After a well-earned
two-week summer break, the Fiat Yamaha Team will reform
at Brno in the Czech Republic this weekend as the second
half of the 18-race MotoGP season gets underway. Jorge
Lorenzo lands at the eastern European circuit as the
runaway championship leader and his team-mate Valentino
Rossi is hoping to be back to his best after the time
off has given him further opportunity to recover from
the broken leg and injured shoulder he sustained earlier
in the season.
Lorenzo has won an incredible six out of nine races so
far this season and come second in the remainder and he
signed off the for the summer break in the best possible
frame of mind, having won commandingly at Laguna Seca
last time out. The 23-year-old has spent time fitness
training and relaxing in the Dominican Republic during
the holidays and is looking forward to getting back to
the business of racing this weekend. He has three wins
at Brno to his name, one in 125cc and two in 250cc, but
he has had little luck there in MotoGP and last year he
crashed out when sparring for the lead with Rossi,
something he will be hoping to forget this time around.
Brno is an historic track for World Champion Rossi as it
was there that he took the first of his 104 Grand Prix
wins, in the 125cc class in 1996. Since then he has gone
on to take a further six wins at the track, five of them
in MotoGP and including the last two years. The
31-year-old Italian made a sensational return to the
podium at Laguna Seca only seven weeks after breaking
his leg but he was not yet back to peak physical
condition. A two -week holiday has given the nine-time
champion another chance to work on his strength and
fitness and he hopes to be in much better shape at this
race and ready to mount a challenge for race wins over
the remaining half of the season.
A Grand Prix was first held on the Brno road circuit in
1965 and since then over 40 World Championship races
have been contested there. Today the modern track
retains much of the character of the original road
circuit, with its winding chicanes and dramatic
elevation changes and it is a favourite track with the
riders, often bringing as it does fast and close racing.
Jorge Lorenzo
"The holidays were
perfect. Ten days in the Caribbean for rest and fun,
charging the batteries for the second half of the
season. I needed it because the calendar has been busy
in the last month and now I can focus on the rest of the
season. We are going to Brno, a track I like and where
I've won three times, but never in MotoGP. I haven't
even got a podium here and this is my challenge, my
first podium in the second part of the season and in
Brno. Czech Republic is a nice country, with amazing
people at the race and also the track is impressive,
fast and with some good hills. After the race I will
stay in Brno to try something new on the bike, something
to improve our bike until the end of championship. Good
place to restart!"
Valentino Rossi
"I've had a good break
and it's helped me a lot to have this time to work on my
physical condition. I'm feeling good about my leg and my
shoulder and I hope that this weekend I'll be feeling
much stronger. Brno is a great track for me and it's
always special because it's the first place I ever won
at. Last year I had a great race, this year will be
harder because I'm not completely fit yet but I am
looking forward to getting back on the bike. We have
half the season still to go and our aim is to have a
good second half!"
Wilco Zeelenberg -
Team Manager, Lorenzo
"We already had a bit
of a look at what happened last year and we've watched
the race together. Jorge likes the track very much and
he was in good shape, fighting with Valentino, but the
crash was his mistake because he pushed a bit too far.
This year however things are very different and he has a
big cushion in the championship so he can relax, think
about the podium and taking the maximum points he can in
order to keep a comfortable lead."
Davide Brivio -
Team Manager, Rossi
"We are
about to start the second part of season and we are
quite excited about it. Valentino has been working hard
on his recovery and, although he won't be at 100% yet at
Brno, we are ahead of ourselves because after the
initial injury we thought he wouldn't be back until this
race. It has been very important to be back in the last
two races to get back to race pace. Now we will work
towards a great end of the season, waiting to see
Valentino fighting again for the victories. Brno will be
the first real step of his recovery."
