Capirossi’s homeward bound for 13th round Loris Capirossi heads to his home track of Misano in Italy for the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix this weekend with hopes of a strong performance in front of his fellow countrymen. Capirossi hails from Bologna, approximately 130kms from Misano, so can be assured of plenty of local support at the 4,226m circuit. He will be heading home in a confident mood after giving a strong race-day performance in Indianapolis last weekend and with the introduction of the new chassis and engine for the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R recently, Capirossi will be determined to improve on the seventh place he scored at Misano last year. Chris Vermeulen also has high expectations for the forthcoming race. He was second at Misano two years ago and produced an equally impressive result there last year, after nearly high-siding early on and damaging his bike he pushed his way through the field to take fifth place. The Misano World Circuit is located near Rimini on the Adriatic Riviera and will be hosting its third MotoGP event since motorcycle Grand Prix racing returned to the venue after a 14-year absence. The track features many first and second gear slower corners where overtaking is almost impossible and a long sweeping curve with two high speed right-handers that certainly make for exciting racing. It is a circuit where ultimate top-speed is not essential, but smooth and tidy riding certainly plays a part in mastering the layout. Capirossi and Vermeulen will take to the track on Friday 4th September at 13.55hrs local time (11.55hrs GMT) for the first free practice session. Sunday’s 28-lap race is scheduled to get underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). Loris Capirossi: “I am really excited about going to Italy for my home GP. Misano is a beautiful place and I really like the circuit. I will have many friends and family there and for sure the Italian fans will certainly be giving me a lot of support. I have been fifth and seventh here in the last two years and would love to get on the podium this time – especially because it is in Italy – and will certainly be trying as hard as I can to achieve that. We made big steps with the chassis at Indianapolis and will have a good start point on Friday, we don’t know the full potential of it yet, but we will certainly be trying to find out in Misano!” Chris Vermeulen: “I am looking forward to going to Misano as it is a track I enjoy a lot; also it has been really warm there recently so it will be good to get back to the hot weather. I was fast there last year, apart from a small mishap on the first lap and I was on the podium two years ago so it holds some good memories for me. It is a track that has suited the Suzuki well in the past and we have good experience with the bikes there, I am sure we’re going to roll the bikes out of the box with a good set-up on Friday and push for a front-running position all weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: THE YOUNGEST MOTOGP DUO READY FOR MISANO GRAND PRIX The MotoGP World Championship is back in action after only four days from the Indianapolis Grand Prix. On September 6th the Misano Adriatico circuit will in fact host the thirteenth round of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship. The Pramac Racing duo, the youngest in the top category, is ready to battle up in one of the latest circuit added in the MotoGP calendar. The Misano World Circuit has in fact been renovated only a few years ago and since 2007 it hosts the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini Grand Prix on the 4226 meters long circuit with the main straight of 600 meters. For Niccolò Canepa this will the second time on the Misano circuit after the race in the Superstock 1000 in 2007. His teammate has instead ridden here in the last two seasons when he was riding in the 250cc category: in 2007 he has concluded in twelfth position, while the year after he didn’t unluckily managed to finish the race after qualifying in the front row on the starting grid with the third fastest time. Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing rider “It will nice to race close to home again. I already know the circuit even if when I rode here with the Superstock 1000 things didn’t go too well. I really hope that after Indianapolis race things will go in the right direction for me. I have been really unlucky this year and I confide in a bit of luck to be able to show my true value. The bike has improved a lot since the beginning of the season and I hope to be able to obtain a good result really soon.” Aleix Espargaro – Pramac Racing rider “I am sure that things here in Misano will go only better for me. This is a track I really like and where last year I conquered the front row with the third fastest lap time during qualifying. It will not be easy, I know this, but as usual I will give 100% to conquer the best result possible. With the Pramac Racing Team I felt good straight away and this allowed me to reach a good level since the first laps. For this reason I want to thanks the technical staff who have helped me a lot to adapt to this new adventure.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM HEAD TO SAN MARINO FOR SECOND HOME GP Just a week after celebrating a podium finish for Nicky Hayden in his own home race at Indianapolis, the Ducati Marlboro Team heads to the factory’s second home race this weekend as the series returns to Europe and the Misano circuit on the Adriatic coast. The American, who is hugely popular amongst Ducatisti thanks to his cheerful character and determined approach to racing, will be congratulated and supported by thousands of them – packed once again into the “Variante del Parco” corner. And whilst all those Ducatisti had also been looking forward to welcoming back their favourite, Casey Stoner, the 2007 race winner’s replacement in the Ducati Marlboro Team, Mika Kallio, will get just as much support. Eighth place for the flying Finn at Indianapolis equalled the best result of his debut MotoGP season so far but he remains unsatisfied and is confident of more at Misano. Despite contesting the practice and qualifying sessions Hayden missed last year’s race at Misano due to the effects of a foot injury, whilst in 2007 after starting from the front row he was forced off track by a crash for De Puniet on the first lap and could only manage thirteenth. Kallio has shown good pace at this circuit during practice for the 250cc races over the past two seasons but he was unable to finish in either of them. NICKY HAYDEN, Ducati Marlboro Team (12th in the championship on 73 points) “The little time we’ve had since Indy has flown by and even though I would have liked to have a bit more time to reflect on last weekend, Misano is right on us and that is what we have to focus on. Last year I rode in practice but wasn’t able to take part ion the