MotoGP Grand Prix of Portugal (Pre-Race)

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MotoGP

Last year’s race-winner at Estoril, Jorge Lorenzo showed his strengths at the bwin.com Grande Prémio de Portugal again on Saturday as he followed up his free practice dominance with his fifth pole position performance of the year.

The Spaniard has not won from pole this year, but he will hope to do so on Sunday as he seeks to reduce the 30-point advantage his team-mate Valentino Rossi enjoys at the top of the standings. Lorenzo’s best Saturday time of 1’36.214 on the 27th of his 29 laps was enough to put him at the front of the grid for the round 14 contest.

On the other side of the Fiat Yamaha pit garage Rossi reminded his colleague that he will challenge him on Sunday whatever happens, the Italian lapping a quarter of a second behind Lorenzo.

A commendable effort by Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro), on his return to GP action after two months away due to illness, saw the Australian former World Champion bounce back with a front row result – courtesy of a best time just 0.054s slower than Rossi’s fastest.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) has been close to the front in all three sessions so far and is likely to be a threat from the front of the second row on Sunday. The Spaniard was around half a second off Lorenzo’s pace.

In fifth place again was the best performing satellite rider of the year so far, Colin Edwards, who has looked consistently fast throughout the weekend on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine.

Completing the second row is Randy de Puniet who no longer appears to be suffering from the ankle injury he picked up in the summer and looks back to his best for the LCR Honda team in 2009.

The third row features Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro), whilst the qualifying practice top ten was rounded off by Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing).

250cc
Héctor Barberá followed the example of Lorenzo, following up on his free practice dominance by securing pole position in the 250cc class.

The Pepe World Team rider, who will compete in MotoGP next year with the new Aspar Ducati team, ran out race-winner in the last round at Misano and could be set for another victory in an intriguing 250cc season – if his form so far this weekend is anything to go by.

Behind Barberá on the grid in second place Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar) will be trying to make up points on championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing Team) who completed a front row – which was separated by just 0.283s – behind World Champion Marco Simoncelli (Metis Gilera).

Trying to chase down the ‘big guns’ from row two will be Alex Debon (Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens), the ever-consistent Raffaele de Rosa (Scot Racing), Mattia Pasini (with his new set-up Team Globalgest) and Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG).

125cc
As he kept up determined charge towards the 2009 125cc World Championship Julián Simón continued his dominance of the single-cylinders by taking pole position by a 0.540s margin. Like his compatriots Lorenzo and Barberá, Simón has been fastest in every session for his category thus far in Portugal.

Simón was a second quicker than all of his rivals in both free practice sessions and again no-one was able to get close to him in the crucial qualifying outing, as he outdid the ‘best of the rest’ of the field by another clear gap, securing his sixth pole of the year.

Getting away just behind Simón on the grid will be Pol Espargaró (Derbi Racing Team), whilst Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar) produced a good late lap to qualify third – as the Englishman tries to prevent his championship leading team-mate from wrapping up the title on Sunday.

Marc Márquez (Red Bull KTM) completes the front row, whilst Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing), Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Team), Sandro Cortese (Ajo Interwetten) and Simone Corsi (Fontana Racing) are all on row two.

Tomorrow’s MotoGP race takes place at 1pm local time (GMT+1), with the 250cc race at 11.15am local and the 125cc race at the later than usual time of 2.30pm local.

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Repsol Honda

Qualifying for the Grand Prix of Portugal took place at Estoril today with Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso securing fourth and eighth places on the grid in the hour-long session. Pedrosa finished just 0.174s from Casey Stoner in third, which gives the Spaniard a starting slot at the front of the second row. If Pedrosa can once again make one of his now-customary fast starts, he is confident that further improvements to his machine set-up will allow him to fight at the front of the race tomorrow.

Dovizioso was able to increase his pace from yesterday afternoon by seven tenths of a second, though the Italian was a little frustrated to finish in eight today – a ranking which translates into a place in the middle of the third row. That said, the winner of the British Grand Prix and his crew know that with further improvement to their suspension settings they have plenty of potential to find some extra pace, and that’s what they will be focusing on in the 20-minute warm up session.

There was some good news for the factory Honda squad today with the news that Repsol will once again be the team’s title sponsor in 2010. This means the Repsol Honda Team will enter its 16th successive season having established itself as one of motorsport’s most recognizable and successful partnerships.

Tomorrow’s 28-lap race begins at 1pm local time (GMT +1 hour).

DANI PEDROSA – 4th – 1m 36.702s
“We were working hard on machine set-up this morning, though we experienced a few issues which delayed us a little this afternoon in the fight to set the best lap times on the softer Bridgestones. It’s always better to start on the front row of course, but I think fourth is not a bad starting slot. We improved our lap times significantly this afternoon and if we can make a few more improvements to the set-up, everything is possible in the race. It’s difficult to know what the rhythm and race pace will be tomorrow because maybe the conditions will be a little cooler. Casey’s performance today was impressive, so compliments to him – I’m not surprised he was this fast. My main goal for the rest of the season will be to retain third in the championship and we hope take the first step towards that goal tomorrow.”

ANDREA DOVIZIOSO – 8th – 1m 37.541s
“We got through a lot set-up work today trying to improve the feeling from the machine at this circuit, which is quite bumpy. There’s definitely more to come, and starting from eighth obviously isn’t ideal -however with a good warm-up tomorrow we should be able to make some progress. At the moment we don’t have the rhythm to fight with the leading riders and we’ll be focussing on suspension settings to try to get closer to them. We cannot be happy with today’s result, but the important thing is to maintain concentration and try our best in the race. The characteristics of this racetrack accentuate some issues we found at the last race in Misano, but I’m confident we have a lot of potential with the Ohlins suspension. Plus we only have experience from one race, so there’s a lot more to come. We be looking to take a step forward in warm-up and to get as strong a result as possible in the race.”

KAZUHIKO YAMANO – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER
“Dani was really close to the front row and has more potential so he is looking in quite good shape for tomorrow. If he and his crew can have a profitable warm-up then he has a chance to fight with the leaders tomorrow. Andrea and his team are making progress with the machine set-up and he too can move forward from his current position. The conditions tomorrow may be a little different, so the team will be working hard tonight and in the warm-up to give us the best possible chance in the race. Today we have also had some excellent news about Repsol joining us for another season. This is a very strong and valuable partnership and we’re all focused on creating further success for the Repsol Honda Team.”

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Pramac Racing

Unlucky day for Mika Kallio who during the Portuguese Grand Prix qualifying session couldn’t manage to conquer more than the tenth position due to the intense traffic encountered in the last laps at his disposal. The Finnish rider made it to position himself in sixth place for most of the session, but when it was the time to push more luck wasn’t on his side. Tomorrow he will have to start from the fourth row and make a good start in the race. His teammate, Niccolò Canepa, isn’t so far from him but has to be satisfied with the fourteenth position on the grid with only two tenth of a second from Mika’s best lap time. The start of the Grand Prix of Portugal is scheduled for tomorrow at 1pm local time.

Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director
“We have been really consistent today by entering for the most part of the session between the fastest riders. Unfortunately at the end, at the last exit with a new soft rear tyre, Mika found some traffic that has limited his performances. A pity because if we would have start from the second row Mika could have done a really good race. Anyway nothing is lost, as we know that Mika can make a big difference in the race. Niccolò on the other side of the garage has registered interesting lap times and if tomorrow will make it to start well he will be able to enter the top ten riders group.”

Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – 10th in 1′37.813
“I felt really well today and my lap times can prove it. I have been really consistent until the end, but in the last few laps with Melandri and Talmacsi we slow down each other losing too much time. A pity, a silly mistake that have cost us some positions on the starting grid that we will have to recover tomorrow in the first few laps. I remain anyway trustful as the bike is going really well.”

Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing rider – 13th in 1′38.042
“We had a lot of fun this afternoon. During the three sessions from yesterday to today we have sensibly improved and this give us a lot of hopes not only for tomorrow’s race but for the rest of the season. We have worked really well with the Team today and the bike reacted perfectly to my moves. I am convinced that tomorrow we will be able to do a really good performance.”

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Rizla Suzuki

Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi qualified for tomorrow’s Estoril Grand Prix on the front of the third row after a promising session in Portugal today.

Capirossi (P7, 1′37.489, 30 laps) was pleased with the progress that his latest incarnation of the Suzuki GSV-R made during today’s session, as he continued to make improvements. Capirossi was determined to test his bike to the full during this afternoon’s hour-long qualifying session, recording more laps of the 4,182m Estoril circuit than any other rider. He is confident of a good race tomorrow and is sure that the advances made with the new bike will enable him to challenge for a competitive finish tomorrow. Seventh place on the grid signals Capirossi’s best grid position for seven races – since he qualified in sixth at Assen in June.

Chris Vermeulen (P15, 38.342, 29 laps) was still suffering with his back injury today, but he wasn’t hampered by it too much as he completed 29 laps during this afternoon’s qualifying. Vermeulen was pleased with the improvements that were made to his bike, but disappointed to be back on the fifth row of the grid. He will be pushing as hard as he can from the start tomorrow to reconcile that grid position as he aims to score valuable championship points.

Today’s qualifying was held in warm and sunny conditions with a gentle breeze keeping temperatures at a pleasant 25�C. Jorge Lorenzo took his fifth pole position of the season on his factory Yamaha, with team-mate and World Championship leader Valentino Rossi in second place on the grid.

Tomorrow’s 28-lap race is the 14th event on this season’s calendar and it will get going at 13.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Loris Capirossi:
“Overall it’s been ok for us today, we made some improvements this morning and tried to continue with that this afternoon. We changed a few things on the bike and the whole team worked well to make things better for me. We have got a bit of vibration from the front and we need to resolve that, but other than that we are quite competitive. I want to say thank-you to Suzuki, because normally this is one of the worst tracks for us and we have improved a lot on the rear grip – which was a big problem in the past – and the new package we have is much better. We have improved on top speed as well, we are now quite competitive and for us this is great and a very important step forward.”

Chris Vermeulen:
“We made some good changes to the bike today and consistently improved on the lap-time. We ran both the compounds of tyres on the front and rear this afternoon and we’ve got a reasonable race set-up. I’m a bit disappointed in actual performance because I just couldn’t quite get the lap-time I wanted, but I was able to achieve the one I did quite easily so we should be able to run at that pace all race. Hopefully I’ll get a good start and make up a few places early on and have a good race.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“We hoped yesterday that overnight changes would see both of the guys find a reasonable amount of lap-time and we’ve managed to achieve that. Chris has never been “Captain Qualifier’ and today was a disappointing result, which without any question he will improve upon tomorrow. With Loris we still haven’t got the optimum set-up for the new GSV-R and we’re struggling a bit with consistency as we go from track to track, but he showed a lot of determination to pull out a good lap at the end of the session. It was a bit ragged and you definitely wouldn’t have wanted to be sitting on the back, but now we have achieved more outright speed we hope we can smooth some things out tomorrow morning in warm-up and then have a decent Grand Prix in the afternoon.”

bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal Qualifying Practice Classification:

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1′36.214: 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.260: 3. Casey Stoner (Ducati) +0.314: 4. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +0.488: 5. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +0.928: 7. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.275: 15. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +2.128:

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Bridgestone

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium.    Rear: Medium, Hard (asymmetric)

Using Bridgestone’s medium compound front and rear slicks during qualifying for the Portuguese Grand Prix, Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo secured his fifth pole position start on Bridgestone tyres.

Topping the timesheets for the second day running,  Lorenzo’s best  was almost one second faster than  his time yesterday, putting the Mallorcan an impressive 1.2seconds faster than the existing circuit lap record. Fellow Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi was second ahead of Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and Colin Edwards of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team.

The best times of the top five riders were all faster than  the  existing  lap  record,  further  indicating  the  encouraging  performance  from  the  Bridgestone  rubber  at  this traditionally tricky venue. For most of the hour-long session riders favoured the harder of the available specifications (the medium compound front and hard compound rear), which are likely to be the favoured choice for tomorrow’s race, but as usual the fastest times came at the end of qualifying using the softer option rear for its extra traction.

Tohru Ubukata – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department: “I am happy with the performance of our slick tyres today because we have seen the laptimes at the front of the field get faster again. Estoril has always been a tricky circuit for us but the tyres we have developed for this year have a wider operating range than those previously. This has benefits at every circuit we have visited this year, but because of the particularly varied nature of Estoril, the improvement in overall performance is more noticeable here.

“I think another key reason for the improvement in pace is the change of date of this grand prix from April back to the latter half of the season. As a result we are enjoying higher ambient and track temperatures which improves the grip of the circuit. We expected the higher temperature at this time of year, but what is unusual for this circuit is that the conditions are so stable with no cloud or wind, which can make the circuit dusty and slippery.  If conditions remain the same tomorrow, the harder compound options will be favoured for the race because of the additional durability over race distance that they provide.”

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Monster Yamaha Tech3

Colin Edwards continued his brilliant qualifying form at the Estoril circuit this afternoon, the Texan riding his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine to fifth position on the grid in preparation for the 28-lap Portuguese MotoGP.

A fastest lap of 1.37.142 ensured Edwards claimed his 10th second row start of 2009 to strengthen the American’s bid for fifth place overall in the world championship standings.

