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The sixth round of the MotoGP World
Championship welcomes the Fiat Yamaha Team to their ‘home'
circuit of Mugello next weekend and the mouth-watering
prospect of another classic race at the legendary venue.
Already one of the most eagerly anticipated dates on the
calendar, this year's visit to Tuscany has the extra spice
of an Italian manufacturer leading the World Championship
whilst the homecoming of Valentino Rossi to his adoring fans
always guarantees an electric atmosphere and a performance
to match from the mercurial 28-year-old.
Rossi has satiated the partisan local
crowd's appetite for entertainment and end-product for the
past five seasons, putting together a run of victories
previously unsurpassed by any one rider at their local
track. ‘The Doctor' has not been beaten on Italian soil
since 2001, when he crashed out in a wet race, and his past
three victories for Yamaha are unequalled in measures of
brilliance and bravery. Mike Hailwood, who won the Isle of
Man TT for five consecutive seasons in the 1960s, is the
only rider in history to have held such a firm stronghold
over his home Grand Prix.
Colin Edwards' record at Mugello is
somewhat less spectacular but the Texan has every reason to
look forward to this weekend. After qualifying on the front
row of the grid at four of the first five races Edwards has
been denied a mammoth points haul merely through sheer bad
luck - the latest chapter in a catalogue of misfortune
coming in France, where the heavens opened as the grid
formed on an otherwise dry circuit and denied him the chance
to shoot for victory from pole position. A continuation of
his excellent practice form and another top performance in
qualifying should finally bear fruit this Sunday.
The Mugello circuit is one of the fastest
on the calendar, with the front straight almost certain to
entice the new 800cc machines towards their highest top
speed of the year. Measuring 1,141m, it is 61m shorter than
the back straight of Shanghai, the longest in the
championship, but the faster final turn and longer entry
into the straight means the riders can get on the gas early,
shift up through the gears and still have time to get the
throttle wide open in sixth, potentially edging past the
337.5km/h set by Casey Stoner in China. Mugello differs from
other fast circuits in its frequent changes of gradient and
the speed of its chicanes. There is a mix of slower and
high-speed corners, although even the slowest corners are
wide, allowing several ‘ideal' lines and putting the
emphasis on rider skill as well as chassis set-up precision.
As well as his five MotoGP victories at
Mugello, Valentino Rossi also won the 125cc race there in
1997 and the 250cc race in 1999 - making him easily the most
successful rider at the circuit across all classes of Grand
Prix racing. It promises to be another special weekend for
the Italian and he is optimistic that his chances won't be
spoiled, as they were in France, by the rain.
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After qualifying on the front row of the grid at
four of the first five MotoGP races this year Colin
Edwards has been denied a mammoth points haul merely
through sheer bad luck. |
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The sixth round of the MotoGP World Championship
welcomes the Fiat Yamaha Team to their ‘home'
circuit of Mugello next weekend and the
mouth-watering prospect of another classic race at
the legendary venue. |
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"We hoped that Le Mans would be a place where we might have
been able to win back some points on Stoner, but
unfortunately the weather played against us," says
Rossi, who trails the Australian by 21 points in the current
rider standings. "We stayed
in France for two days of testing and we made a lot of
progress, especially with the tyres. We also tried some new
engine modifications, just small details, which we think
will help us in Mugello.
"As everyone knows I have a very special relationship with
Mugello. I have won there many times, including the last
three years with Yamaha, and I've had some of the greatest
races of my life there. Even though I will have a second
home race this year at Misano, Mugello is something
incredible and the fans and atmosphere there are always
unbelievable. It's a fantastic track but of course the
straight is very long and we know we're going to have a very
hard battle on our hands. At least we can rely on the
weather... I hope!"
In stark contrast to the fortunes of
Valentino Rossi at Mugello, for Colin Edwards it is one of
his least successful circuits - with a best ever result of
ninth place in both 2003 and 2005. However, Edwards' pace
aboard the YZR-M1 at every kind of circuit so far this
season gives him plenty of reason to think that he can end
that barren run this Sunday.
"Mugello
hasn't been one of my best GP tracks and I've never had a
really great race there, but we're aiming to turn that
around this time," affirms Edwards.
"Le Mans was a massive
disappointment for everyone, especially after getting pole,
but it was good to get back to work straight away and try to
find out why it happened instead of sitting stewing over it
for ten days. We know our bike is working brilliantly when
we get everything right - qualifying is proving that at
every race - but we really need to translate that to race
conditions and to do this we need to make the most of every
minute of practice.
"Mugello
is an incredible place and the Italian fans are completely
crazy, in a good way! The countryside is beautiful and you
can't help but be inspired by the atmosphere. This is really
crunch time now - six races in eight weeks with the first
being Valentino's home race and the last, in the US, being
mine. Let's hope we can kick the run off to a good start
with a double podium in Mugello, finish it off in the same
way at Laguna and try to do the same thing at all the ones
in between too!"
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