Pedrosa & Lorenzo continue title challenge, ‘Dovi’ makes home MotoGP debut The Italian Grand Prix is one of the most keenly anticipated races on the MotoGP calendar. A superb, high-speed racetrack in a beautiful Tuscan valley that throngs with a vast and enthusiastic crowd makes Mugello an irresistible event for riders, teams and fans. This year’s Italian GP marks the one-third stage of the MotoGP World Championship, which currently features three Michelin riders in the top five: Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V-Michelin) and Colin Edwards (Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1-Michelin). Mugello 2008 also marks the home-tarmac MotoGP debut of Italy?s newest MotoGP hotshot Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Team Scot Honda RC212V-Michelin). Michelin has a great record at Mugello, the French tire brand having won the last 15 premier-class GPs staged at the track. The circuit lap record is three years old, largely due to the track surface that has become increasingly bumpy in recent years. MICHELIN AND THE TECHNICAL CHALLENGE OF MUGELLO “Mugello is a great racetrack, with a lot of elevation changes which are a major part of its character, both from a riding point of view and from a tire point of view,” says Jean-Philippe Weber, Michelin’s director of motorcycle racing. “The circuit isn’t one of the most demanding for tires, it’s a little bit tougher than Le Mans, but what’s interesting is how the uphill sections stress the rear tire and how the downhill sections stress the front. “The front tire is always very important at Mugello because there are a lot of downhill corner entries, where riders need good grip, good tire support and good feedback so they can really attack. Riders also want light-handling tires at Mugello because there are many high-speed changes of direction. “Of course, the rear is also important. Riders need good grip and traction at maximum lean angle so they can be fast through the middle of the corners and also out of the corners. “The surface is getting quite old and bumpy now, so the riders try to find smoother lines through the corners. It?s not easy for us to help in this area – if we were to build softer-construction tires that absorb the bumps they would cause too much movement in the tire. The other big factor at Mugello is horsepower – the straight is one of the longest in MotoGP. “We are very much looking forward to seeing Andrea contest his first home MotoGP race. He has made a very impressive start to his MotoGP career. Despite some bad luck he’s shown he?s always capable of finishing in the top five or six, even though he’s a rookie and he doesn’t have a factory bike. His riding style is an interesting challenge for us – he’s very smooth and aggressive, and he spends more time at maximum lean than most riders, so we are working to give him a better grip/handling balance from the front tire.” Recent winners of the Italian GP 2007 Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha YZR-M1-Michelin), 42:42.385 2006 Valentino Rossi (Camel Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 42:39.610 2005 Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 42:42.994 2004 Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 12:06.803 (race shortened due to rain) 2003 Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), 43:28.008 2002 Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), 43:40.837 2001 Alex Barros (West Honda Pons NSR500-Michelin), 49:26.006s (wet race) 2000 Loris Capirossi (Emerson Honda Pons NSR500-Michelin), 44:04.200 1999 Alex Crivillé (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 44:05.522 1998 Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 43:55.307 1997 Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 44:06.442 1996 Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 44:04.252 Michelin MotoGP riders in Mugello Randy de Puniet (Honda LCR RC212V-Michelin) Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Team Scot Honda RC212V-Michelin) Colin Edwards (Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1-Michelin) Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V-Michelin) Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V-Michelin) Tadayuki Okada (Repsol Honda RC212V-Michelin) James Toseland (Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1-Michelin) TRACK DATA Mugello: 5.245km / 3.259 miles Lap record: Max Biaggi (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), 1:50.117, 171.472 km/h – 106.528 mph (2005) Pole position 2007: Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici), 2:00.359