Repsol Honda trio refreshed and ready

After a one-week break following two very demanding races in Indianapolis and Misano, the Repsol Honda riders are ready to enjoy one of the most impressive facilities on the MotoGP calendar. In 2010, Motorland was rewarded with the IRTA Best Grand Prix of the Year Award - the first time a circuit has received the prize in its debut year.

Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso and Casey Stoner head into the decisive stage of the Championship very determined and Aragón is a place to shine. Stoner, who is currently leading the Championship, won there last season and will look to repeat his outstanding performances to further increase his gap over Jorge Lorenzo.

Dani Pedrosa, who missed his home race in Catalunya due to injury, wants to enjoy this third race of the year in Spain together with his fans and will also be chasing victory after his second place in 2010. With five races to go the Spaniard currently lies in fourth position, 35 points behind team-mate Andrea Dovizioso who will be looking to return on the podium after two fifth places in the last two races.

The records set in 2010 by Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa will be the reference in Motorland. Stoner set the pole position with a lap time of 1'48.942 and Pedrosa established the fastest lap in the race with 1'49.521.

Casey Stoner:

"I've managed to rest since the hard race in Misano, where I was totally worn out. The hectic schedule we follow had drained me completely and I had no energy, nothing left to give, so I've enjoyed relaxing this past week and getting back to some training. The Aragón track is ok, it's not one of my favourite circuits, I feel it could be a little faster. We ran well there last year, mainly due to the fact we took a big step in the set up on the bike. This year we arrive there with a totally different bike so we have a lot of things to learn in FP1, getting the gearbox set up right and a few other things in general. It will be interesting to go there on the Honda, Dani was competitive there last year and I think we can work well there also, and expect a good result. We'll get there and see what we can do.”

Andrea Dovizioso:

“We arrive in Aragón third in the Championship looking to close the gap to Lorenzo in second, but also needing to defend from Dani in fourth. I like Motorland Aragón, the circuit is very nice and it’s fun to ride. The key characteristic is the downhill braking areas and it has some similarities to the Istanbul circuit with interesting corners and changes of direction. It’s not so fast but all in all I like to race there. Last year it was a new track so I think that with one year of experience we can be even more competitive. Last year I crashed on the very last lap while I was fighting with Ben Spies for fifth position, this year we arrive confident that we can have a strong race.”

Dani Pedrosa:

"I have very good memories of the Grand Prix of Aragón, last year we started well and we had a good race. I'm satisfied with our performance in the past few weeks and I feel better every day. This week I've been able to rest and recover some energy and now I'm really looking forward to this race. People from all around Spain attend the Aragón GP and the atmosphere there is incredible. The circuit is spectacular and very technical, it combines fast and slow corners, some of them complicated and blind where you need to find points of reference outside the track. We need to set up the bike very well for this track and make the most of all the practice sessions. The data we have from last year can help us on this and it will be important to start in a good direction but we cannot relax. I'm excited to see the Spanish fans again after missing the Catalunya race and I hope the home support will give me an extra boost so that we can enjoy this race together.”

Repsol Honda press release

Casey Stoner defends Indy criticism

Casey Stoner said he stands by his recent criticism of the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Aussie, who dominated the Indy race last month, has never been a big fan of the circuit, which runs on the infield of the world famous oval course that stages the Indy 500.

The Repsol Honda rider was criticial of the bumpy surface and patchy tarmac in recent years and he joined a chorus of discontent with new asphalt laid for this year’s race.

His dislike for the track has angered some local American media, though Stoner was unrepentant in Misano last weekend.

He said: "Just because of where the road course is doesn't mean it's a great circuit. Just because of the history of the oval doesn't mean that track we are on has got any history. I'm dead honest with my views on the track. If I went there to watch Indycar or Nascar it would probably unbelievable but to watch a MotoGP race, even the fans can say there are better tracks to watch and that produce better racing.

"They can slam me all they want but there are better tracks around the world and the history of that oval has got nothing to do what we race on. The corners get tighter and tighter until you are almost stopped and then you have to get on the gas and exit.  It doesn't flow at all, each set of corners it muddles you up and then you go a little straight.

"I think even Formula One wouldn't enjoy that track with all the slow corners. They have to get downforce to make those cars feel normal and those corners are that slow for us, so they must be ridiculously slow for F1 cars. I think the Formula One opinion would be similar to ours.  It is not just me, I'm just the only one who has voiced my opinion."

Indianapolis will remain on the calendar until the end of 2014 at least after it was confirmed that the circuit had agreed a new three-year deal with Dorna last weekend.

source: MCN

Eleventh double podium of the season for Repsol Honda

The three Repsol Honda riders battled hard during the 28 lap race in incredibly hot and humid conditions. Jorge Lorenzo took an early lead from the front row with Stoner and Pedrosa following closely behind. The Australian rider maintained the gap to Lorenzo at under three tenths of a second for the first ten laps, but then fatigue kicked in and he was unable to match Lorenzo's pace, who gradually pulled away. Stoner tried to keep a distance to third place Pedrosa, but was unable to fend of his Spanish team mate who passed him on lap 22.

