From a press release issued by Proton Team KR:

Round Nine – British GP
Donington Park, July 28, 2004

CHANGE OF PACE FOR PROTON HOME RACE

Proton Team KR principal Kenny Roberts has demanded a change of pace for the England-made V5 MotoGP racer’s home GP.

The former triple World Champion and legendary racing entrepreneur has watched as the advanced Mk2 version of the already adventurous 990cc V5 racer has improved reliability, during another year of pursuing development of a radical new machine, while trying to race it at the same time.

But although the learning curve has been steep, the results have not been forthcoming. Now King Kenny has demanded a change of pace.

“We have had a horsepower problem all year – and in trying to solve that we’ve neglected the areas that make the bike friendly to ride, and give a good lap time,” he said, after last weekend’s German GP.

“I’m out of patience now,” he continued. “I don’t care if we are 20 km/h down on the Honda. We need to work on making our bike good in the areas it should be good, so it can go round the race-track properly for a fast lap time.”

The change of pace meant treating this GP – the last before a three-weekend summer break – as a testing session, he said.

The 2004 machine’s slimline chassis required a redesigned cylinder head, and that was the root of the problem, explained Roberts. “It didn’t give the horsepower predicted, and we haven’t had time to find out why, and to fix it,” he said.

The remorseless race schedule (six events in the last eight weeks) had put the team into race mode, said Roberts. Now they were switching into test mode.

“We will have four engine configurations at Donington Park, each one different, and maybe some more during the weekend. We’re working with camshafts, timing, cylinder heads and other changes,” he said.

With the German GP the previous weekend, there had been scant time even to do preliminary testing.

“They may not work well on the first day of practice,” concluded Roberts. “But by the end of the weekend we will know more about how to work in the summer break to improve the overall performance.”

The parkland circuit outside Derby is barely an hour away from the team’s state-of-the-art headquarters in Banbury. The other theme of Donington Park is the proximity of the team’s tyre suppliers Dunlop, even closer in Birmingham. In the past, this has brought success to the tyre brand. This year, however, the track is an unknown quantity … a full resurfacing since the last GP has changed the ground rules.

Riders Nobuatsu Aoki and Kurtis Roberts both hope that the Donington effect will play in their favour at the team’s home track.

So too should any improvement to the responses of the engine and the ride-ability of the overall package. At exactly 2.500 miles, most of the Donington lap is made up of flowing sections, where corners are taken not one by one but in complex sweeping arcs … a real rider’s track.

The British GP marks the end of the first part of the GP season, which started in South Africa in mid-April, and has continued with barely a break ever since. As the ninth of 16 rounds, it is also the start of the second half of the year. Racing resumes for the tenth round at Brno in the Czech Republic on August 22.

NOBUATSU AOKI – HOME RACE PROMISE
This is another track that I don’t like very much, but that’s all the same. It’s the home race for the team, and also a chance where our bike can find some advantage to make up for the lower top speed. I will try my best, as always. I also hope the British Dunlop tyres will work well at their own British track!

KURTIS ROBERTS –
I raced here in 1997 on the 250, so there’s something to start with. I still need to learn how to ride it on a MotoGP bike. I’m looking forward to trying some of the new stuff. If it makes it easier to go to the limit, that will be good.


More, from a press release issued by Telefonica MoviStar Honda:

BRITISH GP
PREVIEW

With the English GP, the 9th of the season, the championship enters the second half of the season before the summer break. Successfully finishing the first 8 races, the Team Telefonica MoviStar Honda MotoGP is ready to take on this race with their usual load of determination and fighting spirit.

With a contradicting nature, the Donington track represents a real challenge for technicians and engineers.

The first part, the fast one, requires a clean ride, while the second half requires an aggressive one. Therefore the perfect setup for the first half of the track is not ok for the second more aggressive half. The correct setup becomes a clever compromise: the driver in fact needs a precise bike for the fast section and an agile bike for the second.

SECOND IN 2003, SETE GIBERNAU RENEWS THE CHALLENGE AT DONINGTON

After the fall at Sachsenring, the second of the season, Sete Gibernau faces the Brtish GP determined to score a good result.

“In Germany we had another good weekend until the final part. I want to try and take it calmly, analyze exactly what happened, remembering that there is still a lot of the championship left. I hope that my bad luck will come to an end at Donington. It’s going to be very important to recover mentally, to arrive in England thinking that nothing has yet been decided and that we can continue to be strong.”

