2006 MotoGP World Championship, round 12 Czech Grand Prix, Brno August 18/19/20 The 2006 MotoGP series fires back into life at Brno, following the championship’s traditional month-long summer recess. The Czech Grand Prix also commences the final stage of the 2006 season six races, three in Europe, three in Asia and Australia, concluding with the Valencia round on October 29. So far, Michelin riders have been the dominant force of 2006, taking ten wins from the first 11 races, filling 28 of 33 podium places and currently occupying seven of the first eight championship positions, including the top four places. The battle for the 2006 title now seems down to those four men Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V-Michelin) and Valentino Rossi (Camel Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) who have used Michelin’s high-performing 2006 tires to take all of the company’s 2006 race wins and are currently separated by 51 points. Hayden, Pedrosa and Melandri have all won two races apiece, while Rossi has won four but also suffered three DNFs. Michelin has won the last ten premier-class GPs at Brno and has scored a total of 15 victories at the circuit since it hosted its first GP in 1987. MICHELIN’S RESPONSE TO THE CHALLENGE OF BRNO “Brno is a great track, a real rider’s track, quite fast with varied corners, some quite long and open, and also very undulating, so we enjoy going there,” says Nicolas Goubert, Michelin’s motorcycle racing director. “The surface is old now, so it’s quite bumpy, though after Laguna Seca it will probably seem pretty smooth to the riders!” “Front tire grip is important at Brno because there are a lot of downhill corner entries. We now have three different types of front tire being used by our riders the new, bigger profile 16.5in front and two different constructions of our narrower profile 16.5in. Different tires suit different riding styles and bikes. The new construction of the narrower profile tire which is now used by several of our riders should help at Brno because riders need a lot of feel and grip into the downhill corners, and they use a lot of trail-braking into these turns. The bigger profile tire should help in the same way. But Valentino proved at the Sachsenring that the older construction of the narrower tire can also do an amazing job! “Rear traction is also important at Brno because the surface is old and doesn’t offer a lot of grip. Finding good traction isn’t easy when you have both uphill and downhill sections, because the bike needs to put the right loads on the tires and it’s much easier to get the bike to do that consistently when you have a flat circuit. But Brno isn’t that demanding on rear tires because the tarmac is old and not aggressive. Our 2006 rear should definitely help, the tire offers more sidegrip which is important through long corners. Chatter can also be an issue at Brno because it’s quite bumpy and bumps can sometimes set off chatter. “Brno starts the last part of the season and we hope to have as much success during the last six races of the year as we had at the first 11. We won ten of those and filled most of the podiums, so although we are coming up to a few circuits where one of our competitors always does well, we are hopeful of some more good results.” BRNO DATA Lap record: Valentino Rossi (Camel Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 1:58.787s (163.745kmh/101/746mph) Pole position 2005: Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V-Michelin), 1:57.504 Recent winners of the Czech GP 2005 Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 43:56.539 2004 Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V-Michelin), 44:03.480 2003 Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda RC211V-Michelin), 44:18.907 2002 Max Biaggi (Marlboro Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 44:36.498 2001 Valentino Rossi (Nastro Azzurro Honda NSR500-Michelin), 45:01.044 2000 Max Biaggi (Marlboro Yamaha Team YZR500-Michelin), 45:31.918 1999 Tadayuki Okada (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 45:18.066 1998 Max Biaggi (Kanemoto Honda NSR500-Michelin), 45:12.043 1997 Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 45:25.012 1996 Alex Crivillé (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 45:38.884 MICHELIN MotoGP RIDERS 2006 Colin Edwards, Valentino Rossi (Camel Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) Nicky Hayden, Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin) Toni Elias, Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V-Michelin) Casey Stoner (Honda LCR RC211V-Michelin) Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V-Michelin) Kenny Roberts Jr (Team Roberts KR211V-Michelin)