Andrea Dovizioso was involved in a close battle for fourth with Simoncelli and Spies. The Italian jumped from sixth to fourth in the first corner off a great start, but was passed by Simoncelli on lap seven. He kept Spies behind him for the entire race and on lap 25 managed to pass Simoncelli to take fourth. But on the final lap, Simoncelli regained fourth place and Dovizioso had to settle for fifth.

The riders will now enjoy a week of rest before heading to Aragon for Round 14 of the MotoGP World Championship on Sunday 18 September.

Dani Pedrosa:

"I'm a little disappointed with the race because the bike didn't feel as good as in practice. We wanted to make a change to the suspension to improve it but we had the opposite effect, sometimes it happens. From the first lap, I realised I couldn't keep up with Jorge and Casey, at the beginning the bike was closing the front and then it was sliding in the rear. The second part of the race was good, Jorge had a perfect race today, but I was able improve my times lap by lap and catch Casey. I overtook him and had another second place in two weeks, which is not so bad. We've been lucky today as it was cooler than yesterday the rain didn't come. It's been two demanding races in a row and this one in particular was the toughest of the season so far - the circuit is challenging with so many hard braking areas and it's been very hot again, also after Indy it's been difficult to recover from the jet lag. Let's hope we can get some rest and be stronger for Aragon."

Casey Stoner:

"At the beginning of the race I was cautious as there were a few spots of rain, once this cleared up I was pretty comfortable behind Jorge, I didn't feel the need to push and then tiredness suddenly hit me. It was hard to find the braking points and change direction on the bike, there was nothing wrong with the tyres, nothing wrong with the bike, the team did a great job and gave me a fantastic package, I'm just worn out. I had to put in a lot more effort into Laguna and Brno, riding a lot harder than I normally would. This together with the neck injury from Assen has finally caught up with me. For the second half of the race I was just too tired, simple as that, I'm very grateful to have finished on the podium. All credit to Jorge, he had a fantastic race, hopefully by Aragon I'll be fully fit and recovered."

Andrea Dovizioso: 

“It was a tough race, I had to push hard and ride aggressively and we had to cut the power a lot due to fuel consumption issues. We suffered from this during the whole race weekend, but after the warm up I received the bad news that we had to cut even more power. This hasn't been such a big issue this year and in fact it's never been the case that I can't match Simoncelli in acceleration. This is due to riding style and set up of the electronics, especially engine braking. I knew that with this cut in power it would have been impossible to fight for the podium, so this affected my motivation. We had a good battle with Marco and Spies; for the first time this season Marco beat me so congratulations to him. Our target was to gain some points on Lorenzo and we didn’t manage it. We are still third in the Championship; we are confident and will continue working.”

Repsol Honda press release.

Lorenzo returns to victory in San Marino

It was Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner who looked like he would take the lead in turn one, but defending World Champion Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) fought back and moved to the front in the first corner, holding onto the lead position until crossing the finish line to take his third win of 2011 and reducing the gap to Stoner in the Championship lead to 35 points.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) was third off the start, a deviation from his usual hole shot into the first corner, the Spaniard gradually gaining ground on his team mate until he over took the Australian on lap 22, to cross the line second. In an unusual bout of fatigue, Championship leader Stoner was unable to retaliate and finished the race in third.

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) fell back to seventh on the start, then made his way back through the pack up to fourth, where he then engaged in a tussle with his rival Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), emerging ahead of his fellow countryman on the last lap to take fourth. Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing), whose poor start saw the American drop to seventh on the second lap, caught the dueling Italians and looked capable and prepared to make the pass into fourth, but instead got baulked in the final corner to finish sixth behind Dovizioso.

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) had a terrific start from his 11th place on the grid, moving up into fifth by lap two, until Simoncelli got ahead of him on lap four and Spies passed him on lap 15. The seven time premier class Champion completed the race in seventh, ahead of Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) who fulfilled his fourth top ten finish of the season.

Mapfre Aspar rider Héctor Barberá achieved his sixth top ten finish of the season with ninth place, ahead of Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), who ended his challenging weekend the final finisher in the top ten, just over two seconds in front of Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini).

