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Fiat Yamaha Team ready for welcome Misano return |
Fiat Yamaha Team ready for welcome Misano return
Misano
The Fiat Yamaha Team make the short trip from their Milan base to
the Adriatic coast this weekend for their second 'home' race of the
season as the MotoGP World Championship returns to Misano following
a fourteen-year hiatus. The late summer trip to the lively party
resort will be anything but a holiday for Valentino Rossi and Colin
Edwards, however, as they look to overhaul a disappointing run of
results and put up a competitive resistance over the final stage of
the season.
For Rossi, in particular, this is a crucial opportunity to close the gap
on series
leader Casey Stoner after conceding 39 points to the Australian over the
past
three races. The Italian has not appeared on the podium during that time
but he
has yet to go four races without a top three finish since his rookie
season in
2000 and he certainly will not be short of support in his quest to
maintain that
record. Thousands of fans are planning to make the 15km pilgrimage from
his
hometown of Tavullia to the Misano circuit on foot on Saturday morning
and fill
the stadium-style banking that surrounds the circuit with his famous
yellow
colours.
Whilst this will be Rossi's first competitive race at the renowned
Italian
circuit, his team-mate Colin Edwards has plenty of experience there
thanks to his
days in the World Superbike Championship, when he finished on the podium
on four
occasions. However, the track knowledge he gained during that time will
be of
little use this weekend, with the circuit now running in the opposite
direction.
In order for the riders to get used to the new layout, they will be
given an extra
hour of free practice on Friday afternoon and each rider's tyre
allowance has been
increased by one front and two rears - taking the total allocation to 15
and 19
respectively.
Valentino Rossi - "We will do our best"
Valentino Rossi's unusual podium dry spell since his victory at Assen two
months
ago has left him 60 points adrift of Stoner at the top of the
championship, with
just six rounds remaining to haul himself back into contention. The
multi-World
Champion has made a habit of defying the odds throughout his glittering
career but
is well aware of the challenge ahead and is simply looking forward to
performing
for his home fans this weekend.
"It's always very special for me to race in front of my home fans and
Misano is so
close to my home that it should be something amazing!" says Rossi.
"Anyway, we
arrive here not in such great shape, following some disappointing races.
We had
two days of testing in Brno and, although we weren't able to find the
'miracle'
tyres that we were hoping for, we did give a lot of information to
Michelin and
hopefully they will have been able to use this to do some good work
during this
week. We will see where we are on Friday morning.
"About the track, now they've turned it around it's like a new track for
everyone.
Even Colin, who knows it well from Superbikes, is expecting that his
previous
knowledge won't help, so I think it's fair to say that we're all in the
same boat.
As always we will do our best and I sincerely hope that we can give the
Italian
fans something to cheer about!"
Colin Edwards - "Keep the faith!"
Colin Edwards returned home to Texas for a short break after the Brno
tests, which
saw him complete extensive tyre work alongside Michelin's engineers. The
American
also tried some new starting maps but despite his knowledge of the
circuit he
admits it will be an entirely different kind of map that he will need on
Friday
morning!
"I remember the old layout well so I think my mechanics are going to have
to
remind me which way to go round the track!" jokes Edwards. "Of course I
knew the
old track well from my Superbike days and I've had some great races
there, I liked
it a lot. However all that knowledge is pretty much out of the window
now we're
going the other way around so I'm pretty much just viewing it as a new
track. Of
course I know my way around the town well and where to get the best ice
cream, but
I think I just need to forget everything else I remember about it!
"The test at Brno was important to try and get some more data for the
tyres
because the new tyre rules don't you give much opportunity to try new
things
during a Grand Prix. We found a front that I'm pretty happy with and
made some
improvements with the rear so hopefully that will help. We're not
expecting
miracles but we've just got to go step-by-step and keep the faith. I've
been home
for a few days so I'm well rested and looking forward to reacquainting
myself with
Misano!"
Davide Brivio - "A special place"
Fiat Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio is also excited about the
prospect of
racing in Italy for a second time this season and looking forward to the
extra
support and motivation that will bring. However, he says the new engine
that Rossi
and Edwards tested at Brno will not be available to his riders this
weekend and is
looking further ahead for updates to the YZR-M1 machines.
"Mugello is always an important race for us but Misano is something new
and it's a
special place because of the history attached to the circuit," says
Brivio. "It is
a second home for Valentino and I'm sure there will be an incredible
crowd there
for him because it's so close to Tavullia. It is an area where the
passion for
motorcycles is very strong and hopefully a lot of fans will come.
"For us it is a difficult moment to be going there but you can never be
sure what
will happen in racing. We're working hard on our package to try and
improve the
situation for both our riders and racing at Misano is just an extra
motivation for
all of us to do well. The new engine we tested at Brno will now go back
to Japan
for further development and we hope to have it available as soon as
possible after
this weekend."
Valentino Rossi : Information
Age: 28
Lives: London, UK
Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1
GP victories: 87 (61 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc)
First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)
GP starts: 186 (126 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 49
World Championships: 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x
MotoGP)
Colin Edwards: Information
Age: 33
Lives: Conroe, Texas
Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1
First GP: Japón, 2003 (MotoGP)
GP starts: 78 x MotoGP
World Championships: 2 World Superbike
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