Repsol Honda Team leading the way as season approaches halfway stage This weekend, the Grand Prix of Germany marks the halfway point of the MotoGP World Championship, the ninth round of the calendar. The Sachsenring circuit, the second shortest after Laguna Seca, is one of the most visited tracks in the world and the last European race before the summer break. The Repsol Honda Team will be aiming to capitalise on the improvements made to the RC212V at the test held in Mugello on July 4 and looking to fight victory. Casey Stoner will seek to increase his gap of 19 points over Jorge Lorenzo in the MotoGP World Championship standings at a circuit where he clinched a podium last season and took the victory in 2008. Andrea Dovizioso is in top form after achieving four podiums in the last five races that have consolidated him in third place overall. He will be looking to improve his Sachsenring record, where his best result in MotoGP has been fifth place. Dani Pedrosa, who returned to competition in Italy after a month and a half off, has been training hard since Mugello to step up his fitness and prepare as best possible to face one of his strongest circuits: the Spaniard has four wins (two in MotoGP) and five podium finishes in Sachsenring where he won convincingly in 2010. CASEY STONER World Championship Position: 1st with 152 points “I’m looking forward to going to Sachsenring, it’s a circuit where we’ve enjoyed good results in the past few years. The track is very tight and technical so it demands a different style of riding and we also need to set the bike up in a different way. It’s pretty tough on tyres as the majority of corners are long left handers so the wear on the left hand side of the tyre is quite significant. It takes a lot of work to get a good set up in order to have a good pace for the race distance. I really enjoy this race, the atmosphere is amazing and the countryside is beautiful. We’ve always been pretty fast there and I’m sure with the Honda we can be competitive”. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO World Championship Position: 3rd with 119 points “We arrive in Germany strong and competitive. The second place in front of the Italian crowd at Mugello gave us an extra boost to continue working and improving race after race. The post GP test at Mugello was an important occasion to fine tune the set up of the bike and try a new swing arm. We had good feedback so we arrive in Germany with a good base and I think we will use the new swing arm as the feeling was positive and lap times came easier. I enjoy going to Sachsenring, it has a good atmosphere and there are always a lot of spectators. However, as a circuit it is very different from Mugello, it’s a quite short racetrack, with a very slow first section followed by a very fast second half. We will work hard from the first practice session, as we did in Mugello, this is very important to prepare the machine for the race. I’m very motivated, we are third in Championship and we want to continue gaining important points for the season”. DANI PEDROSA World Championship Position: 7th with 69 points “The last race in Mugello was good because after a long time without racing, I saw that I haven’t lost the ability to go fast. I have to regain fitness and this week I have worked hard. I’ve always had very good races at Sachsenring and it’s good to get to a track where you know you can do well. Contrary to Mugello, Germany is all almost left hand corners and this must help me. Last year, we had a great race there and hopefully we can do a good job again during practices, hope nothing goes wrong and come out with a good chance for the race”.