In temperatures that again hit the mid-twenties, Edwards concentrated his efforts on finding a balance between stability and turning with the front-end of his YZR-M1 machine.

Edwards was as high as fourth place at one stage and the 35-year-old finished leading non-factory rider again on the timesheets, an achievement he has managed with remarkable consistency this season.

James Toseland, who is still firmly in the hunt for a top seven world championship finish, will start from 12th position on the grid.

The British rider worked on geometry and wheelbase changes to improve grip levels with his YZR-M1 and he was under 0.2s away from a top ten finish in another closely contested session.

Colin Edwards 5th 1.37.142 – 26 laps
“If you’re the next best rider on the timesheets behind the four best in the world then you’re not doing a bad job. And I felt like I did a good job today. We tuned the bike to get rid of some of the small movement issues I had with the front yesterday. It made it more comfortable but the chan ges meant the bike didn’t turn as well. We played around with the setting to make it turn better again but then the movement returned. At this track you need the turning so I can handle the movement. I’m probably trying to make the bike feel too perfect. The first corner here is always pretty tricky and after what happened in Misano I’ll be trying to make it through. I genuinely believe I can fight for the podium tomorrow. I know it will be really difficult but Dani (Pedrosa) had some problems at the end of the race in Misano and nobody is sure whether Casey (Stoner) is going to be able to keep his pace for 28-laps. I’m sure it will be a good race though and I’m looking forward to having a strong finish to the year for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.”

James Toseland 12th 1.37.823 – 26 laps
“It has been a little bit frustrating today because we decided to change the geomet ry and the wheelbase of the bike, but it meant we had less time to find the ideal set-up. Towards the end of the session we found a good set-up and while 12th on the grid is not bad, I feel I could have been at least one row further forward. That’s frustrating but I’m sure I’ll be starting the race tomorrow in pretty good shape. My lap times on race tyres are good and I’m looking forward to a really good warm-up session because we’ll be making a couple of slight tweaks that I think will give us even better performance. The first corner is always quite difficult at this track with it being so tight, so my plan is to try and stay out of trouble, get my head down and have a really good race for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.”

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Fiat Yamaha

Jorge Lorenzo took his first pole position since Laguna Seca back in June at Estoril this afternoon, the Mallorcan sealing his fifth pole of the season with a strong performance ahead of tomorrow’s Portuguese Grand Prix. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi meanwhile took his eleventh front row of the season and will start tomorrow’s race from second, with Casey Stoner taking the final front-row slot.

Having topped both practice sessions this weekend, Lorenzo was the clear favourite for pole this afternoon and the 22-year-old looked smooth and comfortable out on track as he made a few last-minute setting changes before the fight for grid spots. With twenty minutes remaining he took the lead and didn’t surrender it for the rest of the session, improving his time several times and never looking in much danger from his rivals.

Rossi had a few problems yesterday but was in better shape today, having improved the balance of his M1 in the hard braking zones. His penultimate lap was good enough to put him second although he was unable to quite match his team-mate’s pace on the softer Bridgestone tyre today. The championship leader is planning a few overnight improvements in order to ensure he is at the maximum for the race.

Tomorrow’s 28-lap race gets underway at the slightly earlier time than usual of 1300 local time, which is 1400 CET.

Jorge Lorenzo, Position: 1st   Time: 1′36.214   Laps: 29
“It’s been quite a few races since I’ve had a pole! I was getting a bit worried because doing one fast lap has always been one of my strong points but lately we haven’t been able to be quite competitive enough with the soft tyre. This weekend however everything is working really well and the setting with both tyres is great, so I was able to go out and do some very fast laps. Tomorrow is another day and we know that everyone will be strong, so we will just try and push to the limit and see what happens.”

Valentino Rossi, Position: 2nd   Time: 1′36.474   Laps: 28
“We improved the setting a lot this afternoon from yesterday and managed to fix a lot of the problems we had in the braking, so today was not so bad. We still need more traction on the exits from the slow corners however and we are also losing some time in the tight hairpin. We are not so far but we need to study the data and find a way to improve things a bit more for the race. It will be quite a strong fight tomorrow I think and 28 laps in this heat is going to be hard, but we will be ready.”

Daniele Romgnoli, Team Manager
“It’s very good to be back on pole position after what has been quite a long time. Jorge was today able to do some very fast laps with the softer tyre, which has allowed us to get back on pole, but he also has a good and consistent race pace and so we feel confident for the race. We still have a little work to do on some rear grip issues in order to be a bit faster in the last section of the track, so we will use tomorrow’s warm-up to do that and then we will be ready for an exciting race.”

Davide Brivio, Team Manager
“We’ve done a good job to have improved our setting and this has allowed Valentino to be on the front row today. However we still have some work to do to make another step and get to what will probably be tomorrow’s race pace – it looks like we’re a little bit slower at the moment. Tomorrow’s warm-up will be important and we will use the time as best we can in order to be ready to fight.

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San Carlo Honda Gresini

San Carlo Honda Gresini riders Alex de Angelis and Toni Elias were back on board their Honda RC212V machines today as the MotoGP World Championship resumed following a month break at the Estoril circuit in Portugal.

The enforced hiatus has done nothing to halt De Angelis’ good recent momentum as the San Marino rider clocked the ninth fastest time although he was hindered by a head cold, which he has been suffering for the last couple of days. It is tough luck for Alex, who struggled with a 39ºC fever in the race at this circuit last year. Across the garage it was another difficult start to a race weekend for Elias, who again struggled to find a set-up for his machine in the opening session, as he has done at many circuits this season. However, the Spaniard and his crew have tended to work a solution out on the second day and he is hopeful of a similar outcome tomorrow as he searches for crucial rear grip.

style=”text-align: justify;”>Alex De Angelis (9th; 1’38.629): “I started with the cold a couple of days ago and it is a real problem because I’m all bunged up and it is difficult for me to breathe. With the way the doping regulations are I can’t afford to risk taking any strong medication but I’ve been working hard with the Clinica Mobile staff to find a way to clear it up. Hopefully I’m feeling better tomorrow because we clearly have potential here and a lot of margin for improvement. The bike is moving around a lot under braking and acceleration, which means we’re losing time on the way into the corners and on the way out. If we can find a better all round set-up tomorrow and if I’m in better shape myself I’m sure we can be even more competitive.”

style=”text-align: justify;”>Toni Elias (15th 1’39.567): “We’ve started out badly again and it is frustrating but it’s something we’ve been used to this season. Basically I’m struggling for rear traction, which is a familiar problem for us. Unfortunately at this circuit it is a particularly important part of the set-up because there are a lot of corners where you lose time if you don’t have drive on the exit. Like I say, it’s not a good start but we’ve been here many times and I’m confident that between myself and my guys we can work something out. ”

Fausto Gresini – Team Manager: “It wasn’t a spectacular first session for us but there were some positive signs to build on. Alex set some interesting lap times despite his physical condition and some problems with his set-up, whilst Toni has struggled again. We have a lot of work to do but I have a lot of faith in our two riders and believe they can both be competitive by Sunday if we can make the necessary improvements to the package.”

