British Grand Prix - Preview
ROSSI AND LORENZO REUNITE FOR BRITISH CHALLENGE
After a rain-hit Mediterranean jaunt through Italy and Spain
the Fiat Yamaha Team start a Northern-European triple-header
this weekend, hoping that the British Grand Prix can be the
unlikely purveyor of summer to the MotoGP World Championship
paddock. Despite dry races at Mugello and Barcelona, mixed
conditions during practice certainly haven’t helped
with machine set-up and were a contributing factor to a series
of crashes for Jorge Lorenzo that ultimately led to him missing
the last race in Catalunya.
Thankfully Lorenzo is fit to return for a crucial run of
three races in four weekends in England, Holland and Germany,
followed immediately by his first ever race in the USA. The
youngster has benefited from a week of complete rest since
being ruled out of his home race with concussion, although
he will ride at Donington Park through the discomfort of a
fresh skin graft to the fourth and fifth fingers of his right
hand. He will wear a special silk glove underneath a larger
racing glove this weekend and will require treatment after
each practice session. This weekend the Mallorcan and his
crew will be focusing on recovery and regaining confidence,
rather than results, although Lorenzo has had success at the
Leicestershire circuit in the past, having won from pole position
in the 250cc class in 2006.
His team-mate Valentino Rossi is the most successful Grand
Prix rider ever at Donington, having won there on no fewer
than seven occasions in all classes - including his first
ever 500cc win back in 2000. This year the 29-year-old arrives
on top form, on top of the World Championship and expecting
the usual fanatical level of home support despite recently
moving from London back to his native Italy. Rossi lived in
the English capital from 1999 to last year and built up an
army of local fans, but hasn’t had the opportunity to
celebrate with them since 2005 – a situation he will
aim to remedy on Sunday as he defends a seven-point series
lead from Dani Pedrosa.
Donington Park sits inside an amphitheatre style setting,
with the spectators banked on the grass verges that surround
the track. The prevalent off-camber nature of the circuit
is one of the main factors at play, with a large tendency
for the front tyre to push, making the right, left, right
flick down the Craner Curve a critical but rewarding section
of track. The stop-and-go nature of the final section, which
features three hard braking zones, means the bike also has
to be good under braking and makes set-up a quest for compromise
between agility and stability.
Valentino Rossi
“A FANTASTIC TRACK”
“Without doubt, Donington is one of my favourite race
tracks in the world and I have some fantastic memories of
it, including of course my first 500cc win in 2000, when I
had a fantastic battle with Jeremy McWilliams and Kenny Roberts.
It’s a track that has everything; it’s fast and
flowing but also technical, although like most people I’m
not so keen on the last section! Racing in the UK is also
very special for me because for a long time I lived there
and, even though now I live in Italy again, I would still
like to think of it as a second home and I hope the fans will
give me as much support as they always do. I was very disappointed
to miss the podium last year because the Donington podium
is something special, so I will be aiming to get back on it
this year!”
Jorge Lorenzo
“STARTING FROM SCRATCH”
“It has been a tough couple of weeks for me and watching
the Barcelona race from my hospital bed wasn’t much
fun so I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike,
although I think I have to ride a little more cautiously this
weekend! It is like starting again from scratch so I have
to change my approach. What I can say about Donington is that
I have got great memories from there – I took 250cc
victory in 2006 and last year I was riding really well in
the wet. It is a fast circuit, other than the final section,
and it will be interesting to ride there on a MotoGP bike
for the first time.”
Davide Brivio
“A FOUR-WAY FIGHT”
”We have a lot of great memories of Donington Park and
it is traditionally a good track for Valentino so we’re
looking forward to this weekend. We arrive there leading the
championship but Pedrosa is very close behind us so it is
going to be a close and exciting battle. As far as the points
situation is concerned Dani is looking like the most dangerous
rival right now but Lorenzo and Stoner are still in the fight.
Stoner is in fourth place but only 50 points behind and over
eleven races that is not an impossible gap, so our target
is to keep finishing on the podium. We also want to improve
and when you look at Barcelona you can see we need to do this
at the start of the race. On Friday and Saturday we didn’t
find the best setting for the bike, which restricted our qualifying
position, and even though the team did a good job overnight
we suffered for it in the race. However, we gathered a lot
of information at the test and tried out some solutions with
the qualifying tyre so hopefully this can help us be even
more competitive at Donington.”
Daniele Romagnoli
"NO PRESSURE"
“This weekend we will concentrate on Jorge’s
recovery and not his results. For us the British Grand Prix
is about Jorge getting back on the bike and getting a good
feeling for it again. We want to make set-up work as easy
as possible for him, not make too many changes and just let
him get back into the swing of riding. There was never any
pressure on Jorge but it is important we stress that now and
let him get through a couple of weekends without any problems.
Donington is quite a physical track, especially in the second
half where there are lots of hard braking areas, so we will
have to wait and see how much strength he has in his hand
and how much that affects him. Doctor Mir says he is okay
to ride but we know he won’t be at 100%, so our greatest
wish is to see him there soon. Unfortunately crashing is a
part of this game. Jorge started the season well – more
than well – but in any season you have to go through
bad moments too. I am confident he will come back even stronger
and I can promise everybody that will happen very soon.”
Valentino Rossi : Information
Age: 29
Lives: Tavullia, Italy
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 91 (65 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc)
First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)
GP starts: 199 (139 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 50
World Championships: 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1
x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP)
Jorge Lorenzo: Information
Age: 21
Lives: London, UK
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 22 (1 x MotoGP, 17 x 250cc, 4 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Brazil, 2003 (125cc)
First GP: Jerez, Spain, 2002 (125cc)
GP starts: 100 (6 x MotoGP, 48 x 250cc, 46 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 29 (3 x MotoGP, 23 x 250cc, 3 x 125cc)
World Championships: 2 x 250cc
Donington Park: Record Lap
D. Pedrosa (Honda) 2006, 1'28.714
Donington Park: Best Lap
D. Pedrosa (Honda) 2006, 1'27.676
Grand Prix Results: Donington Park 2007
1. C.Stoner (Ducati) 51'40.739
2. C.Edwards (Yamaha) +11.768
3. C.Vermeulen (Suzuki) +15.678
4. V. Rossi (ITA) Yamaha +21.827
Jorge Lorenzo Result: Donington Park 2007
. J. Lorenzo (SPA) Aprilia NF (250cc)
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