SETE GIBERNAU AND DONINGTON PARK

“I like Donington for more than one reason:
The track: I like this track because it is very demanding, there are a lot of slopes, strong braking, a slow part, a faster one and a continuous ups and downs. Due to the characteristics of the track it is fundamental to find the perfect compromise with the bike. It cannot be to perfect for any one area but it must be well balanced for the entirety of the track.
Donington is in fact a very particular track: it has very difficult quick downhill corners and when you start descending visibility is scarce so you have to take on a change of direction being almost blind.”

The grip: “Donington is famous for being a slippery track. Being so close to the East Midlands Airport the asphalt is slippery because it is soaked with kerosene that the planes lose. This determines the way the tyres react. Michelin is called to do a perfect job, trying to solve the problems this track which is amongst the slowest and most slippery of the Championship.”

Safety: “Donington is much better compared to last year, the Organizers worked very hard to improve the safety measures of the track.”

The spectators: “Donington is a nice place to be, the atmosphere is great. I like it because there are many fans and it is a track that is situated in the middle of lots of green space.”

Riders for Health: “Here Riders for Health organize a lot of events and it is nice to be able to give my contribution together with many other motor sport fans. A contribution for one of the many situations in this world that are more important than simply winning or losing a race.”

ALMOST A HOME GRAND PRIX FOR COLIN EDWARDS

Constantly improving his results, the American rider of the team Telefonica MoviStar Honda arrives to Donington, determined to score a good result.

Colin Edwards has many fans and aficionados in England since he was riding in SBK and no question that they will support him at Donington, a track that he likes and dear to him.

COLIN EDWARDS AND DONINGTON PARK
Q: What are your impressions when arriving to this English track?
A: I have nice memories of Donington. I know this track well as I won some SBK races here. I like the track and it has the charm of a historic circuit. I cannot underestimate the fact that everyone here speaks English, so I can talk to anyone, and this makes it almost feel like a home race for me.

Q: Which is the best section of the track?
A: The Craner corner, it is quick and you must take it on in fifth gear, but you must be careful as it is tricky. Here it is important to keep your line, this corner is in fact home to many falls.

Q: Which is the best point to overtake?
A: Donington is a track that offers few overtaking opportunities. For sure one of the easiest and cleanest points is the braking right before the chicane.

Q: Which is the slowest area?
A: The last three corners are slow and have to be taken on in first gear. Sometimes riders try to be a bit too aggressive and here it does not pay, they are slow corners and must be taken on as so.

Q: The secret to a perfect lap?
A: It is important to be quick and aggressive in certain areas and smooth in others. It is a good mix between violent braking and clean riding.

Q: Describe the atmosphere
A: I particularly like Donington for its track and for the air you breathe here. I feel under more pressure here than I do in Italy or in Spain because I have a greater number of fans here. I won various races here in SBK. English is spoken and I feel a bit at home. This probably is one of the most challenging events for me. I like Donington also because of the Day of Champions. It’s a good occasion to give back to the fans all the support they give us and to give a contribute to Riders for Health.



More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing:

Preview British Grand Prix, July 23, 24, 25, 2004

BIAGGI HITS FORM AS TITLE TENSION MOUNTS

Max Biaggi (Camel Honda RC211V) goes into this the ninth round of the 16-race World Championship off the back of a convincing win in Germany last weekend. The Italian ace is now just one point behind reigning World Champion Valnetino Rossi (Yamaha) as these fierce rivals take the fight to Donington Park.

Rossi sits on 139 points to Biaggi’s 138 with Spanish contender Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) on 126 after he failed to score in Germany when he crashed on lap eight at the Sachsenring. But he has scored two wins already this season and is more than capable of re-establishing himself in the title reckoning.

As the halfway point of the season has been reached it looks as if the riders adrift of the three title leaders have too much to do to get back on terms – but this season still looks as if there a few more twists and turns still to come. And although Alex Barros (Repsol Honda RC211V) on 79 points, Colin Edwards (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) on 75 and Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) on 70 look too far away from the leaders – they still can’t be ruled out.

Donington usually provides an eventful race and with the track completely resurfaced for 2004, better grip should see lap records destroyed in all classes provided the unreliable British weather doesn’t conspire to provide wet conditions.

A great many riders have a great deal of affection for Donington Park. It’s a track that rewards riders who relish fast, open, sweeping turns. And even if the slightly stilted Melbourne Loop section of the track spoils the rhythm and flow, it still provides drama as riders endure three bouts of heavy braking towards the end of a lap.

But it’s the dramatic downhill Craner Curves that are the high point of a Donington lap. This section of the track requires bravery and inch-perfect commitment to a line and if a rider struggles to come to terms with these turns, a fast lap is but a distant hope.