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DeGraaf Grand Prix Team

After a four week break the DeGraaf Grand Prix Team could start their Aprilia RSA’s again for the first free practice of the bwin.com GRANDE PREMIO DE PORTUGAL. It is a difficult start of the weekend for the DeGraaf Grand Prix Team. Swiss rider Randy Krummenacher had an o! k 17^th position result in the free practice and British rider Danny Webb didn’t went well with a 21^st position.

The weather conditions were great with a clear sky and temperatures of 25 degrees. Randy Krummenacher could grab immediately a good rhythm and was good for a top 10 position in the first half of the session. In the last ten minutes Krummenacher dropped back even outside the top 20 but recovered himself to a 17^th position.

Danny Webb struggled this session. Nearly the whole session Webb was outside the top 20 but could improve his lap time every lap. Several times the British teenager came in to make adjustments to the engine but couldn’t get a good lap time to finish in the top 15. Webb ended the session on a 21^st position.

Randy Krummenacher (17^th, 1:48,135): “The engine felt very strong today. There are still some details where we have to work on but the basic is good. It’s too bad that the good feeling I have doesn’t come back in the results. I have a lot of confidence for the rest of the weekend. After the four weeks of rest it isn’t a bad start and the team did a great job during this break. I have faith in a good weekend and for tomorrow I will aim for a third row position.”

Danny Webb (21^e, 1:48,539): “It didn’t went well today. After three weekends of rest it took me a few laps to get in my rhythm. From the start of the session I felt the bike wasn’t as strong as normal. After the session me and Hans Spaan checked the data and we saw were we can improve. I will have a good night sleep so we can be on it tomorrow!”

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Ducati Marlboro

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner made his eagerly awaited return to competitive MotoGP action in Portugal today after missing the last three rounds through illness. The Australian completed a total of nineteen laps of the Estoril circuit, making three runs in total – his fastest time coming on his second run when he clocked a 1’37.966, fast enough for an impressive fourth position overall. Stoner took a short break before his final effort after struggling with arm pump but did not feel as comfortable with the modified set-up and was unable to improve his lap time.

Whilst Stoner used the new bodywork design on each of his Desmosedici GP9 machines today, with a carbon swingarm on one and an aluminium swingarm on the other, his team-mate Nicky Hayden experimented with the new fairing on one machine but was unable to really gauge its performance due to the unusually low winds here. He used the original fairing on his other bike, with both of them fitted with the carbon swingarm. The American made four runs but left it late to set his best time, which came on his penultimate lap of 27.

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) (4th; 1’37.966)
“So far so good. It was great to be back out there on the bike today and I really enjoyed myself. Physically I feel about as well as you could expect considering that I haven’t trained properly for almost four months now and I’m pleased with that. One thing I did struggle with was arm pump, which I expected, and I needed a bit of a rest in the later stages of the session. I expect the problem to ease over the weekend but I have to be careful not to push it too hard and exacerbate it further. We only did a couple of laps at the beginning but the riding position and brake levers weren’t quite right, so I had to come in and change that. After that we were competitive and making constant improvements, until my final run when we made quite a big change to the setting and it didn’t work out. If it wasn’t for that the lap time could have been better. We have different swingarms on the two bikes but I only tried the carbon one today, so I’d like to try the aluminium one tomorrow and see where we go from there. As far as the new fairing is concerned it was impossible to feel the difference today because it is designed to help the bike handle better in strong winds, which unusually for this circuit we didn’t have today, and fast direction changes, which there are none of here.”

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati Marlboro Team) (11th; 1’38.850)
“It wasn’t as good as we’d have liked it to be coming out of the gate – I’d thought the gap to the front would be closer than that today so we’ve got a lot of work to do. We need to make a general improvement everywhere – there’s not one part of the track holding me back, I just need to find a little bit more speed in every section. We tried the new cowling in one run but it was just to get a bit of data and get an idea. We still haven’t decided what way we’re going to go with that for the rest of the weekend. It’s still early but I would have liked to start out stronger and we need to pick it up a bit tomorrow. I also want to say congratulations to my chief mechanic “Bibo” (Davide Manfredi), whose wife just had a healthy baby boy.”

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Repsol Honda

Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso finished in second and sixth places this afternoon as the first practice session for the Grand Prix of Portugal took place at Estoril. After a four-week break since the last MotoGP outing, the factory Honda pair and their pit crews quickly blew away the cobwebs and got down to the serious business of tuning their machines to the demands of the tight and bumpy 4.182km (0.613-mile) circuit.

Pedrosa has finished second in the race here for the previous two years, and that’s where the Spaniard ended up today after spending significant time at the top of the standings in the one-hour practice period. Looking confident aboard his RC212V, his fastest lap was just one tenth of a second outside the race lap record set last year. Pedrosa, who turned 24 on Tuesday, was only pipped for top spot today by fellow countryman Jorge Lorenzo and is confident for tomorrow’s practice and qualifying sessions.

On the other side of the Repsol Honda garage, Dovizioso wasn’t far behind his team-mate on a day that saw the riders enjoy warmer temperatures and higher levels of grip than they’ve experienced on several previous visits to Estoril. The 23-year-old Italian is targeting an improved feeling from the rear of his machine and, once that’s achieved, he’s buoyant about his chances of closing in further on the lead riders ahead of Sunday’s 28-lap race.

Dani Pedrosa: “That was a good first session and I’m happy with how we’ve started our Estoril weekend. We were fast pretty much from the outset and the feeling from the machine was good straight away. Normally when we visit this circuit earlier in the season it’s cold and the grip is not very good, but today the track temperature was high and the Bridgestone tyres were working well, which allowed me to set fast lap times that were also quite consistent. Of course it’s a bumpy circuit, but we know this is going to be the case so you come here prepared for that – it’s not a big problem. Braking is very important at this circuit and it can make a big difference in the race because you need to be able to overtake into the slow corners at the end of the straights. We can improve on this area and we’ll continue to work on the set-up tomorrow. Overall, I’m pleased with our start to the weekend.”

Andrea Dovioso: “It’s really good to get out on track again because it’s been more than a three week-break since Misano. It actually takes a little while to get back into the groove after this time away but I’m pretty confident that we can have a good race here. This afternoon we struggled a little bit with the rear of the machine, which meant my ultimate lap time wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be, so this is the area we’re going to be focusing on to find some improvements. The tight, slow corners at this track together with the bumps seem to amplify the issue because the rear is working a lot. Still, this means we have the potential to close on the riders in front, and that’s what we’ll be gunning for in tomorrow’s practice and qualifying sessions.”

