From a press release issued by Camel Honda Racing Information:

Camel Honda team in Portugal before the intercontinental challenge

A glance at the MotoGP standings with six races left before the end of what has been a fantastic season, offers more than a moment of satisfaction to the Camel Honda riders. Max Biaggi and Makoto Tamada have respectively picked up 17 and 22 points more this year in comparison to last year, and the team can count two victories to last year’s one with six races to go. The first of those six is the Portuguese event, the last round before the breathtaking jet-set succession of intercontinental races which includes the big unknown of the Qatari event. The Portuguese circuit, a semi-slow track topped off with a super-fast final straight, is one of those which challenges engineers and riders to the limit, and coming straight off the back of a two day test in Brno the Camel Honda crew are ready for the contest.

Sito Pons – Camel Honda (Team Principal)

“The Portugal GP is particularly important for us. Our objective is to not make any mistakes and to pick up points on our main rivals for the championship. If we look back on our season so far, we have only lost precious points in Barcelona and Donington, and it shouldn’t happen again. In the Czech Republic, despite having started a little down the order, Max made the podium whilst Makoto magnificently clawed himself up to fourth place. Then we had two days at the test, and together with the practice at this GP should allow us to optimise the set-up of the latest parts on the bike.”

Max Biaggi #3: (Michelin tyres)

“I like Estoril, last year I got onto the podium and if we get the bike working well we can do even better this year. In Brno we did a lot of work in the two test days after the race and even if we haven’t got all the answers we were looking for, we will give our everything to be competitive on this track from Friday onwards. The track is okay, it reminds me a little of Spain’s Jarama circuit, not fast, apart from the main straight, but quite technical. The only thing I really don’t like is the asphalt, because it’s very bumpy in places. So I’ll be relying on my engineers and the Honda engineers to find a set-up which neutralises this factor.”

Luca Montiron – Camel Honda (Makoto Tamada Team Manager)

“After the summer break we made another step forward in Brno thanks to the new tyres that Bridgestone brought along, which helped us come out superbly from a weekend dampened by the poor weather. Now we go to Portugal with the aim of backing up all the progress we have made and try to make things even better. The two test days in Brno gave us some satisfying results and this giving us immense motivation. Once again the gap to our rivals has been closed and now we just need a further little step forward on Bridgestone’s part to show that we can perform on all tracks, because we firmly believe it.”

Makoto Tamada #6: (Bridgestone tyres)

“I quite like the Estoril track, or should I say there’s a part I really like, with the fast turn leading onto an even faster straight, and a slow part, which I don’t like so much. It doesn’t matter though, if the weather is good and we manage to get both the bike and the tyres in a good shape in the practices, we can do an even better race than in Brno.”

2003 Podium

1. V. Rossi (Honda)
2. M. Biaggi (Honda)
3. L. Capirossi (Ducati)


Pole Position Record
Capirossi (Ducati -2003)
1:38.412


Official Record
V. Rossi (Honda – 2003)
1:39.189


No. of Laps
28 ( km 117,096)



MotoGP timetable:
14.00 (GMT)



Estoril Circuit Characteristics
Length: 4,182 m
Width: 14m
Right corners: 9
Left corners: 4
Constructed in: 1972
Last Modified: 1999