MICHELIN MOTOGP MUGELLO PREVIEW Michelin goes into the Italian Grand Prix determined to strengthen its position in the 2007 MotoGP World Championship. Currently Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC212V-Michelin) lie second and third in the points chase and both riders love the Mugello racetrack ? last year Michelin man Rossi won his fifth successive premier-class race there while Pedrosa finished fourth, just two seconds behind the winner. Both riders were also very strong in the dry stage of the French GP at Le Mans two weeks ago. Mugello is arguably the most glorious venue on the MotoGP calendar ? a technically demanding racetrack surrounded by breathtaking scenery and a massive and enthusiastic crowd. MICHELIN AND THE TECHNICAL CHALLENGE OF MUGELLO “This is a very busy period for Michelin, with seven MotoGP races over ten weekends and also the Le Mans 24 hour car race,” says Jean-Philippe Weber, Michelin’s director of motorcycle racing. “Manufacturing processes and logistics become very important at this time, from mid-May to mid-July everyone’s on the go, our production plant is working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “At Mugello the front tire is extra important, so it should be good for our new 16-inch front that allows our riders to be very aggressive into the turns. We are confident the tire will work well at Mugello because there are a lot of downhill corner entries where riders need confidence and grip to attack the turns. We designed this tire to deliver confidence and grip by maintaining the same contact patch all the way to maximum lean, so even when a rider is being very aggressive, going into corners very late on the brakes, the contact patch stays the same, so he is more confident because he always knows what he’s dealing with. “The other advantage of the 16 is that it allows faster changes of direction, which is very important at Mugello because there are a lot of high-speed direction changes. The 16 is five percent lighter than the 16.5 when it’s on the rim, so there’s less inertia which makes the bike more nimble. “Mugello is also quite demanding on the rear tire. There are a lot of corners, so riders spend a lot of time on the edge of the tires. Corner speed is very important at this track. Riders need good edge grip and stability on the edge to maintain high corner speeds, and the more stability they have through corners, the better they can prepare the exit to get maximum speed out of the corners. “The track’s undulating nature means extra stress for the tires. The front gets a lot of load into the downhill corners, like Materassi, Casanova, Savelli, Scarperia, Correntaio and the final turn, so we use hard fronts for this track, similar to what we use at Shanghai. Mugello and Shanghai are very different but they both stress the front ? at Shanghai it’s the long periods of very heavy braking, at Mugello it’s the downhill corner entries, with so much load on the side of the tires. “There are also a few uphill corner exits, like the first turn, Arrabbiata 1 and Arrabbiata 2, which put extra load on the rear, especially because the positive camber gives the riders more confidence and grip, so they can open the throttle harder. We use medium rears at Mugello, and we are still working on the new rear casings we introduced in China, so the data we got from Shanghai and from Le Mans will be very important for Mugello. “So far this year our riders have had a very good front/rear balance and that’s particularly important at Mugello because the uphill and downhill sections make mass transfer very important, the difference in front/rear transfers is much bigger than at most tracks.” MICHELIN IN ITALY Michelin employs about 5500 people in Italy and has been present in the country since the turn of the last century. Michelin’s first Italian production facility, the Torino Dora in Turin, began producing tires in 1907 and was the first plants to manufacture tires for scooters after WW2. Motorcycles have always been popular in the country, 750cc and 1000cc naked bikes currently selling very well. MUGELLO DATA Lap record: Loris Capirossi (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1:50.195, 171.351km/h-106.473mph (2006) Pole position 2006: Sete Gibernau (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1:48.969 Recent winners of the Italian GP 2006 Valentino Rossi (Camel Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 42:39.610 2005 Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 42:42.994 2004 Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 12:06.803 (race shortened due to rain) 2003 Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), 43:28.008 2002 Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), 43:40.837 2001 Alex Barros (West Honda Pons NSR500-Michelin), 49:26.006 (wet race) 2000 Loris Capirossi (Emerson Honda Pons NSR500-Michelin), 44:04.200 1999 Alex Crivillé (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 44:05.522 1998 Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 43:55.307 1997 Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 44:06.442 1996 Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 44:04.252 Michelin’s 2007 MotoGP riders Carlos Checa (Honda LCR RC212V-Michelin) Colin Edwards (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team RC212V-Michelin) Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda RC212V-Michelin) Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC212V-Michelin) Kenny Roberts Junior (Team Roberts KR212V-Michelin) Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) Three questions to Jean-Philippe Weber What can you tell us about the start of the 2007 MotoGP season? Quite frankly, the results so far aren’t up to our expectations. The last race at Le Mans is the best example. We chose relatively hard compounds for the wet part of the French Grand Prix which didn’t pay off. To be quite clear, we gambled with our partners that the rain would gradually stop. We opted for a hard compound rain tire for the majority of our riders. It turned out that the rain increased drastically, so Valentino (Rossi) was unable to fight with his opponents. However, Dani (Pedrosa) chose a softer tire that proved more competitive in the closing stages of the race, so he was able to climb back to fourth position. Given our initial hypothesis and the change of weather, we now know that our riders could have raced with at least one notch softer compound. However, this disappointment shouldn’t hide all the good work we have done since the beginning of the season, notably with the new 16-inch front, which gets praise from all our riders. We will pursue our development to increase rear tire performance. The early stages of this season have also shown a redistribution of roles amongst the premier class role-players. Is it possible to say that Michelin has been destabilized? Not destabilized, but things have changed. For sure the 800cc hierarchy is totally different today compared to the 990cc era. From a machine performance point of view, one can say that the Japanese manufacturers are all on a similar level after the first five races. At the moment only Ducati seems to have a distinct advantage. Also, the seven riders equipped by Michelin haven’t been spared by race turmoil. The Turkish Grand Prix is the best example. We had the three fastest qualifying times at Istanbul but the first lap collision seriously hurt us, taking out Dani and Colin (Edwards). One can say that so far circumstances have not been favorable to us. However, our global performance is quite competitive. You need only look at Valentino’s performances, especially in Qatar or China. Despite his top-speed deficit he kept contact with Casey Stoner’s Ducati at Shanghai and did everything he could to put pressure on Casey. At Jerez we achieved a hat trick both in practice and in the race. At Le Mans we had three riders in the first four on the starting grid, including Colin on pole position. How do you approach the rest of the season? With a calm and focused attitude. There are still 13 Grands Prix to go. Our goal at Michelin is clear: we must concentrate on our mission to give each of our riders the best possible product. This championship is extremely competitive in every way ? for the riders, for the bike manufacturers and for the tire manufacturers ? which in my opinion shows the excellence of MotoGP. In racing as elsewhere, hard work always pays off? More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ITALIAN CLASSIC BECKONS FIAT YAMAHA TEAM HOME The sixth round of the MotoGP World Championship welcomes the Fiat Yamaha Team to their ‘home’ circuit of Mugello this weekend and the mouth-watering prospect of another classic race at the legendary venue. Already one of the most eagerly anticipated dates on the calendar, this year’s visit to Tuscany has the extra spice of an Italian manufacturer leading the World Championship whilst the homecoming of Valentino Rossi to his adoring fans always guarantees an electric atmosphere and a performance to match from the mercurial 28-year-old. Rossi has satiated the partisan local crowd’s appetite for entertainment and end-product for the past five seasons, putting together a run of victories previously unsurpassed by any one rider at their local track. ‘The Doctor’ has not been beaten on Italian soil since 2001, when he crashed out in a wet race, and his past three victories for Yamaha are unequalled in measures of brilliance and bravery. Mike Hailwood, who won the Isle of Man TT for five consecutive seasons in the 1960s, is the only rider in history to have held such a firm stronghold over his home Grand Prix. Colin Edwards’ record at Mugello is somewhat less spectacular but the Texan has every reason to look forward to this weekend. After qualifying on the front row of the grid at four of the first five races Edwards has been denied a mammoth points haul merely through sheer bad luck – the latest chapter in a catalogue of misfortune coming in France, where the heavens opened as the grid formed on an otherwise dry circuit and denied him the chance to shoot for victory from pole position. A continuation of his excellent practice form and another top performance in qualifying should finally bear fruit this Sunday. The Mugello circuit is one of the fastest on the calendar, with the front straight almost certain to entice the new 800cc machines towards their highest top speed of the year. Measuring 1,141m, it is 61m shorter than the back straight of Shanghai, the longest in the championship, but the faster final turn and longer entry into the straight means the riders can get on the gas early, shift up through the gears and still have time to get the throttle wide open in sixth, potentially edging past the 337.5km/h set by Casey Stoner in China. Mugello differs from other fast circuits in its frequent