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) crashed out of the race on lap three, while Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing) retired to the pits early in the race with tire problems.

source: MotoGP official website

The reigning World Champion had continued to benefit from the hard work of his crew in the final morning free practice, holding second for most of the session to finally finish third just 0.323 from first. Lorenzo dominated the afternoon’s qualifying session, starting as the fastest rider from the outset before dropping to second with a gap of 0.578 to pole with 11 minutes to go. An extra burst of speed saw him drop the gap to a mere 0.120 seconds behind Casey Stoner on pole. Ben Spies had a more challenging qualifying than his team mate today, spending the final free practice and subsequent qualifying working to improve rear grip levels on his YZR-M1. A last minute effort saw him deliver a fourth place grid start just off the front row, 0.809 from pole. The team will now work overnight to find an improvement for warm up to provide the best possible set up for the race. Jorge Lorenzo: "Today has been a good day for us. We wanted pole position but the first row is a good start for tomorrow. We have tried some things today and in QP we could almost always be in front. The bike is very good after all the great work of my crew and we have a fast pace. I think we can be competitive tomorrow and try to finish in front of Casey so that's our aim. The weather conditions are being very tough this weekend, it might even rain tomorrow. The race will be very difficult in all aspects." Ben Spies: “It was honestly a lot tougher than expected this afternoon. I wasn’t really happy with it We’re trying a lot of stuff with the bike and I don’t feel all that bad riding wise, we just don’t have the right setting yet and we’re not comfortable at a few spots on the track. Some are really good, some are really bad. We had to ride way over the limit to be where we were today. I’m glad we got it done and got on the second row but I’m not happy about how many risks I had to take to get there. The bike’s there, we can see it, Jorge’s going fast and I feel good, we just have to get my setting comfortable. We’ve got all night to work on it and see what we can do for tomorrow. “ Yamaha Factory Racing press release

It was a very hot qualifying session with air temperatures reaching 29 degrees and a track temperature of 39 degrees. Stoner spent the early part of the session working on set up for the hard tyre, when he switched to the soft tyre he was able to record the fastest lap seen at Misano with a 1'33.138 on lap 18.

Dani Pedrosa also spent most of the session working on tyre set up, the Spaniard will be hoping for a strong start and will try to match the race pace of Casey and Jorge ahead of him. Andrea Dovizioso, who made some steps forward in qualifying is happy to start from the second row and will be aiming for another podium finish in front of his home crowd.

All three Repsol Honda riders compared the performance of the soft and hard compound Bridgestone tyres. As was the case in Indianapolis, this will be a key point for completing the 28 lap race.

Casey Stoner:

"It's been a pretty good weekend for us here, steadily improving the bike each session. We struggled a little with the hard tyre this afternoon, trying to find the correct balance but then we made an improvement and got the bike feeling better. Then when we put the soft tyres on, we got a great lap in but the bike wasn't working too well in the front, which is something we need to improve for tomorrow. It will be a tough race, Dani and Jorge are both running very well so I'll try to get a good start but there are a few more overtaking opportunities here at Misano, it's not a track with only one line. The weekend on a whole is going well, tomorrow we'll have to decide on tyres depending on what the weather is doing, hopefully it will cool down a little which would be nice!"

Dani Pedrosa:

"I'm happy with the qualifying session, I spent most of the time working on the tyres, swapping from the soft to the medium compound, trying to find the right one for tomorrow; normally before the qualifying session you have almost decided, but here it's been more difficult because of the weather and track conditions. We were working on that a lot this afternoon and in the last couple of laps I was pushing to be on the front row. We've made it, which is very important here because the first corners are very tight, and the times between the three of us are very close, so that's positive. For race pace, Casey and Jorge are still slightly faster than me, but we will look for something more on the settings tonight and try to be with them tomorrow for whole race."

Andrea Dovizioso: 

“This morning we worked on the set up, reducing the issue of the pitching we had yesterday. This afternoon we improved the rhythm with the hard tyre in preparation for the race. Our target was to start from the first two rows, so the final result is not too bad. Tomorrow it will crucial to make a good start and try to stay with the front riders. Casey and Lorenzo are really strong and Dani is very fast off the start so it will be important to stay with them if we want to gain some points on Lorenzo and control Dani. We will continue working but the good point is that we are more competitive in the race pace than in using the soft compound for the qualifying. With these high temperatures and humidity the race will be really tough tomorrow. I hope that the Italian spectators will give me an extra boost.”

Repsol Honda press release.

Stoner regains the lead in Misano qualifying

Casey Stoner set out into the afternoon qualifying session intent on taking pole position for the San Marino race on Sunday, and not only achieved his goal but broke his own lap record set in 2008 with a lap time of 1’33.138.

Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo made a late push for the pole after leading the majority of the session, but missed out on the top spot by 0.120s to take second beside Championship leader Stoner. Last year’s pole man and race winner Dani Pedrosa’s time of 1’33.318 gave him the final spot on the front row.

Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing), who started from fifth last year and finished the race sixth, will start his Yamaha YZR-M1 at the head of the second row after posting a time of 1’33.947. The American is joined by Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), whose time of 1'33.990 landed him fifth, while Andrea Dovizioso of Repsol Honda takes the sixth spot on the end of row two.

