Repsol YPF
Ruta
The Repsol Honda Team in top form for the start of the season
Five months have passed since Dani Pedrosa, standing on the top step of podium at the Circuito de la Comunitat Valenciana, ended the 2009 season to the sound of the Spanish national anthem and the echo of fireworks. This weekend the MotoGP World Championship will be back in action with one of the most spectacular races of the year: the night race at the Losail Circuit in Qatar. Pedrosa and Dovizioso arrive in top form at the floodlit race, episode one of the new MotoGP World Championship season.
Dani Pedrosa: “It’s time for the first race of the season and we go back to Qatar this weekend ready to put in maxiumum effort to do as well as possible at the opening round. There’s no need to get carried away with the nerves or expectations because this would be only detrimental for us. We will stay calm, be very focused and simply concentrate as hard as possible in the practice sessions in order to find a good setting for the race. Technically, this circuit requires very precise bike set-up, with good agility and good straight-line speed - these two factors are very important at Losail”.
“Two years ago we made an incredible step forward between the test and the race weekend and we have to do it once again - we know it can happen. I’m starting the season without physical problems, which means that the situation is much better than in the past, so we will work hard and do the maximu m to get the best result possible in Qatar. I fully trust in the team around me and I also believe in myself, so I’m feeling positive going into this weekend”.
Andrea Dovizioso: “I’m really looking forward to the first race and after the long winter break and testing sessions it’s a very good feeling to heading into a race weekend again. Me are the team are very motivated and happy with the work done in the pre-season. We have moved in the right direction and have seen a big improvement through testing, and this gives us a lot of confidence for the start of the season. On Friday we will start with the base setting from the last test session we had here in Qatar a few weeks ago and work on it further through the course of the race weekend”.
“The gap from us to the fastest riders has come down, but we still need to work really hard because we’re not close enough yet. The Qatar race is special and unique of course because it is at night. Having said that, once you get used to the floodlit circuit, it soon becomes “normal” to race in th ese conditions. The thing to consider carefully and to be careful about is the humidity, which is very high here at the time of the race. We’re ready for Round One and I’m really excited to go racing again”.
4/8/2010
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