changes of gradient and the speed of its chicanes. There is a mix of slower and high-speed corners, although even the slowest corners are wide, allowing several ‘ideal’ lines and putting the emphasis on rider skill as well as chassis set-up precision. Valentino Rossi “SOMETHING INCREDIBLE” As well as his five MotoGP victories at Mugello, Valentino Rossi also won the 125cc race there in 1997 and the 250cc race in 1999 – making him easily the most successful rider at the circuit across all classes of Grand Prix racing. It promises to be another special weekend for the Italian and he is optimistic that his chances won’t be spoiled, as they were in France, by the rain. “We hoped that Le Mans would be a place where we might have been able to win back some points on Stoner, but unfortunately the weather played against us,” says Rossi, who trails the Australian by 21 points in the current rider standings. “We stayed in France for two days of testing and we made a lot of progress, especially with the tyres. We also tried some new engine modifications, just small details, which we think will help us in Mugello. “As everyone knows I have a very special relationship with Mugello. I have won there many times, including the last three years with Yamaha, and I’ve had some of the greatest races of my life there. Even though I will have a second home race this year at Misano, Mugello is something incredible and the fans and atmosphere there are always unbelievable. It’s a fantastic track but of course the straight is very long and we know we’re going to have a very hard battle on our hands. At least we can rely on the weather… I hope!” Colin Edwards “CRAZY IN A GOOD WAY!” In stark contrast to the fortunes of Valentino Rossi at Mugello, for Colin Edwards it is one of his least successful circuits – with a best ever result of ninth place in both 2003 and 2005. However, Edwards’ pace aboard the YZR-M1 at every kind of circuit so far this season gives him plenty of reason to think that he can end that barren run this Sunday. “Mugello hasn’t been one of my best GP tracks and I’ve never had a really great race there, but we’re aiming to turn that around this time,” affirms Edwards. “Le Mans was a massive disappointment for everyone, especially after getting pole, but it was good to get back to work straight away and try to find out why it happened instead of sitting stewing over it for ten days. We know our bike is working brilliantly when we get everything right – qualifying is proving that at every race – but we really need to translate that to race conditions and to do this we need to make the most of every minute of practice. “Mugello is an incredible place and the Italian fans are completely crazy, in a good way! The countryside is beautiful and you can’t help but be inspired by the atmosphere. This is really crunch time now – six races in eight weeks with the first being Valentino’s home race and the last, in the US, being mine. Let’s hope we can kick the run off to a good start with a double podium in Mugello, finish it off in the same way at Laguna and try to do the same thing at all the ones in between too!” Davide Brivio Fiat Yamaha Team Director “AN INTERESTING SCENARIO” Fiat Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio is eagerly anticipating a battle royale this weekend as his riders prepare to tackle Ducati at their home circuit. The Italian factory have won three of the first five races so far this season and are sure to make life difficult for Rossi and Edwards at Mugello. Brivio, however, is confident that the overall performance of the YZR-M1 will give his riders every chance of success. “Of course Mugello is a very important race for us – firstly because it is in Italy and secondly because it comes at a key part of the season, at the start of six races in eight weeks,” says Brivio. “Valentino has a great record there and at Yamaha we have been able to win with him for the past three seasons but this year it will be very difficult. We’re working hard to improve the package available to both our riders and we’ll see if that pays off here. I think we will be competitive but in racing you never know. “For Colin the challenge is to convert his obvious potential in practice into a top result in the race. We know Mugello is not his favourite track but we’ve worked hard in recent weeks to give him a package he is happy with everywhere so hopefully that proves to be the case once free practice starts on Friday morning. It is an exciting weekend for the team and especially for Valentino because it is in Italy but it is also the home of Ducati and they will be very motivated, I’m sure. It’s a very interesting scenario.” Valentino Rossi : Information Age: 28 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 85 (59 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 179 (119 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 48 World Championships: 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) Colin Edwards: Information Age: 33 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japón, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 71 x MotoGP World Championships: 2 World Superbike Mugello: Lap Record M. Biaggi (Honda) 2005, 1’50.117 Mugello: Best Lap S. Gibernau (Ducati) 2006, 1’48.969 Grand Prix Results: Mugello 2006 1. V. Rossi (Yamaha) 42’39.610 2. L. Capirossi (Ducati) +0.575 3. N. Hayden (Honda) +0.735 12. C. Edwards (USA) Yamaha +30.678