The sixteenth and last but one race of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship will take place at the Estoril Circuit in Portugal, near Lisbon. More emotions and motivations for the Team PRAMAC D’ANTIN MOTOGP, ready to face the Portuguese round with much motivation. The Spanish JOSE LUIS CARDOSO, living at only a few hundredth kilometres from Lisbon, feels like at home and is dreaming about a good race in front of many sponsors and friends. The German ALEX HOFMANN would like to reach the Top Ten to confirm the last improvements. The first session of free practice will be on Friday 13th October at 10:00 a.m., local time (GMT + 1). LUIS D’ANTIN (Team Manager): “There are only two races left before the end of the season. The first this weekend in Portugal and the second at Valencia at the end of the month. We want to end this Championship in a positive way and this increase even more our motivations. It will be very important to obtain good results during these last two rounds, we will make our best to conquest more points for the general classification. Many sponsors and fans will be present and we must make the maximum to satisfy them”. ALEX HOFMANN #66: “Last year, unfortunately, I watched the race on television because, during the practice, I broke my left wrist. The ground is new this year and we will be the first ones to ride on it, the grip won’t surely be exceptional. Let’s hope that, as at Laguna Seca, we will manage to make a good job in these conditions. About the track, I like it, even if it has the slowest chicane of the season. We will see how things will go, this circuit has many changes of direction and needs a lot of grip”. JOSE LUIS CARDOSO #30: “This race is really important for me. It can be considered as one of my Home Grand Prix, which always is a very nice sensation. Seville, the city where I actually live, is only 400 km from Lisbon, so I expect to see many of my sponsors and friends. With the whole Team, we will make our best during the whole weekend to obtain the best result possible. The last time I raced here was in 2001, this track is quite mixed and I like it. Let’s hope that everybody will go in the right way. It is important for me to get a good result in front of my public”. CIRCUIT DETAILS The Estoril circuit is situated on the Atlantic coast of Portugal, 28km from capital city Lisbon, and was used as a MotoGP venue for the first time in 2000. Built in 1972 by Ferrnanda Pires da Silva, the circuit was mainly used for European F2 races and, only after major redevelopment, it staged its first Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1984. 4182 metres long with 13 corners (4 to the left and 9 to the right), it is one of the trickiest tracks on the MotoGP calendar. There are long, constant radius corners with heavy braking zones, bumpy straights and a difficult chicane, which was added to the back section in 1994. The geographical position of the circuit means that weather can be unpredictable, although its nature is generally warm and dry. Longest straight: 986m Wide: 14m Pole Position: left Direction: clockwise MotoGP – Circuit Record: 1’38.423 (Valentino Rossi – 2004) MotoGP – Fastest Lap: 1’37”202 (Alex Barros – 2005) 2005 MotoGP Race: 1. Alex Barros (Honda) 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 3. Max Biaggi (Honda)