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Fiat Yamaha pairing Valentino Rossi (above) and
Jorge Lorenzo (top) begin their assault on the
MotoGP tile firmly in the spotlight this
weekend as the new season gets underway
beneath the floodlights in Qatar. |
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The all-new Fiat Yamaha pairing of Valentino Rossi and
Jorge Lorenzo begin their assault on the 2008 MotoGP
World Championship firmly in the spotlight this weekend
as the new season gets underway beneath the floodlights
of the Losail International Circuit in Doha, Qatar.
The 60th season of the world’s oldest motorsport series
kicks off with an historic night race, the first in
Grand Prix history, and Rossi and Lorenzo will be
amongst no fewer than eleven past and present FIM World
Champions looking to claim motorcycling’s biggest prize.
For Rossi the new campaign represents a second
opportunity to reclaim the crown he held for five
consecutive seasons until 2006, with the Italian having
undergone an intense winter programme of physical
training and MotoGP testing. As well as working on
improvements with the engine of his Yamaha YZR-M1, Rossi
has also been adapting to a change of tyre manufacturer
and he is hoping to reap the fruit of his hard work in
the dark desert landscape of Doha, where he has already
celebrated victory on two previous occasions. A repeat
on Sunday night would be a good omen for the
29-year-old, who has won the opening race on each of the
five occasions he has won the title. A top three finish
would make him the first rider ever to reach 100
premier-class podiums.
At just 20 years of age Lorenzo will be the youngest
rider on the grid in Qatar, although he is unlikely to
be fazed. The 250cc World Champion has been on pole
position for the quarter-litre race there for the past
three years and has taken victory for the last two – a
clean sweep he had already managed as a precocious
teenager in the 125cc class in 2004. The Mallorcan will
also be buoyed by some impressive winter form on his new
800cc Yamaha, culminating with the fastest overall lap
time at the final preseason test at Losail just a few
days ago.
That crucial two-night session also provided the circuit
organizers with the opportunity to try out their
incredible lighting system with the full complement of
MotoGP riders on track. With 3,600 light fixtures using
250, 1500 and 2500-watt bulbs, the system needs 13
megawatt generators to produce the required 5.4 million
watts of power – creating enough light to cover an area
equivalent to 70 football pitches. The bulbs are fixed
on 1000 poles with mounting heights from 3-36 metres,
all linked together by almost 500 kilometres of wire and
supported by 300,000 kilos of concrete.
Valentino
Rossi
“Firstly
speaking about the night race, after the last test I am
quite relaxed about this. I think they have done an
excellent job with the lights and it’s really true that you
can ride just the same as you can by day. The biggest
problem is of course the temperature, because it’s very cold
by night and this makes our work, especially with the tyres,
much harder. Generally I’m very happy and excited that we
have finally reached the first race. It’s been a long time
since Valencia and I am definitely ready to start a new
challenge. Yamaha have worked very hard over the winter and
our new bike is very good; of course there are some things
still to work on and we did have some issues to contend with
at the last test, but I am confident that we are in good
shape overall. I am very happy with my tyres as well and now
I just want to get started. We have a big task ahead of us
but I know that my team and everyone at Yamaha are up to the
job.”
Jorge Lorenzo
“I was very
excited before the last test to see what it was like racing
at night, and to start with it was quite strange, as I
expected! After a short time however I was used to it and
really there is hardly any difference from the day. I did
find that riding at night makes you feel strangely ‘alone’
with your bike and therefore you have to be extra alert and
concentrated. I think the one thing that might be difficult
in the race is the shadows, and not becoming confused by
other riders’ ones, but I think it’s going to be fun. In
Qatar I was very happy with the work we did and this was the
perfect way to end a long winter of testing. Compared to how
I was when I first rode the M1 in Valencia, I think I have
really improved a lot. It’s been hard work and of course I
still have a lot to learn, but I think we’re starting the
season in as good a shape as I hoped. I am new to this and I
don’t know what to expect from the first race, but I just
hope to do my best and then I will be happy.”
Davide Brivio
(Team Manager)
“As far as the
light is concerned, after one hour testing things seemed to
be normal. We got used to the new conditions very quickly
and everything worked well so we are not expecting problems
for the race. As Valentino said, the biggest problem for us
is the temperature but this is the same for everyone so we
just have to do our best in the circumstances. Our
pre-season in general has gone very well; Valentino was very
fast in Sepang and Jerez and he has improved as expected
each test as we become more used to working with the tyres
and as we have improved the settings for the new bike. We
had some unexpected problems in Qatar and therefore we will
have to make the most of the four hours of practice to fix
those, but we have some ideas and I am confident we will be
ready. The practice is finally over and everyone is looking
forward now to getting started.”
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