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) heads the third row, with Álvaro Bautista,whose eighth place start is his best yet of the season, joining American. Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar ) who finished ninth and was the first non-factory Ducati last year in the MotoGP race at Misano, qualified ninth to complete row three.

Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) completed the top ten riders, while Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) follows in 11th, 1.538s off the pole position time set by Stoner.

Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) had a crash when pushing hard at the end of the qualifying session, ending up 13th on the grid just behind Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing), while Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) had a crash early in the qualifying practice, falling just after posting the sixth fastest time. The French rider ended the session in 14th place, ahead of ahead of Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) in 15th.

source: MotoGP official website

Stoner steps it up in FP3

In slightly cooler weather than the day before, the premier class set out in the final practice outing before afternoon qualifying, with Casey Stoner leading the way with a best time of 1’33.567, the fastest lap of the weekend. The Australian improved his time by close to a second with his quickest time set on his fourth lap, and was 0.099s ahead of team mate Dani Pedrosa, who bettered his time by over half a second from the previous day.

The Yamaha Factory Racing team had smaller improvements, with Lorenzo bettering his previous time by less than a tenth, posting a time of 1’33.890 on lap eight of 22, while Ben Spies improved by slightly less than two tenths, placing him fourth in the field.

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) made big strides jumping from tenth to fifth in the field, posting a time of 1’34.321, over one second faster than his best lap of Friday. The American was 0.099s ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) who improved by five tenths, while Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) stepped it up two tenths with a time of 1’34.60 to place him seventh.

Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar ) was the first Ducati in the times and eighth fastest of the field, while Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) moved from 15th to ninth in the times, ahead of Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) in tenth, whose small morning improvements to his Desmosedici GP11.1 moved him up from 13th in the timings.

source: MotoGP Official Website

Repsol Honda Team on fire in hot Misano

Casey Stoner, the current MotoGP World Championship leader, and Dani Pedrosa, the winner here last year, immediately got down to business in Misano and finished the first day of free practices in second and third positions respectively, while Andrea Dovizioso recorded the sixth fastest time on his return to his home GP.

Both Stoner and Pedrosa lapped under the circuit record (1'34.340 set by Pedrosa in 2010), Stoner achieved this in FP1 with a 1'34.005 lap, and Pedrosa in FP2 with a time of 1'34.205. Dovizioso will work with his team and analyse the data from both sessions to understand where he is losing valuable time.

All three Repsol Honda riders compared the performance of the soft and hard compound Bridgestone tyres. As was the case in Indianapolis, this will be a key point for completing the 28 lap race.

Casey Stoner:

"We made a pretty good step this morning, everything felt pretty good and the bike was working well. We tried a few things this afternoon, but had a slight problem with some air in the brake line which cost us some time. Then we did race distance on the soft tyre and got some good data from that, we're doing some reasonably competitive times but not good enough yet, we'll go away tonight and work in preparation for tomorrow. We still need to get the bike feeling a little more comfortable in the middle of the corner and on the exit, with traction as well as turning. If we can improve these areas then I'm confident we can also improve the lap time quite a lot."

Dani Pedrosa:

"We had a good start in the morning, I felt quite comfortable from the beginning, but in the afternoon we didn't improve as much as I would have liked. When Bautista's engine blew in front of me I thought the track would become dirty, so I did some slow laps to check and I lost some time and rhythm. We have to keep working with the suspension to get better traction and stability under hard braking, so we will focus on this tomorrow. I tried both tyre compounds, the hard one only this afternoon, and we still don't know which one will be better for the race."

Andrea Dovizioso: 

“Today we worked on the general set up of the bike and in the afternoon we made some changes to the rear setting but we didn’t achieve the results we wanted. We need to continue working on the set up to reduce the pitching in the front and the rear. This is a slow track but with many hard braking areas and strong acceleration so we will analyse the data to understand the most critical areas where I am losing time. It was very hot today but the track conditions were ok. We rode with both soft and hard tyres and I felt good on the bike, so now the first thing to do is to study the data and evaluate the best direction to follow in preparation of the qualifying and race. I’m confident that we can recover the gap from the front riders.”

Repsol Honda press release.

Lorenzo leads day one in Misano

The hot and humid weather on the Adriatic coast produced rain drops in the final minutes of the session, but it held off long enough for all but one in the MotoGP field to better their times from the morning session. Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) topped the field with a 1’33.929 on lap ten of 22, bettering his time from the first practice outing by 1.213 seconds and the only rider to break below the 1’34 mark.

Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) made a run for the front with his best lap of 1’34.005, just missing the top spot by 0.076s to rank second for the day. The Australian out paced team mate and last year’s dominating man at Misano, Dani Pedrosa, by 0.200s .

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) improved his time by over half a second, posting a 1’34.444 to place him fourth in the combined times for the day. Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) was the only rider unable to improve his time from the morning session, posting a time one thousandth of a second slower in the afternoon meet, placing him fifth in the session and remaining fifth of the day.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) took the sixth spot with a time of 1'34.989, improving his earlier time by 0.153s, ahead of Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista who suffered engine problems at the start of the session, but switched bikes and posted a time of 1'35.023 which was half a second quicker than his FP1 time.

Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar ) posted the eighth quickest time with a 1'35.111, 3 tenths better than his morning lap, while Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) ranked ninth of the day with a 1'35.282 lap time on his penultimate lap, an improvement of eight tenths.

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) took the tenth spot of the day in the timings, Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) in 11th with a time of 1’35.331, 0.087s ahead of Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing).

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) was 13th, followed by Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing), Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing) and Toni Elías (LCR Honda).

source: MotoGP Official website

Stoner leads San Marino proceedings

Championship leader Stoner topped the first free practice of the weekend, with full sun and climbing temperatures indicative of what the rest of the 13th round of the MotoGP Championship season will bring.

Last year’s race winner Dani Pedrosa led much of the opening free practice session at the Misano World Circuit, with Yamaha Factory’s Ben Spies occupying the top spot after laying down a time of 1’34.466 in the final minutes. But it was the Australian who outpaced them all with a time of 1’34.180 on his final lap of the session, 0.286s quicker than the American and 0.349s ahead of Pedrosa’s best lap.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) stepped into fourth in the line up with a time of 1’35.011, ahead of San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli who posted a best lap of 1'35.088 at his home track.

Three Spaniards followed the top five, with defending title holder Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) sixth quickest lap, followed by Mapfre Aspar rider Héctor Barberá and Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki).

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was ninth in the timings and MotoGP rookie Karel Abraham (Cardion ab Motoracing) had a good showing, posting the tenth fastest lap of the session. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) followed in 11th while his team mate Nicky Hayden was 13th.

source: MotoGP Official Website

Lawson next on Stoner win list

Casey Stoner's victory in last Sunday's Indianapolis Grand Prix was the 30th time he has stood on the top step of the podium in the MotoGP class. 

That is just one less premier-class win than Eddie Lawson, who is fifth in the all-time premier-class win list, shown in the table below. 

The number of premier-class world titles won by each rider is shown in brackets. All five riders above Stoner, who leads the 2011 standings by 44 points, have won at least four 500cc/MotoGP titles.

Stoner has 37 victories across all three grand prix classes, which is the same number as rivals Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa.

Riders with most wins in 500cc/MotoGP:

79 wins - Valentino Rossi (7 500cc/MotoGP titles)

68 wins - Giacomo Agostini (8)

54 wins - Mick Doohan (5)

37 wins - Mike Hailwood (4)

31 wins - Eddie Lawson (4)

30 wins - Casey Stoner (1)

25 wins - Kevin Schwantz (1)

24 wins - Wayne Rainey (3)

22 wins - Geoff Duke (4), Kenny Roberts (3), 9 John Surtees (4)

Misano poised for action following press conference

Casey Stoner arrives at this weekend’s Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini at Misano guarding a healthy 44-point lead in the Championship, with six rounds remaining in the 2011 campaign.

The Repsol Honda rider will be going for a fourth consecutive win this weekend having taken victory at Laguna Seca, Brno and most recently Indianapolis and despite his advantage at the top of the standings is taking nothing for granted.

“So far things are going well but we’ve had a fair lead taken down a bit in the Championship before, and we had to grow it back again,” said Stoner, who was joined by Dani Pedrosa, Ben Spies, Valentino Rossi and Loris Capirossi in the pre-event press conference. “There are still quite a few races to go and we need to make sure we stay as competitive as we can.”

He continued: “I hope to be able to fight for the win here and if not minimise the damage to the points. I think it’ll be another hot weekend here, and we’ll have to see how the track conditions and the tyres are.”

Stoner’s team-mate Pedrosa made it a Repsol Honda one-two at Indianapolis and the Spaniard, who won here last year, is targeting a better lead into the race having started from the second row last weekend.

“I hope here we can have a better qualifying,” said Pedrosa. “Of course if it’s warm again it’ll be harder, also with the jetlag, but it’s the same for everybody and hopefully we are fit enough to perform at our best.”

Pedrosa is also aiming for a strong final run in the campaign as it enters its final third: “In the Championship I’m really far down but I hope I can have some good races before the end of the season. I hope I can get some wins and podiums and have a good end.”

This weekend will see plenty of focus fall on Rossi with the Misano circuit so close to the Italian’s hometown. It will also have the added significance of the nine-time World Champion racing for the first time here on the Ducati.

“For me, Ducati and the fans this is important,” he said. “A lot of people will try to fight with us, but unfortunately this year we’ve been unable to give the right results. We have to try, not just for us but all the people here. It’s a difficult season and we come from a bad race last week, but we’ll have great support from the fans.”

Spies comes into Round 13 full of confidence after his podium finish in his home race where, despite a mistake on the opening lap which cost him many positions, he managed to finish third having run a good race pace.

