MotoGP World Championship. Catalan GP. Preview
DANI PEDROSA AND THE REPSOL HONDA TEAM, PREPARED
FOR THE BIG CHALLENGE AT HOME
The catalonian rider reaches Montmeló second in the
Championship. Nicky Hayden and the rest of the Repsol riders
ready to improve their results at the Catalunya Circuit
The World Motorcycling Championship continues non stop, and
after last weekend's race in Italy, five days later it lands
on the track in Barcelona, where the Catalunya Grand Prix
will be held next Sunday. A new chapter in this vibrant 2008
season will be written this weekend on the Catalonian track,
the second event in Spain of the three that will be held there,
along with Jerez and Valencia.
The Repsol Honda Team lands in Barcelona with the sweet snd
sour taste of the last Italian Grand Prix, where Dani Pedrosa
claimed third position, securing his second position in the
general classification, and Nicky Hayden finished in a poor
thirteenth place. Both riders had problems with their tyres
during the race, while riders using Bridgestone tyres performed
much more competitively on the Italian track. In spite of
this, both riders are confident that Michelin will react in
Barcelona, where Pedrosa will be racing in front of his fans
and hopes to be in a position to dedicate them a victory.
It will not be easy; the long main straight will be a complicated
point for Hayden and Pedrosa's Honda with respect to the Yamaha's
and Ducati's, which still have a greater top speed.
The new pneumatic valve engine tested by Tady Okada in Italy
worked well, and now both riders have to decide whether or
not to try it out during this weekend's training sessions.
The question will be answered on Friday, on the circuit where
Dani Pedrosa claimed two victories -2003 in 125cc, 2005 in
250cc-, two second places -2002 in 125cc, 2004 in 250cc-,
and a third position as his best result in MotoGP, last season.
During his first participation on this circuit in MotoGP in
2006, in a accident-filled race flooded in water, Dani eventually
fell. Teammate Nicky Hayden managed his best result in Barcelona
in 2006 -second position-, the year he made the climb to the
title in MotoGP.
For the young riders in the Repsol KTM 125cc and 250cc teams,
a fresh start after the poor results achieved in Italy. The
youngest two, Esteve Rabat and Marc Márquez, will race
very close to home this weekend, and will have the added incentive
of having their family and fans very close to them. Julián
Simón will also have the support of his fans at the
Catalonian track, and that will hopefully be the extra support
necessary to overcome his physical problems and those he has
with the KTM, in order to achieve that result which has been
eluding him up until now.
Quotes
MotoGP
Dani Pedrosa >>
“This is a great weekend because I am riding in front
of my home crowd, near where I grew up, and I really feel
and appreciate the fans’ support. The atmosphere is
always very special at Montmeló, with a big and enthusiastic
crowd throughout the weekend. I will do everything I can to
offer them a good race.
I really like some parts of the track, especially from the
left-hander after Repsol, down the hill from there, into that
little left-right chicane and then uphill towards the next
right. The surface is quite bumpy, probably due Formula 1
cars, racing trucks and so on. The start-finish straight is
very long, so you need a fast bike for this track. It is also
important to keep the tyres in good condition, because the
surface is very abrasive, so you need a nice, fluid riding
style. As for the new engine, we will see. It’s not
easy to set up a new engine during a race weekend, so we need
to wait a bit before making the final decision.”
Nicky Hayden >>
“I quite like the track, if I had to play a videogame
it might not be the first I’d choose but it would be
somewhere near the top. There are a lot of corners where you’re
on the side of the tyres for a long time so edge grip is really
important, especially on the right side. It’s also important
to have a bike that steers good and finishes the corner.
The electronics can come in quite handy, it’s a place
where you can really use them to help the rear tyre. The last
two corners are probably my favourites, they’re really
important, you start dropping down that hill and you need
to carry some momentum onto the main straightaway. And qualifying
is really important because the first chicane is tight so
we’ll be looking to get in a good qualifying lap to
give us a good grid position. Anytime we race in Spain you
can expect it to be a bit of a party, which makes it a good
weekend. The pneumatic engine is interesting, because for
me the 2008 chassis works better with that engine, so hopefully
it can be more than just a good engine for us. But we’ve
got to check all the data before we make the decision.”
250cc
Julián Simón >>
“This is a special Grand Prix, at home, and our fans
will be supporting us to the full. I'm going to do my best
to finish in a good position.
The Catalunya Circuit is similar to Mugello, and you need
a lot of power, which I think will benefit the Aprilia's,
so we'll have to work an awful lot, use the positive data
from Italy, and starting on Friday we'll work on the best
possible setup. We'll try to do better than in Mugello, in
order to get a correct setup from day one.”
125cc
Esteve Rabat >>
“We're racing on a circuit at home, on my favourite
circuit and where I adapt the best, because I'm very familiar
with it.
I'm really looking forward to it, because I'm a bit disappointed
with how things went in Mugello, and I want to get through
this bad patch because I'm not in the World Championship to
finish with such poor results. I hope to do well, and will
give it my best.”
Marc Márquez >>
“Now we have a Grand Prix at home, and it's one of the
circuits I know best. I think we can do quite well, because
it's a circuit where I've done a good few kilometres, we're
racing in front of our fans, and that's always motivating.
I have a clear image of the circuit, because I've been there
a few times, but we'll try to make progress throughout the
weekend, like up until now. It's a circuit which has a bit
of everything, both fast and slow bends. When we get there
we'll see how I get used to the new bike and riding on the
circuit with it. I hope I feel comfortable and can have a
good weekend.”
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