Rossi's last hurray in a Yamaha at Misano
2010-09-03 13:14:55 Author: admin Source:
Just less than a week after the 2nd U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis, the Motorcycle Grand Prix championship (MotoGP) crews tackle Misano for round 12 of the premier two-wheel series. It is a 'home' race for Yamaha, as it lies just a few hundred kilometres away their Italian base, and both championship leader Jorge Lorenzo and team-mate Valentino Rossi are 'game-on' as usual with Rossi intending to make this race a last hurray on a Yamaha with his adoring Italian fans.
Lorenzo finished third in Indianapolis, the first time he has been out of the top two all season, and although it was another great result for the Spaniard he was disappointed not to have been able to mount a stronger challenge after winning there the year before. He still leads the championship by a hefty 68-points however and none can argue that he is in the form of his life, with seven wins to his name this season. After finishing second at Misano for the past two sasons he will be one of the favorites to top the podium on Sunday and will be going all-out to take a first premier class win on Italian soil.
Misano lies just 13km away from Rossi's hometown of Tavullia, where the current MotoGP champ grew up and where he still lives today. The race always brings out the Rossi tifosi in their thousands and this year will be no different as they will their idol on to take a first win since the opening race of the year. Indianapolis was tough for Rossi, who is still suffering the effects of his injury earlier in the season, but the fact that he has won in Misano for the previous two years will give him confidence and he will be aiming for the top come Sunday.
Dani Pedrosa goes into this weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix aiming to maintain his momentum following his 3rd victory of the season at Indy last weekend. The victory also strengthened Pedrosa’s second place in the championship and moved him nine points closer to series leader Lorenzo who finished the race in third place behind Ben Spies. Of course, the title is still a very long shot for Pedrosa, who now sits 68 points behind Lorenzo with 5 races remaining.
Pedrosa, who finished last year’s San Marino Grand Prix in third place, has high hopes of another good result at Misano and will be working closely with his crew to continue improving his bike. Team-mate Andrea Dovizioso regained third place in the championship at Indy despite an altogether tougher race day. The Italian was confident of a strong ride after qualifying a close fourth fastest, but in the race he struggled to maintain his pace and finished in fifth place. Dovizioso will be doing everything he can to regroup and score his fifth podium of the year at his home GP track.
Satellite teams' riders Randy de Puniet, Marco Melandri (above left), Marco Simoncelli and Hiroshi Aoyama all endured a tough Indy race last time out. All four riders have their own agenda for Misano. De Puniet, who has recovered from a serious injury, knows that he is still building both strength and speed, and will expect Misano to be another challenging weekend.
Team-mates Marco Simoncelli and Marco Melandri will be hoping to score their squad’s best result of the year at their local track, less than an hour’s drive away from the team headquarters in Faenza. Melandri will also be anxious to show his speed this weekend in what will be his 201st Grand Prix.
Ducati MotoGP team return home this weekend looking to put on a good show for the local crowd at Misano and make up for a disappointing race last year, which Casey Stoner missed through illness whilst Nicky Hayden was taken out by another rider in the first turn. Both riders have shown their pace around the Italian circuit previously, however, Stoner having won in 2007 and leading the 2008 race before crashing, and Hayden finding a good set-up and pace for his Ducati in practice last year.
As always the Ducatisti will be out in force to support them from the Ducati grandstand, which is located in the “Variante Parco”, the first turn after the start-finish straight. Ducati MotoGP team has also announced a contract extension to secure Hayden as a rider for the next two years.
Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi will also be one of the home riders in Misano and the veteran will be looking to continue with the good run of form that has seen him score two top-five finishes in the past three seasons. Capirossi is still in search of his 100th podium and would like nothing better than to secure that in front of his home crowd.
Rookie Álvaro Bautista will be heading to the Misano circuit for the first time in the MotoGP class. The Spaniard is going there on the back of an impressive ride last time out at Indianapolis that saw him secure eighth place. Bautista has won at the Misano circuit in 2008 onboard a 250cc machine and followed that with a third place last year in the quarter litre class.
