DANI AIMING FOR REPEAT PERFORMANCE IN CHINA Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) who memorably won his first premier class race here last year will be aiming to repeat that victory here on Sunday and propel himself up the points table in pursuit of his rivals. The young Spaniard was brought down in Turkey two weeks ago, but is fit enough to compete here. Last year he qualified on pole and then won setting the fastest lap of the race as he did so. His team-mate Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) finished second giving Repsol Honda a perfect race weekend. There has been no winter testing here and so riders will approach this track with only last season’s data to work from with new machines and new tyre regulations to cope with. The wildly variable weather will also be a factor. This race, the fourth of an 18 event series, will be pivotal in terms of the points tallies riders take back to Europe when the World Championship frequency intensifies. One man in good form at the moment is Toni Elias (Gresini Honda RC212V) who has accumulated 80 points over the last six races (two at the end of 2006). This is the shape of a rider in Championship form Elias lies 4th overall on 35 points and a win here would establish him among the title contenders. His team-mate Marco Melandri (Gresini Honda RC212V) is a rider who is just shy of his best form at the moment and he’ll be looking use China as a springboard from which to launch a title challenge. The Italian currently has 30 points and needs a big score. And here at this impressive but not particularly well-liked track could be the place to start. The Shanghai International Circuit is situated 40km outside Shanghai and was designed by Hermann Tilke, also responsible for Istanbul Park in Turkey. Shanghai may not be quite as challenging as Istanbul Park, but it makes its own particular set of demands on riders. At 5.281km in length it is among the longer tracks and at 14.4m wide the tarmac leaves plenty of room for imagination when taking racing lines on entry and exit to the 14 turns, seven of which are lefts and seven right-hand corners. The main straight is the longest in MotoGP at 1175m and this puts a premium on top speed. But acceleration out of the many tight turns is equally vital, as well as stability under the exceptionally heavy braking on the entries. Couple this with two turns that double back on themselves at almost 360 degrees and here is a track that requires the utmost work in set-up. Dani said, “I’m looking forward to racing in China because I want to put Turkey behind me as soon as possible. I’ve still got a bit of a stiff neck and some discomfort in my chest, but I’ll be OK to begin first practice on Friday. I have very good memories from my first MotoGP race win there last year. The weather can be very wet here so we’ll just have to hope that it stays dry this year. It will be interesting to see how the 800s feel and perform on this circuit I think the straights could feel very long!” His team-mate Nicky said “I had a pretty decent result in China last year and we certainly need to put in a strong performance this time. My favourite part of the track is probably the long right-hander heading onto the back straight. And even at 200mph that back straight goes for days, before you hit the hardest braking corner on the circuit. Obviously though, long straights are not our strongest point right now so I hope we can make some progress there.” Marco Melandri said, “I’m going to China feeling confident after the race in Istanbul not so much for the result but for the way we fought back after a difficult weekend. In the race we recovered the feeling I lost during practice and I was able to ride my Honda in the way I like. Now the objective is to find the right way forward with the set-up from the first session and get a qualifying position that will allow me to fight for a top position in the race.” His team-mate Toni Elias said: “I have to thank my team for the work they’ve done on the set-up and Bridgestone, who have come up with a tyre which is perfect for my riding style. This has raised my confidence in my potential and allowed me to progress. The job still isn’t finished though and we still have margin for improvement. I’m pleased to see that my riding style, which many people said would be too aggressive for the new 800cc bike, can be effective and allow me to challenge for victories.” Carlos Checa (LCR Honda RC212V) said, “I came from Japan to Shanghai to prepare for this race following the Honda Suzuka 8-hour test, to avoid jet lag from going back to Europe. I’ve done a lot of riding and travelling in the past two weeks. For me the Shanghai track is nothing special, it is more for Formula 1, but I will work at 100% with the team to prepare for the race. On the long straight we will have some handicap with acceleration and top speed, and hopefully Honda can assist us in that area. The positive from the Istanbul test was a step forward with the Michelin qualifying tyres, eliminating chatter from the front.” Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda RC212V) “The Shanghai track has some fast sections where top-speed is important especially the main straight so I’m hoping we won’t be too far behind the other teams and machines on top speed. Whatever happens the Team and I will be working hard to find a good setting for the new 800cc Honda RC212V from the first session and try to improve things further as the weekend goes on. My aim as ever is the reach the chequered flag and get some good points.” Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR212V) said. “We had a very good test the day after Turkey and got the bike working a lot better with the new stiffer swing arm. In race practice we had to change a lot of settings to suit the new parts but we lost most of the track time on day one with the rain and stuff and struggled to get the best out of the bike in a short time. But I’m happy with going into Shanghai the tyre situation will be interesting this weekend. We had a tyre issue at Turkey but that was a one off, I’m sure Michelin will come up with the tyres we need or Sunday.” In the 250cc category Jorge Lorenzo (Aprilia) leads Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Honda RS250RW) by 18 points. After Dovi’s encouraging pole-to-podium win in Turkey, he has the momentum to upset the series leader again here. One of the most consistent riders in the World Championship Dovi has now scored points in 23 consecutive races the last time he failed to score was way back in 2005 in Malaysia some record. Dovi said, “The win in Turkey has been very important for us, now we’ll go on to China more confident and stronger than before. I like the Shanghai track, I just hope the long straight will not penalize us too much.” His team-mate Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda RS250RW) said, “I’m really sorry for the crash in Istanbul because I was confident of putting in a good performance and gaining some points, but now I don’t have to think about the past. In China I hope to be luckier, last year I got a fifth place and I hope this bodes well.” Rising Thai star Ratthapark Wilairot (Stop And Go Racing Honda RS250RW) said, “Obviously, it won’t be easy with the very long straight which doesn’t really suit us. On top of that I’ll have to learn the track and find the best lines. Anyway I knew what to expect when the season started so I can’t really complain, I know what I will have to do this weekend in Shanghai.” Eugene Laverty (LCR Honda RS250RW) said, “Shanghai is another new track but I think I can learn it pretty quickly, even if it looks more difficult than Istanbul. I’m hoping to make up for the tyre problems I had in Turkey and finish in the points here.” In the 125cc category Honda riders will be hoping for a better overall performance than in Turkey where only Bradley Smith (Repsol Honda RS125R) finished in the top ten. Smith said, “I’m looking forward to China especially after the race in Turkey although I’m taking nothing for granted. Battling for a podium position was great but I’m not getting carried away. The Repsol Honda was quick in the race but as the team pointed out to me, I was getting out of the corners quicker and consequently hitting the straights with more speed which we’ll definitely need in Shanghai.” Mike di Meglio (Scot Honda RS125R) said, “I’m feeling much better, the shoulder is improving day by day thanks to rehabilitation and I’m itching to race again. I’m really sad about the Turkey race because I would have liked to be there considering that the pace wasn’t very fast and I think I could have been competitive. Even though I don’t like the Shanghai track, we can have a good result here.”