LCR Honda

Estoril, 02 October: after 3-week break the MotoGP is back on track at Estoril circuit for the second-last European GP of the calendar and the LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet faced up his first day of practices aboard the Honda RC212V. The Frenchman, who is 90 percent recovered from his left ankle fracture suffered last August, got the 7th position today clocking his quickest lap time of 1’38.385.

With changeable weather conditions due to the ocean winds, today’s free session was dry with track temperature of 25°C and De Puniet, who has renewed his agreement with LCR for 2010, went around the 4.182 Km track 27 times mainly working on rear grip issues. Today’s frontrunner Lorenzo set a quickest 1’37.185 lap time.

De Puniet 7th – 1’38.385

De Puniet – 7th: “Basically it has been a good first session after such a long break. My feeling on the bike was immediately positive and could push hard even if we struggled a bit with the rear grip. It seems like that everybody had the same problem because of the surface conditions. Lap by lap we improved the grip level adjusting the engine mapping and the suspension settings. My rhythm is consistently fast because now I can easily ride as I like. My ankle is not at 100 percent yet and at the end of the day it is still swollen but it is responding well”.

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Pramac Racing

After the three weeks break, the MotoGP World Championship is back on track with the Estoril race in Portugal. The Pramac Racing Team will be now even more motivated after the renewal of the contract with Mika Kallio thanks to this year good performances. The Finnish rider will now be able to prepare in total serenity for these last four races of the 2009 World Championship starting from the Portuguese Grand Prix. The circuit located near the city of Lisbon, today named Fernando Pires da Silva, was built in 1972 and had its latest modifications in 2006. The track has one of the longest straight of the world championship calendar with its 986 meters that are part of the 4182 meters track.

Paolo Campinoti – Pramac Racing Team Principal

“We are very happy to agree with Mika and continue to work together also in the next season. This year, at his MotoGP debut, he has obtained positive performances and we believe we can improve next year. We believe in his riding abilities and we are proud to be able to continue this project together. Now we have to concentrate on the Portuguese race where I expect a positive performance from both riders. Niccolò still have to demonstrate his potential: he has four races left to do it and we will support him in the best way possible to put him in the ideal conditions to race.”

Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing Rider

“Now that we have agreed for next season we can exclusively concentrate to do our job on track. I am very happy to be able to continue with the Pramac Racing Team, Paolo Campinoti and Ducati to give continuity to this project. This season is going in a positive direction with high and low point, but considering that it is my rookie season it’s normal: we confide to be able to improve together next year. This weekend we will compete in Estoril, not one of my favorite tracks, but where I made it to conquer interesting results: last year in 250cc I concluded in third position while in 125cc I made it to step on every single step of the podium.”

Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing Rider

“I am very happy to be back on track after this long break. I had the time to think and evaluate my situation and now I am really motivated to face these last four races. I know Estoril track very well as I have done some tests last year and I hope to be able to obtain a good result for me and for my Team. I have to payback the trust it has been given to me and I hope to do it in this last part of the season.”

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San Carlo Honda Gresini

An atypical three-week break in the closing stages of the MotoGP World Championship – caused by the cancellation of the Hungarian GP – means that the world’s elite motorcycling teams and riders return to action this weekend for the first in a four-race finale that starts and finishes in Europe, with flying trips to Australia and Malaysia sandwiched between shorter jaunts to Portugal and Spain.

The Estoril circuit near the Portuguese holiday resort of Cascais welcomes an intriguing battle for the title between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo and an intense scrap for positions throughout the pack, with San Carlo Honda Gresini Team riders Alex de Angelis and Toni Elias well placed and in the right form to improve on their current championship placings of eighth and twelfth respectively.

Elias has had particular reason to look forward to this race, having taken his only career MotoGP victory at Estoril back in 2006. The Spaniard has taken top six finishes in four of the last six races, including a podium in the Czech Republic, and is eager to pick up where he left off after spending much of the enforced break training and relaxing in northern Spain.

De Angelis has also had Estoril very much on his mind over the last three weeks as he looks forward to banishing the memory of a second-corner crash in the most recent race at Misano. The San Marino rider’s first DNF of the season came on the back of his debut MotoGP podium at Indianapolis – one of three top five finishes in the last fives races – and he is confident of recovering his good form at a circuit where he scored podiums in both the 125cc and 250cc classes.

# 15 ALEX DE ANGELIS
“I’ve been training hard over the break and taking out my frustrations of the last race at Misano, when I crashed at the end of an otherwise positive weekend. It left a bitter taste in my mouth but I am in great form at the moment and at a circuit like Estoril, where I always went well in the smaller classes, I know I can put things right. Unfortunately last year I had a 39°C fever and it was a miracle that I made it to the end of the race. This year I go to Portugal with everything in my favour because I am starting to get the full potential out of my bike and the typically changeable conditions at Estoril won’t worry me because we have already proved that we can be fast both in the wet and in the dry.”

# 24 TONI ELIAS
“I’ve spent this unusual and long break in training, having fun cycling in Zarauz in the Basque Country and surfing along the wonderful 20km-long beach at San Sebastian with my good friend Carlos Arguiñano, one of the best and most famous chefs in Spain. I also went to watch the Andorra Supermoto Grand Prix and spent a day with Mikko Hirvonen, the current World Rally Champion, riding with him in his WRC car, which was incredibly exciting. Naturally I was constantly thinking about getting back to competitive action myself and the next race at Estoril, where I won in 2006. It’s a circuit I love and where I hope to be amongst the frontrunners again. I’m in good form and my feeling with the bike is great so I can’t be anything but optimistic about this one.”

FAUSTO GRESINI
“Estoril is the scene of our most recent MotoGP victory so it is obviously a track we hold close to our hearts. Toni Elias’ victory over Valentino Rossi is a wonderful memory and I’m sure he can be a frontrunner again in this race. He is in good form and extremely determined to show his ability. Alex, on the other hand, is determined to put the DNF at Misano behind him and he can do that because he is also in good form and I don’t expect him to disappoint. He has improved a lot recently and one mistake at Misano does not wipe out all the progress he has made this year. The team is doing a very professional job and will continue to give our riders their full support right up until the chequered flag at Valencia. Even though the future of our team lies elsewhere, the present is Elias and De Angelis and we want to continue giving them the tools to be frontrunners in MotoGP until the final races of the season.”

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Bridgestone

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear: Medium, Hard (asymmetric)

Estoril is one of the most technically demanding races on the calendar and one of toughest challenges of the season for Bridgestone’s tyres. The very varied nature of the circuit will provide a stern test of the wider operating range of this year’s tyres as they are faced with a multitude of different corner characteristics, corner loads and surfaces.