race because of my foot injury but I like the circuit – there are a couple of fast right-handers at the end of the lap in particular that are a lot of fun. At Mugello I realised how special it is to race for Ducati in Italy so hopefully I can give all the Ducatisti even more reason to party. I know it won’t be easy and I can’t get overconfident even though everything went so well at Indy. I’ve learnt that this bike can quickly put you back in your place if you get cocky so once again I’ll just be putting my head down and giving it my maximum.” MIKA KALLIO, Ducati Marlboro Team (15th in the championship on 42 points) “I equalled my best ever MotoGP result at Indianapolis and even though the race went better than practice I still wasn’t satisfied. My main objective now is to find another half a second off my lap times and to do that I simply need to find more confidence in the front end of the bike. I know the potential is there so hopefully I can make the most of it at Misano. It is not exactly my favourite circuit but it’s okay. In 2007 I went pretty fast in practice not so much last year and crashed out of the race both times. Hopefully this year we can build on the work we did at Indy and get a good result.” LIVIO SUPPO, MotoGP Project Director “We arrive at Misano in high spirits thanks to Nicky’s excellent performance at Indy and we are happy to be getting back on track and hopefully continue with this positive trend of results. Mika will be with us once again as we await the return of Casey at Estoril and I really hope he is able to reap the fruit of all his recent hard work. He has demonstrated during his debut season in MotoGP that he has what it takes to do well and I’m sure he will confirm his potential soon.” THE TRACK The Misano Autodrome was built in the early 1970s, measuring a mere 3.488km in its original form. In 1993 it was extended to 4.060km before further modifications between 1996 and 1998 saw the pit garage and paddock complex extended and updated. For the majority of the Italian riders in the World Championship this is their true home round because they hail from this part of Italy. The current circuit layout, which was reversed from anti-clockwise to clockwise before the return of MotoGP following a 16-year hiatus in 2007, is simple in appearance but in reality it is very technical. In general it is a tight track, characterised by a prevalence of slow corners with the notable exception of the fast and extremely demanding ‘Curvone’ right-hander. MISANO CIRCUIT RECORDS Circuit Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha – 2008), 1’34.904 160.305 Km/h Best Pole: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2008), 1’33.370 162.924 Km/h Circuit Length: 4.226 km MotoGP Race 2009: 28 laps (118.328 km) MotoGP Schedule 2009: 14:00 Central Europe Time Podium 2008: 1st Valentino Rossi, 2nd Jorge Lorenzo, 3rd Toni Elias Pole 2008: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2008), 1’33.378 162.924 Km/h DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM’S BEST RESULTS AT MISANO 2008: 9th (Melandri) 2007: 1st (Stoner) More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Whilst news of Nicky Hayden’s renewal for 2010 with Ducati meant he was in an understandably good mood in Thursday’s Gran Premio Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini press conference, Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo were still at the centre of the amassed media’s attention ahead of round thirteen. Rossi, Lorenzo and Hayden were joined by Marco Melandri and Alex de Angelis at the press briefing – with last weekend’s events at Indianapolis leading to the obvious questions about a revived title battle between the Fiat Yamaha riders. However, Rossi was perhaps playing mind games by talking up the chances of Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa this weekend, when he stated, “It will be very difficult to try and stay in front of Jorge here. It is already a good target just to stay ahead of Dani because with the acceleration points here the Honda and his riding style will be good. We will aim for the podium and just to take some important points and then afterwards we will look at the other races.” Meanwhile, asked whether his confidence had been significantly boosted by halving the championship deficit to 25 points on Sunday, Lorenzo tried to play things cool and look at the wider picture, saying, “My confidence is actually just the same. We are fast at every track and things just change when you have bad luck or you take too much of a risk. We are competitive at every circuit and we are still just learning from the experience.” Previewing his biggest race of the year San Marino rider De Angelis commented, “Of course this race is very important for me because I am at home and the podium which I got at Indianapolis has given me a big lift. We know that it will not be easy to be on the podium again here but I will do my very best.” Melandri, meanwhile referenced his two recent DNFs at Indy and Brno before giving some technical details of the challenges he currently faces with his prototype during races. The Italian rider explained, “At the last two rounds I have had some bad luck but I think this track (Misano) could be good for me if we work hard during the practice. I would like to achieve seventh or eighth, but it is hard for me at the beginning of races with my bike when it has a full fuel tank as it’s aggressive and it’s hard to keep good corner speed.” The last word went to a beaming Hayden, who has had a great week, with his home podium at The Brickyard on Sunday followed up by his Ducati contract renewal. The man from Kentucky remarked, “It has been great. I was due a good result and we managed to come through and produce it at home. Then with the Ducati news it has just got better so I want to focus on doing a good job in these last five GPs of 2009. There is still a lot of racing to go this year!” Earlier in the day Thursday’s pre-event activities commenced with a visit to the historic centre of San Marino and the ‘Wall’ at Mount Titano, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. The aforementioned Melandri and De Angelis were in attendance and were joined by Colin Edwards, Gabor Talmacsi, Héctor Barberá, Andrea Iannone, Raffaele de Rosa, Alex Baldolini and Hiroshi Aoyama as they abseiled down the wall. Randy de Puniet also attended, but sat out the abseiling because of his ankle injury. The riders then moved on to San Patrignano, which is a privately funded drug rehabilitation community that has been heavily supported by Scot Costruzioni and the Scot Racing Team since it was founded in 1978. The riders were introduced to the 1500 community residents, before the project’s press officer, Carlo Bozzo, explained how the San Patrignano programme works to rehabilitate marginalised individuals and drug addicts without any social, political, or religious discrimination.