MISANO WILL BE A BIG CHALLENGE FOR THE REPSOL RIDERS THIS WEEKEND Dani Pedrosa, Nicky Hayden, Julián Simón, Shuhei Aoyama, Esteve Rabat and Bradley Smith face, just like their rivals, a circuit that is completely unknown. This weekend the World Motorcycling Championship returns to the circuit of Misano after a 13 year absence. The circuit has undergone a complete overhaul – including a change of direction – is an extra 120 metres long and now has a length of 4.180km. Misano will host the 13th race of the 2007 season. This weekend the World Motorcycling Championship returns to the circuit of Misano after a 13 year absence. The circuit has undergone a complete overhaul – including a change of direction – is an extra 120 metres long and now has a length of 4.180km. Misano will host the 13th race of the 2007 season. After the training sessions held at Brno on the Monday and Tuesday after the race in the Czech Republic, the two riders in the Repsol Honda Team will tackle this race with optimism because of the good results there. The Repsol Honda Team, HRC and Michelin are working flat out to achieve the level of competitiveness necessary to get back among the race leaders. The track in Italy, an unknown for all the participants in the World Motorcycling Championship, can even things out as none of the teams have any tyre references. Dani Pedrosa returns to Italy this weekend as the third placed rider in the classification, after having cut the gap that Valentino Rossi, the second placed rider, has over him by 4 points at the recent Czech Republic GP. The difference between the Spanish rider and the Italian Yamaha is now 18 points, and there are now just six races left. His teammate Nicky Hayden wants to carry on with his good run after having finished on the podium in three of the last four races. A new chassis and the latest evolution of the engine on the RC212V are the decisive factors helping the American to be competitive. For the young riders under the eye of Alberto Puig and competing in 125cc and 250cc, Misano will be another chance for them to learn more. Julián Simón and Shuhei Aoyama are optimistic as the circuit of Misano should suit the technical characteristics of their bikes. For the youngest in 125cc, Bradley Smith and Esteve Rabat, the fact that their rivals do not know much about the track may help to make things more equal as everybody will start from zero. MotoGP Nicky Hayden “It is very exciting to go to a new circuit and of course it will be a challenge. A couple of years ago there were new dates in the calendar, but we have not been to a new one for some time. I am dying to ride there because it is a challenge for the riders and teams to try and get a good setup and find the right direction as soon as possible. “Basically none of us knows the track; some of the Italian riders have examined it for safety reasons, but nobody has ever ridden a motorbike from MotoGP there. I am expecting a great weekend. I have heard that the atmosphere at Misano is fantastic and the Italian riders feel their fans` breath right down their necks pushing them along, so it should be an exciting weekend. One of the essential factors will be tyre selection once again. After what we have seen this season, every time we go to a circuit with a new surface Sachsenring and Laguna Seca, for example everything turns around the tyres. I hope that we can quickly find the right way to go with Michelin, ride fast on Friday morning and see what happens when the lights go out on Sunday.” Dani Pedrosa “I am excited about going to Misano because I have never been to this circuit, although I have seen races held there, so it will be very interesting to see the track for myself. It is now a clockwise circuit and there have been other changes at the circuit, so everybody will be in the same situation. “This means that we will have to be very intelligent with our decisions regarding tyres and setup. It is clear that there will be a great atmosphere created by the Italian fans who always cheer on their compatriots; it is just like Mugello, when there will be another special weekend. The tyres and the temperature will be important once again this weekend. We spent a couple of days training after the last race in Brno and we hope that what we learnt will help us out at Misano. We have to keep on fighting to get the best possible result in the championship. Casey has a good lead and catching him up will be complicated, but we will simply concentrate on doing the best we can in each race.” 250cc Julián Simón “I do not know this circuit and the truth is that I am intrigued to know what it is like. It is guaranteed to be a spectacular race, because in Italy they really know how to enjoy their racing. I think that it is not a very fast track; we will see if we can get a good result there.” Shuhei Aoyama “I do not know what the circuit of Misano is like, but all of us are in the same boat. I know that it is a track that does not demand a very high top speed, so that may help us a little. I will have to concentrate a lot on the ride, so that I can give my all and improve a little.” 125cc Bradley Smith “Misano is a new track for all of us, so it will be like balancing scales, since we will all start from the same point. I am dying to get started, to see how we get on when the others do not have the perfect set up. “It should be a good weekend, and after Brno I can`t wait, as that was not a good race for me. I am totally concentrated on getting back among the leaders.” Esteve Rabat “I still have not seen the circuit, and we will see how it treats us after we get there. I am really looking forward to it, above all because we have had a couple of races with results that we did not want. “We are going to be in the same situation as all the others, so let`s see if we can shake off the bad luck that`s been hounding us and progress a little. I have had a look at some maps of the circuit and I saw the Superbikes race, but the reality is always different. We will see when the time comes.”