high-speed
left-handers that are its dominant feature.
Dani Pedrosa
“We are working very hard at the moment, trying to improve
our performance. We will do our best to repeat my 2007 German
GP win but we know it won’t be easy. Sachsenring is
quite a slow track, most of the corners aren’t so fast.
My favourite section is the final, faster part: the fast,
downhill right-hander near the end of the lap and then the
uphill run into the final corner. There is always a good atmosphere
at this race with a lot of fans and overflowing grandstands.
The track was resurfaced for last year’s race which
made it a lot better because before it was very bumpy. Set-up
is always difficult at Sachsenring because it’s a long
race, so you need a harder-than-normal compound on the left
side of the tyres. You use quite a static riding style here,
riding more gently and making fewer movements than usual on
the bike.”
Nicky Hayden
“The bike is working good, the engine is running plenty
good, but we just had that little issue at the end of Assen
which stopped me getting third. I’m sure the guys at
HRC will have the electronics all fixed for this race because
I quite like the Sachsenring and I’ve always gone pretty
well there. It’s a short little lap and some people
complain it’s too tight and twisty but I like fast left-hand
corners and it’s got a lot of them. I’m a dirt
tracker so I like going left! The first bit is quite technical,
then you’ve got that fifth-gear drop-off round the back
which is really good, definitely one of the best. The key
for going down that hill is getting the bike so you’re
confident in the front. The next right-hander (Turn 12) is
a big one, it’s blind and it’s downhill, so you
can’t go tip-toeing through there if you want a good
lap, you’ve got to be committed and charge it. Last
year the track had a new surface because tyre wear had been
a big issue there.”
THE TRACK
Constructed:1996
Modified:2003
Length:3671 m
Width: 10 m
Pole: Left
Right corners: 4
Left corners: 10
Longest straight: 780m
2007 MotoGP race:
1 D.Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 2 L.Capirossi (Ducati) 3 N.Hayden
(Repsol Honda)
Circuit Record lap: D.Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 1'23.082
circuit best lap (2006) D.Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 1'21.815
Pole position 2007: C.Stoner (Ducati) 1'22.384
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