“This is a track I like and it’s a special atmosphere,” said the Yamaha Factory Racing rider. “It was a good race for us in Indy, I made a mistake at the start but we had good speed and it’s a confidence booster. I just need to take that to this weekend and have fun again. Hopefully we have the same feeling with the bike as we did at Indy and we can challenge at the front throughout the weekend.”

Last to speak was Capirossi who announced that after a long and illustrious career in the World Championship, which has delivered three titles, 29 Grand Prix wins and 99 podiums, he will retire at the end of the current campaign.

“It’s difficult for me to say this because after 22 seasons this will be my last race in Italy as I have decided to stop,” said an emotional Capirossi, who received a standing ovation from the media present. “I have thought a lot about stopping and I think this is the right decision for me.”

source: MotoGP official website

Stoner eyeing four-in-a-row at Misano

Casey Stoner will continue in his quest to put the 2011 MotoGP World Championship further from the grasp of Jorge Lorenzo at Misano, the Australian bidding to make it four wins on the trot.

The Repsol Honda rider was in imperious form throughout the Indianapolis Grand Prix weekend as he romped to a third straight victory, while Lorenzo's distant fourth means the gap between them has swelled to 44 points with six grands prix remaining.

With no break between races, Stoner will look to pick up where he left off at Misano, a circuit where he has had mixed results in the past, including a win in 2007, but a retirement in 2008 and a fifth place for Ducati in 2010.

Nonetheless, while Stoner considers Lorenzo and his team-mate Dani Pedrosa to be a significant threat, he is confident he will leave the San Marino race with another strong result.

"I'm looking forward to going to San Marino and seeing how competitive we can be. In 2007 and 2008 we were fast there, then I missed 2009 and last year we struggled a little so we've had a mixed bag of results. It's a nice track, I like the two corners off the end of the back straight, they're a lot of fun and very fast. 

“I know Dani and Jorge will be very fast there, but I'm coming off the back of three wins and in a strong position in the Championship so we'll see what we can do and I'm confident we can get a good result.”

source: crash.net

Repsol Honda head to Misano fresh from victory

Casey Stoner secured his seventh win of the season at Indianapolis with team mates Dani Pedosa and Andrea Dovizioso in 2nd and 5th respectively. Casey, also a winner at Misano in 2007 has qualified on pole twice but will be looking to improve on his 5th place finish last year.

Dani has enjoyed strong results at Misano in the past, progressively improving on each outing, finishing on the podium in the past two years and dominating in 2010 taking victory, pole position and the circuit lap record.

Andrea has narrowly missed out on a podium in San Marino in his past two outings there. He qualified 8th in both 2009 and 2010, and worked hard in the race to claim 4th position both years, he will be aiming for his first podium there this weekend in front of his home crowd.

Casey Stoner:

"I'm looking forward to going to San Marino and seeing how competitive we can be. In 2007 and 2008 we were fast there, then I missed 2009 and last year we struggled a little so we've had a mixed bag of results. It's a nice track, I like the two corners off the end of the back straight, they're a lot of fun and very fast. I know Dani and Jorge will be very fast there, but I'm coming off the back of three wins and in a strong position in the Championship so we'll see what we can do and I'm confident we can get a good result."

Dani Pedrosa:

"After the good race we had at Indy, we arrive at Misano in a very positive mood. The circuit is so different compared to Indy, but last year we had a very good race there and we will try to repeat this. We must be a little stronger on Saturday and prepare for the race the best we can. Misano is a track where you need good acceleration and hard braking, so this will be our priority to start working on with the bike setting. After the success in America, it's good to head directly to Misano. I hope we can continue working well with the team and take another step forward."

Andrea Dovizioso: 

“We arrive in Misano after a disappointing result in Indianapolis but we are determined to turn the page and return on the podium. The conditions in Indianapolis were very demanding but we managed to record our fastest time on the very last lap. This shows that we are fast and therefore we arrive in Misano stronger and with an extra motivation. We are third in the Championship and this is the important point. We will continue fighting and we will give our best every race weekend, because we believe that second position in the World Championship is not impossible. Last year in Misano I finished fourth behind Valentino. This year we want to take the next step and get the podium spot. I’m sure that with the experience gained this year, we can be strong at Misano. I don't live far from Misano and after the podium finish in Mugello I would love to have another good result in front of the Italian crowd."

Repsol Honda press release.

Stoner: no 1000cc at Misano

Casey Stoner completed a perfect weekend today with his victory at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, celebrating Honda's second successive win here at the brickyard and marking Honda's third consecutive win on American shores.

After recording the a new circuit best lap record yesterday whilst claiming pole position for today's race with a 1'38.850 lap, Stoner also achieved a new fastest race lap record of 1'39.807. This is Stoner's seventh win of the season and third consecutive win in a row after Laguna Seca and Brno.

