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The Fiat Yamaha Team will float across
the Mediterranean on cloud nine this week as they follow the
MotoGP World Championship trail to Barcelona on the back of
a stunning victory for Valentino Rossi at Mugello. Rossi's
25-point haul in front of his adoring home fans has
propelled him to within striking distance of series leader
Casey Stoner, who now holds a precarious advantage of just
nine points, and provided a real boost in confidence as the
team head to one of Rossi's happiest hunting grounds.
Not only is the Catalonian capital one of
Rossi's favourite cities, but the circuit they built as part
of their Olympic Games project back in 1992 has seen the
multi-World Champion grace the top step of the podium on no
fewer than eight occasions in all classes. For the past
three seasons the 28-year-old has taken MotoGP victory there
for Yamaha and, after enjoying the much-improved engine
performance of the YZR-M1 down the long straight of his home
track, he has every reason to be optimistic of a repeat
result this Sunday.
For Colin Edwards the ferry ride to the
north-eastern coast of Spain represents a welcome
opportunity to put last weekend's events behind him as soon
as possible. The Texan has struggled to find a comfortable
set-up for his machine at the past two races and after
suffering from the limited track time afforded by the
changeable weather in France and Italy he will be hoping for
a more traditional June climate on the Iberian peninsular.
Like Mugello, and some of this year's
previously visited tracks such as Losail, Shanghai and
Istanbul, the Circuit de Catalunya features a main straight
that is amongst the longest in the world. The rest of the
track is characterised by long radius, medium and high-speed
sweepers, with two tight left-hand hairpins thrown into the
mix. This variation combined with regular changes in camber
makes the circuit particularly demanding on chassis balance
and means that front-end feel is a key concern for every
rider.
After enjoying
the raucous backing of over 85,000 fans at his home circuit,
Valentino Rossi is looking forward to yet more passionate
support in Barcelona this Sunday. Despite the recent success
of local rider Dani Pedrosa, Rossi remains a firm favourite
with the Spanish fans and always looks forward to performing
for them, whether it be at Barcelona, Jerez or Valencia.
"Barcelona
is always a great race for me and I've won there the last
three years with Yamaha, so hopefully we can do it again,"
says Rossi. "I am lucky to
have lots of fans in Spain, even though I have had some
close rivalries with Spanish riders, and it is always a
pleasure to ride in front of them. I got a fantastic
reception when I won the race at Jerez earlier in the season
so hopefully I can start the same kind of party in
Barcelona. Dani Pedrosa will also have a lot of support this
weekend and I expect him to be a difficult rival once again
after such a good race at Mugello.
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Valentino Rossi's 25-point haul in front of his
adoring home fans in Mugello (above) has propelled
him to within striking distance of series leader
Casey Stoner, who now holds a precarious advantage
of just nine points. |
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The Fiat Yamaha Team will float across the
Mediterranean on cloud nine this week as they follow
the MotoGP World Championship trail to Barcelona on
the back of a stunning victory for Valentino Rossi
at Mugello (above). |
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"Also Stoner will be strong, especially down the long
straight, but Yamaha and Michelin have worked really hard to
close the gap on our rivals and I think we are ready to
battle with them at every track now. After Mugello we have
three more races at three of my favourite tracks so
hopefully we can continue with the good progress we have
made recently and be back on top of the podium again!"
Despite making a bright start to the
season a run of bad luck and even worse weather has hindered
the progress of Colin Edwards in recent weeks, leaving him
languishing in tenth place in the championship. The ‘Texas
Tornado' is desperate for three fully dry free practice
sessions this weekend as he aims to rediscover feeling and
confidence with his YZR-M1 but in any case he has a good
record at the circuit in wet conditions, having won the
ultra-competitive pre-season ‘qualifying' session in a
torrential downpour just over a year ago.
"Mugello
was a nightmare for me but it's behind us now and luckily
Barcelona is a track I like a lot more," says Edwards.
"I know I'm good in the wet
there too after winning the ‘qualifying' at the pre-season
test in 2006 so if we get hit by the bad weather that seems
to have been following us around then we should be okay this
time. Basically we've got to get our heads down from Friday
morning and be right up there from the very first session.
We lost one of only two dry practices in Mugello because we
were trying something that didn't work and we can't afford
for that to happen again. We know we've got the package to
be competitive so it's just a case of making the right
decisions, getting some confidence going again and moving
forward."
Fiat Yamaha Team
Director Davide Brivio enjoyed a short celebration after the
team's home Grand Prix on Sunday evening but it was soon
back to work for the whole staff as they hit the road for
Barcelona. This weekend's race is the second of six over a
seven-week spell that will put every team member to the test
and firmly establish the serious contenders for the MotoGP
World Championship title this season.
"This is a
really busy time for everyone but Mugello was a great boost
and we go to Barcelona full of confidence and motivation,"
says Brivio. "We've have an
excellent record at the Catalunya Circuit over the last few
years and it's another of Valentino's favourite tracks. He
was in fantastic form in Mugello and hopefully this will
continue in Spain. The team and Yamaha have done a brilliant
job after some problems that we had and Valentino's win in
Mugello showed that we're in a position to fight. We've
found some extra top speed, although this is something we
will keep on trying to improve, and Michelin have also made
some good improvements with the tyres. Colin had a bad time
in Italy but Barcelona suits him much better and we just
need to keep working and find a way to get him back to the
form he was showing a couple of races ago."
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