KONICA MINOLTA Honda go ‘Down Under’ for Australian
Grand Prix
The picturesque circuit of Phillip Island plays host to the
16th round of the MotoGP championship this weekend. The undulating
2.764-mile circuit is a favourite for both riders and fans
as the fast, flowing circuit normally makes for exciting,
close racing.
The KONICA MINOLTA Honda Team and rider Shinya Nakano will
be hoping that their improved form in practice and qualifying
from the last two GPs will now be converted into a solid top-ten
race result on Sunday’s race afternoon.
Last year’s Australian MotoGP race was the first to
feature the new ‘bike-swap’ rules for a rain-affected
race, where riders enter the pits and change to their second
bike equipped with different tyres if the weather and conditions
change. It is hoped that good weather will be in place for
the whole race weekend at Phillip Island this year.
Gianluca Montiron – Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA
Honda
“Phillip Island is one of the best tracks in the world
and one of our favourites to visit. We hope that this weekend
we have the possibility to see our rider Shinya Nakano to
really show what he is capable of. I still believe he has
both the potential and capacity to ride our Honda RCV212V
hard, but as we have seen this year he has found it difficult
to adapt to the new technical package of new machine, new
Team, manufacturer and tyre supplier. What we have seen is
an improvement in our situation on Friday and Saturdays so
we’re closer in time to the front-runners, but we now
need this to continue into Sunday’s race. As far as
the weather goes, we simply hope for some consistent weather
– that means rain or sun – but nothing in between
where it’s neither wet nor dry! We really want a good
result from Australia and the following two races in Malaysia
and Spain so we can hopefully improve our overall championship
position before the end of the season.”
Shinya Nakano – Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda
“I very much enjoy the Phillip Island circuit, even
if it was the scene of me losing the 2000 250cc title to my
team-mate Olivier Jacque by just a few metres at the finish
line! It is fast and flowing, but then there are always a
few hard braking areas too, it really has everything. The
only thing that can spoil the race sometimes is the very changeable
weather! I’m hoping for good weather this weekend as
I know we have to get our best results of the year in these
last three races.”
Giulio Bernardelle – Technical Director, KONICA
MINOLTA Honda
“We enjoy going to Phillip Island, the track is one
of the best in the world and it is one which every rider enjoys
as it has a mixture of low and high-speed corners. You have
that wonderful last corner before the main straight, two hard
braking places with the two hairpins where the rider uses
first gear and a fifth/sixth gear corner after main straight,
it really is amazing. The circuit itself demands that you
need a good compromise on set-up, but it is a track where
once again the rider can make a difference, so we know Shinya
enjoys the circuit we just hope that the weather conditions
will suit us and our tyres. At this time of year, the weather
can be changeable and the temperatures can be quite low. We
shall see what awaits us this weekend. We tested there in
February but this data will not really give us anything other
than a possible base setting to try on Friday.”
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