"We got an OK start and I should have been a little more aggressive in the first corner - the Australian said - As I entered turn two, Dani hit the breaks quite hard and I just had nothing, my brakes weren't warmed up yet and I had trouble stopping, I was lucky to get through the first lap. The race was tough, conditions were very hot and the track surface a little more slippery than practice and qualifying which made things difficult to know how much to push. At one point, I closed the front and dropped the bike on my knee, I was pretty much down but managed to pick it back up and not lose too much confidence. From there we started to make our way past Dani, put in a few good lap times and pull an advantage. Under challenging track conditions everything has worked really well this weekend, the crew did a fantastic job and gave me a great bike so a huge thanks to them all!"

Towards the end of the day, Honda also revealed that they will not be testing the 1000cc bike at Misano. Although the most recent test session at Brno went well, they Japanese factory has some small modifications they would like to perform before the bike's next outing.

source: GP One

[Pictures] Podium Indianapolis MotoGP 2011

Stoner storms to seventh victory of the season with Pedrosa second and Dovizioso fifth

After recording the a new circuit best lap record yesterday whilst claiming pole position for today's race with a 1'38.850 lap, Stoner also achieved a new fastest race lap record of 1'39.807. This is Stoner's seventh win of the season and third consecutive win in a row after Laguna Seca and Brno.

Dani Pedrosa rode a great race to finish second behind Stoner. Pedrosa made one of his trademark flying starts and took an early lead in the 26 lap race however, Stoner passed him on lap seven and Pedrosa maintained second position comfortably, fending off the Yamaha's.

Andrea Dovizioso was hoping for a podium here in Indianapolis, but he endured some tough laps early in the race after being blocked by Hayden which knocked him down a few positions. Andrea remained focused and recovered these positions to finish the race in fifth position.

Casey Stoner now leads the Championship with 243 points (a 44 point margin over Lorenzo), with Andrea Dovizioso in 3rd position on 174 points and Dani Pedrosa, 4th position on 130 points.

Casey Stoner:

"We got an OK start and I should have been a little more aggressive in the first corner. As I entered turn two, Dani hit the breaks quite hard and I just had nothing, my brakes weren't warmed up yet and I had trouble stopping, I was lucky to get through the first lap. The race was tough, conditions were very hot and the track surface a little more slippery than practice and qualifying which made things difficult to know how much to push. At one point, I closed the front and dropped the bike on my knee, I was pretty much down but managed to pick it back up and not lose too much confidence. From there we started to make our way past Dani, put in a few good lap times and pull an advantage. Under challenging track conditions everything has worked really well this weekend, the crew did a fantastic job and gave me a great bike so a huge thanks to them all!"

Dani Pedrosa:

"We are very happy with second place today for several reasons. After yesterday's qualifying session, we had to work hard to reduce the one second gap we had from Casey, it wasn't normal to be so far away from him. To finish second after the crash in Brno is a great feeling. I knew that my race pace wouldn't be as fast as Casey's, but the team did a very good job, helped me to feel more comfortable with the front and I was able to find a good rhythm, just 3-4 tenths slower than Casey. It was a tough race being alone, but I focused on my lap times and I made my best lap at the end, so I'm happy with my performance and the bike. To get 20 points is not so bad after the crash in Brno and I look forward to going to Misano next week to try and take another step forward."

Andrea Dovizioso: 

“I can’t be happy with today’s result because our target was the podium and gaining some points on Lorenzo, but we also have to look at the positives and I'm pleased I managed a 1’40.1 lap time, my fastest of the race on my final lap. Considering the demanding conditions of this track and the hot temperatures, this lap time shows that we were fast even at the end. We had a bad start, Nicky (Hayden) blocked me and then Ben (Spies) and I touched in turn four and I lost valuable time. From that moment I tried to remain focused and lap by lap I found the pace that allowed me to recover positions. We knew that the race would be tough and it really was. It was also a strange race, from the beginning we had no rear grip and especially in the first laps I had the feeling that the front was closing a lot. However, I was able to adapt my riding style to the conditions to manage the tyres in the best way and ride consistently. We are competitive and we go to Misano, my home GP very determined and confident of a good result”.

Repsol Honda press release.

Stoner takes seventh Grand Prix win at Indianapolis

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) took the early race lead, until team mate Casey Stoner overtook the Spaniard on lap seven and stretched his lead in front of the pack to remain unchallenged for the remainder of the race. Stoner extends his Championship lead to 44 points ahead of reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) with this win, his first ever podium at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

A bad start for Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) from second on the grid found the Texan down in ninth position, after his poor start was made worse when he and Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) touched heading into turn one, pushing Spies wide. The 25 year old methodically made his way back through the field and into third position by lap sixteen. The pace set by Spies would have been quick enough to fight for second position, though his poor start kept him from catching Pedrosa, who crossed the line second in front of the American.

