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For rookie sensation Jorge Lorenzo the race
at Jerez will mark his home debut in the
premier-class and he heads into the race
full of confidence after taking centre stage
under the floodlights of Doha (above, waving
as he crossed the finish line). |
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After the excitement and intrigue of the first ever
night race in Qatar two weeks ago, business returns to
normal this weekend for the Fiat Yamaha Team as the
second round of the MotoGP World Championship welcomes
the staff and riders to more familiar surroundings in
Spain. A spring afternoon in Andalucia, at one of the
championship’s most popular testing venues, should
provide somewhat more predictable conditions and a more
realistic flavour of what is to come from the riders in
2008, with Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo looking to
establish their credentials in front of an adoring
capacity crowd at Jerez.
Rossi’s love affair with the Spanish fans stretches back
to 1996, when he took the first of his six victories in
all classes at Jerez. Five of those have come in the
premier-class, including with Yamaha in 2005 and 2007,
but with the 29-year-old now without a win since Estoril
last year, he must win if he is to avoid his longest
winless streak since his debut MotoGP victory at
Donington Park in 2000.
For rookie sensation Lorenzo the event marks his home
debut in the premier-class and he heads into the race
full of confidence after taking centre stage under the
floodlights of Doha. The 20-year-old started from pole
position and finished on the podium in his maiden MotoGP
appearance, meaning he lies second in the championship
heading to Jerez – a circuit that holds no secrets for
the Mallorcan. Lorenzo made history on home soil as the
youngest rider ever to qualify for a Grand Prix on his
15th birthday in the 125cc class back in 2002 and 250cc
victories for the past two seasons have contributed to
his rise as a national hero.
Jerez could barely provide a more strikingly contrasting
backdrop to Losail, with the rolling green Andalusian
hills providing the ideal setting for a natural
amphitheatre that has become known as the Spanish Mecca
of motorcycle racing, with upwards of 120,000 fans
making the annual pilgrimage. The track itself
challenges the riders to pick the most effective racing
line, with few hard braking points and little
opportunity to fully open the throttle. The 4.423km
layout features regular and quick changes in direction,
meaning that the rider requires a responsive overall
set-up and good grip at maximum lean angles.
Valentino
Rossi
“Obviously
Qatar didn’t turn out quite as we hoped but we took away
a lot of positives from the weekend. We saw how
competitive both our bike and the Bridgestone tyres are,
and this is very exciting for the season ahead. We did
some excellent work at the Jerez test in February and I
was able to have great fun riding the bike, so now I’m
really looking forward to going to race there. It’s a
great track to ride on, it’s quite technical and it
usually seems to suit our bike quite well. We know we
have a big job facing us, especially after the result of
Qatar, so we will be aiming to make the most of the few
hours of practice time that we have available to us to
refine our package. Jerez is a great track for me and I
have had some wonderful races there in the past,
including a brilliant win last year, and I always enjoy
racing there a lot. It will be nice to return to a
‘normal’ racing schedule, even if I enjoyed the night
racing in Qatar, and I have always felt very at home
racing in Spain. Most importantly, there’s always a
fantastic atmosphere in Jerez with the fans coming from
all over Spain; it’s like one big crazy party!”
Jorge
Lorenzo
"Qatar was
unbelievable and something I will remember forever. I've
felt great since and now I'm really excited about the
next one; I never expected to be going into only my
second MotoGP race in such a great position in the
classification! However I know it will be hard work for
me again in Jerez and it's still just my second race on
the M1. I will have to work and focus very hard in
practice if I want to be able to repeat the Qatar
experience. In November at the test I had some
difficulties but in February I did one of my best laps
of the whole winter, despite the bad weather, and I hope
I can be even faster this time. Jerez for me last year
was a fantastic race, I took pole position and the
victory and I also won in 2006 so I have some great
memories of racing here. Jerez is undoubtedly a special
track for me; it's my home, I know it very well and it's
the track where I rode in my very first GP in 2002. It's
also the first place I ever planted my 'Lorenzo's Land'
flag! It will always be in my heart. It's quite a
technical track and I like this about it. In Jerez a
rider can win the race in the corners and it's not
always the most important thing to have the fastest
bike. I feel quite different going to race in Spain now
compared to last year when I was in 250. Now I am at the
top and I feel very much in the spotlight. Qatar changed
everything for me and now I hope that I can continue in
the same way in front of my home fans!"
Davide
Brivio
“This
weekend it is back to normal and back to Europe, which
is very important. Qatar was important because it was
the first race with Bridgestone and now we have to apply
what we learnt in that race to Jerez. We know that our
package has great potential because the Yamaha YZR-M1
performed at a very high level and Bridgestone tyres won
the race so our job is to make the two things work
together as fast as we possibly can. This is our target
for Jerez, although it won’t be easy because we don’t
have much time – only four hours of practice. It means
we have to work well and be efficient from the first
moment but Qatar gave us great motivation and we can’t
wait to get back on track to try and make more
improvements.”
Daniele
Romagnoli
“We go to
Jerez feeling excited after the result in the first race
and also after a great test there during pre-season. We
have high hopes but it is very important that we keep
our feet on the ground. It is not an easy thing to do
but we are building for the future of Yamaha and we must
all keep our concentration on this job. There will be a
lot of fans and media at Jerez with great expectations
for Jorge but we will try to keep him relaxed and make
sure he doesn’t have to think about too much apart from
racing. But he did a great job in Qatar and it’s clear
that we don’t need to teach Jorge too much, he is very
intelligent and extremely focused on what he needs to
do. The Michelin tyres worked really well in Qatar and I
think they’ll be not so bad here too. We have a lot of
data gathered from the tests just one month ago so
hopefully that will help us find a setting quickly and
give Jorge time to get comfortable and find a good
rhythm for the race. In general we’re all looking
forward to going back to work and enjoying another
weekend of high emotion!”
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