Emotion will be running high in the JiR Team as we head towards the GP of San Marino in Misano Adriatico, felt by many as our second home GP. Technicians and riders have just come back from the USA and are already working hard to get machines and materials ready. Simone Corsi’s good race in Indianapolis gives hope to the team, and they are now expecting another excellent performance, perhaps with the chance of a podium which seems more and more an adequate result considering the latest excellent performances made by the Roman rider. Preparations are already being made for the race, using the technical developments already tested in previous races and test sessions. Simone Corsi “I’m happy to come back to race in Misano, it is a circuit where I feel comfortable and I’ve always made good races here. I’m positive because in Brno and Indianapolis we had two good performances, with good times in practice and we were on the pace, we just missed that little bit of luck that helps you reach the podium or the top step. We are conscious of our potential and I really hope to get a good result to reward all the work we’re doing.” More news for the San Marino GP is the rider that will race the second MotoBI in the team. It will be Alex De Angelis, who will come back to a Moto2 race after a brief return to MotoGP. This is good news that heightens enthusiasm among the team. Alex De Angelis “I’m happy we found an agreement with the JiR Team for this race in Misano, where I’m at home. Simone Corsi is doing well in the championship, and this makes me guess the machine is a good one. I’m happy also because I already know almost all the team, they are the same technicians with whom I ran in 2006/2007, when I made 20 podiums therefore I feel already at home. Obviously I’ll need to know the machine and get some confidence, but I’ll give all my best as we’re not here to ‘take part’.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi will be going home for the next round of the MotoGP World Championship as the team heads to the Misano World Circuit in Italy for the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini Grand Prix. Capirossi originates from Castel San Pietro Terme, near Bologna, about 100kms from the Misano circuit. He will be looking to continue with the good run of form at the 4,226m Italian track that has seen him score two top-five finishes in the past three seasons. Capirossi is still in search of his 100th podium and would like nothing better than to secure that in front of his home crowd. Álvaro Bautista will be heading to the Misano circuit for the first time in the MotoGP class. The Spaniard is going there on the back of an impressive ride last time out at Indianapolis that saw him secure eighth place. Bautista is in a confident mood as he travels to a circuit that he has enjoyed success at in recent seasons. The 25-year-old won at the Misano circuit in 2008 onboard a 250cc machine and followed that with a third place last year in the quarter litre class. The Misano World Circuit was designed in 1969, with racing starting there three years later. The Italian venue has held 11 motorcycle Grands Prix since 1980, with MotoGP visiting there for the first time in 2007, when Rizla Suzuki riders took second and third places on the podium. Rizla Suzuki takes to the track for the first free practice session on Friday afternoon, with the second free practice the following morning. Saturday afternoon will have an hour of qualifying to decide grid positions for Sunday’s 28-lap race that is scheduled to get underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). Loris Capirossi: “It is always good to race at home and Misano is the closest track to where I am from. I am determined to put on a good performance there, because we have been working very hard all season and not getting the rewards that I think we deserve so Misano will be the ideal place to start that happening and turn our season around. We still need to find the right solution to give us the best feeling from the GSV-R so will be trying to be as competitive as possible from the first day. We have to keep a strong mentality, we have seven more races to go this year and we have to keep fighting to get to the top.” Álvaro Bautista: “I have more confidence in myself and the bike after last weekend, so I will be trying as hard as I can right from the beginning at Misano to improve my performance on the bike. It was really important for me to finish the race at Indianapolis – as it seemed like a long time since that had happened. I still believe that we can fight with the top guys, so we need to make that the next target and keep improving for the rest of the season.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Jorge Lorenzo may have seen his lead in the championship standings reduced by nine points as a result of Dani Pedrosa’s win last time out in Indianapolis, but the 23-year-old Spanish rider isn’t worrying just yet. Lorenzo still enjoys a 68-point advantage over his compatriot and is keen to extend that further this weekend at Misano, where he’s looking to continue his unbroken run of podium finishes. The Fiat Yamaha rider suffered in the extreme conditions at Indianapolis, but still managed to claim his 11th podium of the season. “At Indianapolis I had a lot of problems with my physical condition,” explained Lorenzo during today’s pre-event press conference, where Dani Pedrosa, Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden and Loris Capirossi joined him. “Even on the Monday I didn’t feel completely fit, but I’m sure I’ll be back to full fitness ready for tomorrow.” The championship leader’s track record at Misano is a good one; he won the 250cc race in 2007 and finished second in the premier class in both 2008 and 2009. “I quite like this track. There is nothing particularly special about it, but everything is good. I like