JiR Team Scot head to Australia for round 16 of MotoGP As soon as the Grand Prix of Japan ended JiR Team Scot began packing up to travel to Australia where the 16th round of the MotoGP championship will be held this weekend. With a brief week’s pause following the Australian round, there will then be the Malaysian Grand Prix as the MotoGP circus ends the busy end-of-season long-haul races. Andrea Dovizioso is motivated to seek a positive result to consolidate his position in the championship standings. Meanwhile, Yuki Takahashi wants to grab more points, as he wants to get fifth overall in the 250cc ranking. The Phillip Island circuit is characterized by long hills and high speeds and for the JiR Team Scot riders it will herald an exciting weekend, which hopefully will end in the same positive way as most of the 2008 championship has so far. Gianluca Montiron Director JiR Team Scot “The next two events outside Europe in Australia and Malaysia will be held on technically demanding circuits with long straights. For Andrea this will be a very hard-fought couple of races as behind him in the championship are three riders with works machinery: Chris Vermeulen, Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden. Our goal is to win fifth in the race, because under normal conditions it is going to be difficult to get on the podium with our motorcycle as our opponents have received many technical developments through the year.” Cirano Mularoni Team Manager JiR Team Scot “The track of Phillip Island has historically not been favourable to our riders. Andrea is fast, but doesn’t like the long, high-speed corners where the bike is on its side for a long period of time especially the last corner before the main straight. Yuki should spend time developing the engine on this track, as the bike is sensitive to set-up on this track and time and knowledge is needed to get it right. Both are experiencing a positive period of the season and are highly motivated. I think that we could get some good results this weekend.” Andrea Dovizioso Rider JiR Team Scot MotoGP – HONDA RC212V “Phillip Island is a technically demanding circuit, characterised by a cold climate and strong wind. Before the season we did winter testing here, but now the weather conditions will be different and we will compare the data collected, especially for tyres, where we expect to see some improvements. For me it has never been a favourite track, only last year did things go well there and we will have to be strong and prepare for the race carefully to maximise our results. With long, fast corners the front-end of the bike is under a lot of stress and results reward the committed. Whatever happens I want to collect the best possible result.” Yuki Takahashi Rider JiR Team Scot 250GP – HONDA RS250RW “The Australian track I have never really enjoyed and it is not among my favourites. However, this year I changed my style of riding, made many improvements, and I’ve found that circuits on which previously I have not had the most positive results, I have gone well on. I hope this is so at Phillip Island. Next year I will move up a class, running in MotoGP, so I want to do well in the last remaining races of this season to finish as best we can and assume fifth position in the championship.” Phillip Island circuit Circuit length: 4448 m (2.764 miles) Straight: 900 m (0,559 miles) Width: 13 m Pole Position: Left Right corners: 5 Left corners: 7 MotoGP Lap record: 1:30.332 Marco Melandri 2005 (Honda) Pole Position: 1:29.020 Nicky Hayden 2006 (Honda) Grand Prix of Australia 2007 – Results: 1st Stoner (Ducati) – 2nd Capirossi (Ducati) – 3rd Rossi (Yamaha) 250GP Lap Record: 1:33.381 Sebatian Porto 2004 (Aprilia) Pole Position: 1:32.099 Sebatian Porto 2004 (Aprilia) Grand Prix of Australia 2007 – Results: 1st Lorenzo (Aprilia) – 2nd Bautista (Aprilia) – 3rd Dovizioso (Honda)