The circuit’s four left- and nine right-handed corners mean that Bridgestone has selected asymmetric rear tyres for Estoril in order to compensate for the resulting difference in tyre temperature between the right and left shoulders. The temperature differential between the shoulders is more marked at this track as the right-handers are generally fast but the left-handers generally slow, including the chicane which is the slowest corner on the calendar.

The main challenge of the circuit comes from the number of different conditions a tyre has to cope with during a lap whilst providing a consistent feeling for the riders throughout. Estoril has a long and fast straight with heavy braking for the first corner, an imbalance between lefts and rights, a very slow chicane and the long final corner in which the tyres have to contend with high lean angles at a high speed as the riders try to open the throttle as soon as possible
to maximise their speed across the start/finish line.

This year’s Portuguese Grand Prix is the tenth to be held at the Estoril circuit and there have been four different winners at the venue in as many years, though it is the only GP run this season at which a Bridgestone-shod rider has never claimed victory in the premier class. Makoto Tamada took pole and finished second in 2004, and more recently Casey Stoner qualified second and finished third in 2007 and Valentino Rossi qualified and finished third last year. Whilst it is a foregone conclusion this season, the first win by a Bridgestone-shod rider at Estoril will be another circuit ticked for Bridgestone, and also the 49th premier class victory on Bridgestone tyres since the company’s entry into the sport in 2002.

The Portuguese Grand Prix has been moved back to the second half of the season after being run in April last year. It comes after a three-week break following the cancellation of the Hungarian round at the Balatonring venue.

Hiroshi Yamada – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department
“In effect we have now had two breaks this season, and this one was longer than we had in August so I am sure that everyone is looking forward to going racing again and seeing the conclusion of this exciting season. With the expected return of Casey to the championship, I’m sure we will continue to see the sort of close competition and thrilling races we have gotten used to in this first year of single tyre supply in MotoGP.”

Tohru Ubukata – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department
“Estoril is one of the toughest tracks on the calendar and has a challenging mixture of slow- speed lefts, high-speed rights and interlinking straights that test all aspects of the rider, machine and tyre package. The circuit has a very varied nature throughout each lap which is what makes it challenging, but I am confident that the wider operating range of this year’s tyres will give us a significant advantage this season compared to those previously.

“The nature of the track changes from one corner to the next, and the tyres also have to contend with a surface change during the lap after partial resurfacing work conducted in 2006. Again we see some heavy braking points at Estoril, such as into the first corner, so stability from the front tyre is crucial. The use of asymmetric rear tyres is also very important here, mainly to ensure good and consistent grip round the slower left-handers such as the chicane where the riders are accelerating hard on corner exit.”

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Rizla Suzuki

Rizla Suzuki and the rest of the MotoGP paddock will be back in action this coming weekend for the latest exciting episode in the 2009 MotoGP calendar as the series moves to Estoril in Portugal for round 14.

Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen will be looking to continue with the improvement in form that was shown on race-day at Misano in Italy three weeks ago, as they attack the 4,182m Portuguese circuit from Friday onwards. Recent engine and chassis upgrades have both made a positive difference to the performance of the Suzuki GSV-R, and Capirossi and Vermeulen will both be striving to find the maximum potential from the new specification to enable them to perform at the maximum of their own abilities.

The Autodromo Fernanda Pires da Silva circuit features a kilometre-long straight, one of the slowest sections of the year and two ultra-fast corners, all combining to make this one of the most contrasting tracks on the calendar. Situated on a rocky plateau near the village of Alcabideche high above the city of Estoril, and only a few kilometres from the Atlantic ocean, the chances of ever-changing weather is always likely and with strong winds gusting of the ocean it can get a bit breezy, bikes have even been known to be blown off the track!

Rizla Suzuki will get into action on Friday afternoon for the first free practice session, followed by a second free session on Saturday morning. Grid position will be decided in an afternoon hour-long qualifying session on Saturday to determine where the riders line-up for Sunday’s 28-lap race, which gets underway at 13.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Loris Capirossi:

“We had a good result last time out at Misano, but we still want more. The factory has been working hard recently and we have showed big improvements and we need to keep that going for the rest of the year and carry it through the winter and into 2010 I’ve had a couple of podiums at Estoril as well as a pole position start and I’d really like to add to that this weekend, we know it will be tough, but we need to believe in ourselves and try to take that next step.”

Chris Vermeulen:

“I can’t wait to get back on the bike again after the short break we’ve had, I feel fully refreshed and totally focused on the rest of the season. Estoril is a tough track for us, but with the changes we’ve made recently I’m hoping that will point us in a new direction. I’ve had a couple of top-10 finishes there and although they are not the sort of results I would like, they have all been hard battles and I’ve learnt a lot more each time. I’m really looking forward to the weekend and will be doing all I can to push the bike up towards the front.”

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MotoGP

The first of a concluding quartet of rounds in the 2009 FIM MotoGP World Championship season takes place this coming weekend at Estoril.

As Valentino Rossi prepares to make his 100th appearance on a Yamaha factory machine, in the bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal, at a venue where he has taken victory on five occasions in the premier class, the Italian rider is aware that another Portuguese win will edge him closer to retaining the MotoGP title.

Rossi has a 30-point championship lead after 13 rounds, the last of which saw him take victory on home soil at Misano to bounce back from his Indianapolis crash and DNF, before a September break in proceedings.

Indeed, Rossi’s main objective at Estoril will be to finish in front of his Fiat Yamaha team-mate and championship rival Jorge Lorenzo, who still has a fighting chance of catching his illustrious colleague in the standings. Lorenzo achieved his maiden MotoGP win in Portugal last year in just his third premier class race and the Spaniard will be striving to repeat that success this time around.

Lorenzo has also crossed the line first and second at the last two rounds of the current season to push his way back into the title fight after consecutive DNF results at Donington and Brno earlier in the summer.

For third-placed championship rider Dani Pedrosa, Estoril is one of just four tracks on the current MotoGP calendar where he has not tasted victory in any class of Grand Prix racing. However, Pedrosa has crossed the line in second place in Portugal for the last two years and the Repsol Honda rider will be highly motivated by the challenge of staying ahead of the returning Casey Stoner in the standings over the final four GPs of 2009.

Stoner returns for Ducati Marlboro at round 14, having missed three race weekends due to illness, and he will aim to rediscover his early season competitiveness which saw him register wins at Losail International (Qatar) and Mugello, in addition to three further podiums. The Australian is 87 points behind Rossi, 57 behind Lorenzo and just seven adrift of Pedrosa, heading to a track where he won the 250cc race in 2005 and was on the MotoGP rostrum in third place in 2007. With Stoner back to the Ducati official team, Mika Kallio rides again for Pramac Racing together with teammate Niccolò Canepa.

Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso, who in fifth place is ten points ahead of Colin Edwards, has finished fourth in the last three races – since his first MotoGP victory at Donington in July. The Italian was the 250cc race-winner at Estoril three years ago but last season he crashed out on his debut MotoGP appearance at the circuit.

Edwards’ blameless first lap crash and DNF at Misano last time out was his first non-point-scoring result since Germany last year and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 man would probably be happy with repeating his 2008 and 2006 fourth places at Estoril.

Behind Edwards, Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) and Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) complete the current MotoGP top ten.

250cc

With four rounds remaining the battle at the head of the 250cc World Championship standings appears to be a two-way fight between leader Hiroshi Aoyama and second placed Alvaro Bautista. Aoyama leads Bautista by 13 points, with World Champion Marco Simoncelli way back – 40 points off the top spot – in third place.

Scot Racing’s Aoyama has been highly consistent all season, but he has not won a race since Donington in July and has been off the podium in two of the last three races. In contrast to Bautitsta the Japanese rider does not have a great history at Estoril – having only once appeared on the podium there, in 2006 in second place – but his 2009 form overall suggests he will improve that record.

Bautista has won for the last three years in Portugal – in the 125cc class in 2006 and in the 250cc race in both 2007 and 2008. The Spaniard has not won a race since Catalunya this year though, so he will aim to step up a notch on his recent steady podium form to repeat his previous Portuguese triumphs and put further pressure on Aoyama.

Although title-holder Simoncelli looks to be out of the race in this year’s championship he has won three of the last five races and will be looking for revenge after his home heartbreak at Misano. Additional Simoncelli wins this season would be no surprise and last year he finished second at Estoril having started on pole.

Fourth placed Hector Barbera, who won at Misano in the last round, has a modest record at Estoril in the 250cc class, but he did take victory there in the 2004 125cc race.

Meanwhile, Estoril is one of Mattia Pasini’s least successful circuits, but he will arrive for the Portuguese GP on a high after testing a Ducati MotoGP bike in Italy since his home race at Misano where he finished a close second.

125cc

For Bancaja Aspar’s Julian Simon the decision to move back down to the 125cc class from 250cc competition this year has paid off in style and the Spanish rider could clinch the title at the next round in Portugal if results go his way.

If he wins the Estoril race and Nico Terol finishes no higher than ninth and Bradley Smith finishes no higher than fifth or if Simon finishes second with Terol no higher than 14th and Bradley Smith no better than ninth, that will be enough to secure the 125cc crown.

In all likelihood Simon may have to wait a while longer to finish the job – his best result to date at Estoril is fifth in 2006 in the 125cc class – but he needs to score just 43 points from the remaining four races to secure the title, irrespective of the results of other riders.

For current runner-up Terol, meanwhile, his third place last year in Portugal was his first point-scoring finish at the Estoril circuit. The Spaniard is on a run of eight successive top four results this year and he would more than deserve finishing second overall.

It is fair to say that Estoril is not the favourite circuit of Simon’s team-mate Smith, with the Briton registering his best result at the track in 2007 in 12th place. Smith crashed out last year having caught the leading group from 13th on the grid, but he is currently in good form after two consecutive podiums and he’ll be confident of bettering his previous Portuguese best.

Also in the current top five are Simon and Smith’s colleague Sergio Gadea and Italian rider Andrea Iannone – whose main aim will simply be to avoid any controversy in Portugal after he let himself down at Misano with some aggressive riding and some subsequently self-acknowledged unsporting behaviour. Iannone clashed with Pol Espargaro last time out and the young Spaniard, who is sixth in the standings, got his first GP podium at Estoril two years ago.

The 2009 bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal takes place from 2nd-4th October, with free practice in the MotoGP class commencing at 1.55pm local time. The first 250cc and 125cc practices take place at 3.10pm and 12.40pm respectively.

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Ducati Marlboro

The Ducati Marlboro Team returns from a long September break this weekend ready to tackle the Estoril circuit with Casey Stoner back in the saddle alongside his team-mate Nicky Hayden.

The Italian outfit has been working hard on two fronts since the end of July, on one hand liasing with doctors in Australia monitoring the progress being made by Casey and on the other continuing exhaustive development of the Desmosedici, on which Nicky has been able to make great strides, culminating with his podium finish at Indianapolis and further signs of competitiveness at Misano before a blameless first lap crash.

During two months away from racing under the supervision of an expert medical team in his homeland (Dr. Neil Halpin, Sport Physician, Dr Jeremy Coleman, Consultant Physician, Dr Harry Grunstein, Endocrinologist and Professor Jonathan Silberberg, Cardiologist), who have remained in touch with Prof. Fabio Catani (Specialist in Pathology and Locomotive System at the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute of Bologna and Ducati’s doctor for several years) and Dr Claudio Macchiagodena of the Clinica Mobile, Casey has undergone a series of exams and special tests.

The results of the tests have excluded pathological anomalies of cardiovascular, respiratory or neurological origins. The exams and inspections also failed to show up any kind of virus or infection.

However, the medical report made by Prof. Silderberg and Dr Coleman did reveal low blood pressure levels and a lack of sodium, the two factors that the doctors believe were the main cause of the physical problems that interrupted the season for the Ducati rider.

The doctors all agree that overtraining was the most common factor that showed up during the tests and that the after-effects of injuries and surgeries over the last few years were the cause of the physical weakness and exhaustion that the Australian began to suffer a few months ago.

The doctors also unanimously confirmed that their suggestion to stop Casey from racing at the end of July was absolutely necessary in order to avoid aggravating his physical debilitation.

Following the final medical examination that he underwent last week before leaving Australia, the doctors confirmed that whilst he was still not completely recovered, he is in better physical shape than he was in July and his weight is back up to 60kg, which is close to his ideal weight.

Casey will be back on track this weekend despite not being in peak condition and he will remain under medical supervision throughout, with a new sodium-rich diet aimed at raising his blood pressure and muscular functionality.

CASEY STONER, Ducati Marlboro Team (4th in the championship on 150 points)
“I’m definitely looking forward to the race weekend. Having three races off is the biggest period away from racing in my life. It was very difficult to accept the advice of the doctors to stop racing. In the past I have raced even when injured, like in the last few races of the 2008 season when my wrist was broken, but this time it was really not possible and of course I felt very sorry for the team. Now I’m looking forward to getting back together with the team and everyone and I hope I’ll be able to be more competitive than I was in the past, but we will have to wait and see. The doctors have put me on some salt tablets to increase my sodium levels but we will have to see if it helps. We will understand more during the weekend. Of course it’s going to be difficult: at first we won’t know if it will work because I’ve been off the bike so long that in any case my muscles will take some time to get race fit again. But, as I said, I’m looking forward to getting back and to starting work on the bike, looking towards the future.”