riding here.” When asked about his future, and whether his agreement with Yamaha for next season was any closer to being signed Lorenzo replied, “I hope to have everything sorted for the 2011 season in the next few weeks.” While Lorenzo will be happy with a podium finish this weekend, Dani Pedrosa needs to beat the Fiat Yamaha rider once again if he is to further close the gap in the championship. Pedrosa’s victory in Indianapolis marked the first time that the Repsol Honda rider has won more than two races in a single season and he arrives in Misano determined to challenge Lorenzo once again this weekend. “It would be great to carry on this weekend where we left off at Indianapolis, but we know this is a hard track for us, so we need to work hard from Friday onwards,” declared Pedrosa. “The beginning of the season was not so good, but now we’ve improved little by little and the results are coming better. We just need to carry this momentum for the rest of the season now.” Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi has won for the past two years at Misano and, despite missing three races through injury this season, is closing fast on Casey Stoner’s fifth place in the championship standings. The 31-year-old Italian is just five points short of the Australian’s tally, a situation he is keen to reverse this weekend in front of the thousands of fans who’ll make the annual pilgrimage to Misano from his hometown of Tavullia. “This is my home Grand Prix, because I live just ten kilometres away and I have spent a lot of time on this track, starting with the Italian Sport Production bikes,” explained Rossi. “I’ve had two fantastic races here the last two years, so there is a lot of expectations from the fans ahead of this weekend. This race will be hard on the body with all the hard braking, but we must try very hard to make a good result.” Rossi announced at Brno that he would leave Yamaha to ride for Ducati in 2011, but refused to expand on the subject when asked during the press conference for his thoughts on the move. “Everything is all clear for the future, but we will have a lot of time to talk about the future in the future,” said the reigning World Champion, sidestepping the question with his usual skill! Misano hasn’t been the luckiest of tracks for Nicky Hayden. In the three years that the circuit has featured on the MotoGP calendar, the Ducati rider has never finished a race here. “I’ve had some bad luck here, that’s for sure,” stated Hayden. “The first year I got caught up with De Puniet at turn one and went down, the following year I didn’t ride because of my foot injury and last year I got taken out in another crash at turn one!” Hayden qualified on the front row of the grid for the first time this season, but was unable to capitalise on his starting position after losing a knee slider during the early stages of the race. The American is still looking for his first podium of the season, but admits that there is still something needed to get him on terms with the frontrunners in the championship. “I’m still missing something. Qualifying on the front row at Indy was important and everyone in the team is doing a great job, but there is definitely still some room for improvement. From third down to seventh place in the championship remains very close, so it’s still possible for me to finish in the top five this season.” With 99 Grand Prix podiums to his name already, nothing would please Loris Capirossi more than to rack up his century here at Misano in front of the Italian fans. Despite top five finishes here the past two years, it will be a tall order for the veteran rider, who has struggled to get to terms with the 2010 GSV-R so far this season. “It’s easy to see that this season hasn’t been the best for us,” said Capirossi, who won the 250cc race at Misano back in 1993. “We have been working very hard all season, changing the bike to try and make things better, but with little improvement. There are still seven races to go in the championship, so I think it’s still possible to improve our position.” When asked about his plans for 2011 and beyond, Capirossi replied, “It’s no secret that I want to ride a 1000cc MotoGP bike again, but to do that I need to be here for the next two years. The situation for next year is not clear 100 percent, but I do have some options to stay in MotoGP, certainly for one more season at least.” Earlier today Johann Zarco, Valentin Debise, Mattia Pasini, Colin Edwards, Jonas Folger and Sandro Cortese all did some uphill mountain biking in San Marino, the historical centre which has been recognized by the UNESCO World Heritage. At the end of the ride, by a parliament building in the Plaza of Liberty, there was a presentation set up of different bikes including one from Max Biaggi and another one from Rossi. The Misano round of the 2010 MotoGP World Championship was also brought in with a special pre-event yesterday evening in the Adriatic Coastal city of Riccione, as a selection of riders were paraded through the city centre in BMW convertible cars. MotoGP fans turned out in force to see their heroes as premier class riders Aleix Espargaró, Álvaro Bautista and Nicky Hayden were joined by Moto2 stars Simone Corsi, Raffaele de Rosa, Andrea Iannone Valentin Debise and Mattia Pasini. Also present were 125cc hotshots Marc Marquez, Pol Espargaró, Sandro Cortese, Simone Grotzkyj, Marco Ravaioli, Johann Zarco and Lorenzo Savadori. When the riders arrived in the centre of Riccione they were accompanied by participants of the Miss Motosprint competition, and gave interviews on stage. The Espargaró brothers and Bautista then joined a panel of judges who crowned the winning candidate, who will be a Paddock Girl for the Pramac Racing team this weekend. The fans were then treated to a meet and greet session with the riders who signed autographs and posed for photographs.