There have been some spectacular crashes at Craner over the years which have wrecked both bikes and rider confidence. And this year with average speeds getting higher and higher, this section of the track will be more spectacular then ever.

Donington demands two main machine characteristics that are hard to provide simultaneously. Stability on the brakes and quick turn-in is required for the Esses and Melbourne Loop sections while perfect high-speed manners are needed for the other parts of this 4.023km track.

Some riders opt for stability in the knowledge that a fast lap time will be dictated by speed over the flowing first three-quarters of the track, others prefer to have a bike set up to perform well under braking where places can be won and lost on the final three turns. Good acceleration is also vital while top speed is less of an issue than at other tracks.

Max has won here twice on a 250 and once last year on his RC211V, although that was after Rossi had been awarded a ten-second penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag. “We’re now in the second half of the season,” he said. “It will be very hard-fought so we’ll just keep our feet on the ground and continue to work as hard as we have been doing. The bike is improving all the time and the relationships within the team are unbeatable at the moment.”

Sete is putting his Sachsenring experience behind him and concentrating on performing well, “I like this tack because it is very demanding,” he said. “There are a lot of slopes, strong braking points, a slow part, a faster one and continuous ups and downs. Due to the characteristics of the track it is fundamental to find the perfect compromise with the bike. It cannot be to perfect for any one area but it must be well balanced for the entire track.”

Alex Barros said, “The bike has been getting better all year and at the Sachsenring we got near to getting the right result. The new exhaust made a real difference and Germany was the first race where I was able to ride hard all race and challenge for a win. At Donington it will be important to qualify well and ride with the leaders from the start. And although the points gap to the top three is big there are still lots of points available with eight races to go.

Hayden is upbeat and raring to get racing again. “It’s always the way that when you have a bad race you want to get back on the bike and get things sorted, and if you have a good race you want to carry on the momentum. Donington can’t come soon enough for me because we’re making real progress and we have to keep the pressure up before we break for summer.”

This race is a chance for Colin Edwards to recapture form. “I have nice memories of Donington,” he said. “I know this track well as I won some Superbike races here. I like the track and it has all the charm of a historic circuit. Also I can’t ignore the fact that everyone here speaks English, so I can talk to anyone, and this makes it almost feel like a home race for me.”

And Makoto Tamada (Camel Honda RC211V) riding on Bridgestone tyres is typically positive about his second visit to Donington. “We’ll do what we have to do to be on the pace as early as possible,” he said. “I’m ready to put everything into this weekend as usual.”

In the 250cc class Danny Pedrosa (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS250RW) heads Randy de Puniet (Aprilia) by 25 points after a resounding win in Germany last weekend. He has 155 points after three wins and five second places and will be keen to press home his advantage here in Britian.

Danny said, “This year they’ve re-laid the track so we’ll see how the tyres perform and whether there is more or less grip. We have the holidays afterwards and I would like to leave with the best possible taste in my mouth. Hopefully everything goes as well as it did in Germany, a circuit where I had never previously had a good result but we ended that run. I don’t want to arrive at Donington thinking about what happened last year, but think about all the good work we are doing this year and get the best possible result.”


Hiroshi Aoyama (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team Honda RS250RW) visits Donington after a fine fourth at the Sachsenring and although this will be his first visit to the track, he has every right to be confident as the weekend approaches.

“Donington is similar to Sachsenring in that there are ups and downs, as well as a slow and a fast section,” he said. “After the good result in Germany I’m looking forward to doing well here. I ended the last race really happy because as well as the progress we made over the course of the weekend, I was able to ride with more experienced riders and I felt comfortable with them.”

Roberto Rolfo is ready to ride and said, “The Donington Park track has a very flowing nature, you can find a good rhythm and can make up places by using slightly different lines if you are racing in a group, not like the Sachsenring. The only place I might have problems is the last part of the circuit which is too tight and we will need to get the bike to steer into the corners better than it did at the Sachsenring.”

In the hard-fought 125cc class Andrea Dovizioso (Team Scot Honda RS125R) leads the title race from Roberto Locatelli (Aprilia). Dovizioso has 138 points to Locatelli’s 131 while Hector Barbera (Aprilia) is right on their tails with 129.

Said Dovizioso, “I really like racing at Donington Park, I prefer the long sweeping corners of Donington much more than tight tracks like Sachsenring. Last weekend I lost ground in the Championship and I need a podium finish on Sunday to find my momentum again.”