Repsol Honda arrive in Italy leading the Championship This weekend the MotoGP paddock heads to Mugello for the GP of Italy, the fifth round of the 2013 World Championship After a cold and wet weekend in Le Mans, Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez will be looking forward to the Tuscan sunshine and hoping to continue their run of double podiums. The Mugello track has a blend of slow and fast turns with sweeping curves, long straights and off-camber corners making it one of the most challenging circuits for the riders and engineers. Dani, fresh from his fantastic win in France, celebrates seven podium finishes in Mugello including two victories (2010 in MotoGP, 2005 in 250cc) and now leads the World Championship standings. Marc, who experienced his first race in the wet aboard the MotoGP machine in France and achieved a well earned 3rd place, has also been victorious on two occasions in Mugello (2011 in Moto2 and 2010 in 125cc), he is 2nd just 6 points behind Dani in the standings. Dani Pedrosa Championship Standing: 1st – 83 points “After a the race in Le Mans, I’ve managed to relax this week and I feel good physically. Mugello is a nice track and one that I really enjoy to ride. It’s a fast track with long corners so it’s important to have a good feeling with the bike. Usually the weather is good to us and there is a great atmosphere with all the fans there. I am leading the Championship which is very special so I hope we can arrive in Mugello and that the bike works well there too and we can do a good race!” Marc Marquez Championship Standing: 2nd – 77 points “I’m really pleased with the race in Le Mans, it was great experience for me to ride in the wet but now I am happy to go to Mugello and hopefully have some nice weather! Mugello is a difficult circuit, perhaps one of the most difficult in the World Championship. It has many changes of direction so we must work hard from the beginning to find the right set up. These coming to races will be very important as they are difficult circuits and we must remain focused. The other riders are so fast in Mugello so I’m sure it’s going to be tough, but as always we will try our 100%!”