NICKY HAYDEN, Ducati Marlboro Team (14th in the championship on 73 points)
“A few weeks off is always nice but I’m definitely over it now and ready to get back to the track and on the bike. I haven’t really been up to anything exciting over the break, just training and hanging out getting prepared for the final stretch of the season. Any time we get a few weeks at home is like gold when you travel like we do. I am very excited for Portugal – we go there feeling pretty positive after finding some decent speed over the last few races. We go there at a different time in the season from last year so it has been almost a year and half since we’ve been to the track, which makes it a little difficult. The track is nothing real special but I like it. It’s pretty narrow, with probably the tightest and slowest chicane on the whole calendar, but has a great fifth gear kink on the back straightaway and the final turn is a very long, cool corner. Also we will have Casey back which is great for the team and the championship and I’m sure he will be as fast as ever. Getting on that front row or podium just got even harder for me!”

LIVIO SUPPO, MotoGP Project Director
“We are really pleased that Casey is back with us. We never had any doubt that he would be with us once again at Estoril. We know that he is still not in 100% peak fitness and we just hope that over the last four races of the season he can gradually build his strength and work with Nicky to help Filippo develop the bike. With that goal in mind we have a few new things to try this weekend, in particular a new fairing which is designed to make the bike handle better in strong winds and fast direction changes. I really hope Nicky’s luck turns around after Misano because his season has got gradually better and I’m sure he’ll keep that trend going this weekend.”

THE TRACK
Estoril is a circuit of huge contrasts. The main straight is one of the longest in MotoGP, allowing for speeds in excess of 300km/h, whilst the chicane is one of the slowest and alongside the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca one of the most difficult. The average speed of the circuit is the lowest of the entire MotoGP calendar and the contrast between the fast and slow sections requires a tricky compromise in the set-up of the chassis. The same can be said for the engine, which needs to provide good top speed as well as sweet performance in low revs. However, perhaps the most important variable for the riders is the circuit’s close proximity to the Atlantic ocean, which can create strong winds that unbalance the riders and leave dirt on the track surface, reducing grip levels, The circuit plays host to the Grand Prix of Portugal for the tenth time this year, with the race having previously been held in 1987 and 1988 in Spain, before Estoril met with the safety requirements.

ESTORIL CIRCUIT RECORDS

Circuit Record: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha – 2008), 1’37.404 – 154.564 Km/h
Best Pole: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha – 2008), 1’35.715 – 157.291 Km/h
Circuit Length: 4.182 km
MotoGP Race 2009: 28 laps (117.096 km)
MotoGP Schedule 2009: 13:00 local time – 14:00 Central Europe Time

Podium 2008: 1st Jorge Lorenzo, 2nd Dani Pedrosa, 3rd Valentino Rossi
Pole 2008: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha – 2008), 1’35.715 – 157.291 Km/h

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM’S BEST RESULTS AT ESTORIL
2008: 6th (Stoner)
2007: 3rd (Stoner)
2006: 12th (Capirossi)
2005: 5th (Checa)
2004: 7th (Capirossi)
2003: 3rd (Capirossi)

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM – RIDER INFO

CASEY STONER
Age: 22 (Born 16th October 1985 in Southport, Queensland, Australia)
Residency: Switzerland
Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP9
GP Appearances: 123 (63xMotoGP, 31×250, 30×125)
GP Victories: 25 (18xMotoGP, 5×250, 2×125)
First GP victory: Valencia, 2003 (125)
First GP: Great Britain, 2001 (125)
Pole positions: 20 (16xMotoGP, 2×250, 2×125)
First pole position: Italy, 2003 (125)
World Titles: 1 (MotoGP, 2007)

Stoner’s MotoGP track record at Estoril:
2008: Grid: 9th. Race: 6th
2007: Grid: 2nd. Race: 3rd
2006: Grid: 5th. Race: DNF

NICKY HAYDEN
Age: 28 (born 30th July 1981 in Owensboro, Kentucky, USA)
Residency: Owensboro, Kentucky, USA
Bike: Ducati MotoGP Team Desmosedici GP9
GP Appearances: 112 (112xMotoGP)
First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP)
Number of victories: 3 (3xMotoGP)
First GP victory: USGP, 2005 (MotoGP)
Pole positions: 5 (5xMotoGP)
First Pole: USGP, 2005 (MotoGP)
World Titles: 1 (MotoGP, 2006)

Hayden’s MotoGP track record at Estoril:
2008 Grid: 4th. Race: DNF
2007: Grid: 1st. Race: 4th
2006: Grid: 3rd. Race: DNF
2005: Grid: 9th. Race: 7°
2004: Grid: -. Race: N/A
2003: Grid: 15th. Race: 9th

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Fiat Yamaha

Fresh from a break of nearly a month, the Fiat Yamaha Team regroups this weekend at the coastal town of Estoril for the Portuguese Grand Prix. Returning to its more traditional end of season slot after moving to May last season, the race marks the start of the final phase of the championship with just the overseas double-header and the Valencian season finale remaining after it. Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo lie first and second in the championship and the Yamaha pair’s rivalry promises a tense climax to this year’s thrilling championship.

Rossi signed off for the holidays in fine fettle after taking his sixth win of the season at the last round, in front of his home fans at Misano. The 30-year-old has an exemplary record at Estoril and is the most successful rider in Grand Prix history at the track, having stood on the podium on all of his nine visits, including five wins. Last year he lost out to his then-rookie team-mate Lorenzo and finished third but the Italian will be looking for a maximum points haul this weekend as he stalks his ninth World Championship title.

With three wins under his belt this season so far, Lorenzo finished second in Misano last time out and will be hoping that a return to the scene of one of his greatest world championship performances will kickstart his championship run-in. The Mallorcan’s explosive entry into MotoGP last year culminated at the third race in Portugal when he took his third consecutive pole and his maiden premier-class win. 16 months on the 22-year-old is older and wiser and he knows that nothing less than a victory will do if he wishes to increase the pressure on his team-mate, who lies 30 points ahead of him in the standings.

Temperatures in early October usually settle around the mid-twenties in the region, although the Estoril circuit is located just seven kilometres from the Atlantic and is notorious for dramatic changes in weather, with spells of warm sunshine often interrupted by wild gusts of cold wind and rain. The layout of the Autodromo Fernanda Pires de Silva is similarly contrasting, featuring one of the longest main straights in MotoGP and one of the slowest corners. Several other twisty sections make for the lowest average speed in the championship but the 200km/h kink at turn five and the final Parabolica corner are two of the toughest tests of any rider’s skill and bravery.

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