Lorenzo had seen second position in the early laps, but was overtaken by Stoner and then eventually Spies to finish in fourth position. Dovizioso tussled with Nicky Hayden early in the race for fifth, until the American from the Ducati Team fell back with tire problems, leaving the Italian to chase Lorenzo.

Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) finished a lonely sixth after starting ninth on the grid. The Spaniard crossed the line 9 seconds in front of American Colin Edwards on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine. Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) crossed the line in eighth, giving the French rider his best finish of the season.

Ninth spot went to Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini), who crossed the line a second and a half ahead of Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team). Rossi’s tenth place was of note in that on lap eight the Italian fell back into 17th position with apparent tire troubles. It appeared he would be entering the pits, but kept circulating and made his way back up to finish tenth in front of rookie Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) .

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) had seen as high as third position in the race, until tire trouble for the Italian saw him slowly dropping back, finally finishing in twelfth. Toni Elías (LCR Honda) and Hayden completed the race finishers, with Elias ahead of the American. Hayden had pitted in earlier with troubles and rejoined the session to salvage some points, finishing 14th.

A disappointing end was had for Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar), who crashed out of eighth place in the final corner.

Seventh pole of the season for Stoner, second row for Pedrosa and Dovizioso

Already the fastest man on track in this morning's practice, the Australian showed he was ready to fight for his seventh pole of the season, and was the only rider capable of lapping in the 1'38's in a very tough qualifying session, with an air temperature of 31 degrees and a track temperature of 51.

Dani Pedrosa will start the race from fourth on the grid, just behind Casey, and next to him will be his team mate Andrea Dovizioso, in fifth position. Dani fought for the front row until the last second and narrowly missed it by three tenths. The Spaniard didn't feel at ease with the front tyre this afternoon but remains confident starting from the second row for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix tomorrow, after he won in 2010 from fifth position.

Andrea Dovizioso made another small step forward in the qualifying improving his lap time by 3 tenths from the morning session. With higher temperatures this afternoon, the tyre wear caused issues that Andrea's team will look to improve for the race tomorrow and hope to fight for a podium.

Casey Stoner:

"I'm very happy with pole here in Indy, the team have been doing a great job under difficult conditions this weekend, but we will keep working right up until the last moment to try and get the set up right. Obviously without the bumps the track is a lot better, but the lack of consistency in the grip levels are causing issues, everyone is losing the front and it doesn't give you a lot of confidence, when you hit these patches the bike just seems to drop away from you. We haven't changed too much since FP1, just a few small steps and trying to get the front tyre to work more with such little grip, we are destroying it. For race distance we're looking pretty good, we did more than race distance on soft front and soft rear and had good stability, we'll wait and see what the conditions are like for tomorrow and decide from there."

Dani Pedrosa:

"We had some issues in the session with the front tyre, I didn't feel very comfortable with it and we couldn't get the most from it. I wasn’t going super fast and I missed the first row, but I'm not worried. We would like to be closer to Casey and Ben - they have been very fast and consistent, so I hope to find something more tomorrow morning in the warm up to help us fight for the podium. The race will be hard because it's very hot out there, and it will also be a big challenge for the tyres, but I hope we perform better in the race."

Andrea Dovizioso: 

“Starting from the second row tomorrow isn’t too bad. It will be important to have a good start and ride consistently, trying to manage the tyres for the twenty eight lap race. The rear grip is too strong compared with the front which causes the front tyre to overheat, this remains the main issue so we need to continue working with the set up to rectify this. During qualifying the ground temperature reached fifty one degrees, these conditions are really demanding for the tyres. Concerning the pace, I have good rhythm and even though the gap to Casey remains too big for my liking, I think we can fight with Dani and Lorenzo for a podium position, this is our target and we will continue working to improve the machine for the race."

Repsol Honda press release.

Casey Stoner ahead of the pack Saturday morning

In cooler temperatures and with better grip conditions than the previous day, the premier class set out to lower their times across the board, with Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) the first to dip below the 1’40” barrier at the 20 minute mark. The Texan was followed almost immediately by Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) whose time of 1’39.538 remained the fastest lap of FP3. Spies bettered his earlier time to a 1’39.670 ranking him second behind the Australian for the second time this weekend.

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa was the third and last to enter into the 1’39’s, his time of 1’39.896 set on lap 18 placed him third in the outing, followed by Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) with a 1’40.301 and Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) 0.025s behind Simoncelli in fifth.

Sixth quickest in FP3 with a best time of 1'40.438 was American Colin Edwards on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine, the Texan was one tenth of a second ahead of Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) in seventh and 2 tenths ahead of Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team). Rossi’s time of 1’40.698 set on his last lap gave the Italian the position of first Ducati in the ranking, his team mate Nicky Hayden finished 11th.

Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) ran off the track and was helped out of the gravel and returned to the track, the Spaniard was able to set a time of 1’40.916 on his last lap to place him tenth.