THE ACTION IS BACK ON AT ESTORIL The MotoGP back on track after almost a month’s break at the Estoril Grand Prix of Portugal. Estoril is one of the most technically demanding circuits on the calendar, putting all aspects of the bike-tyre-rider package to the test. At this earlier time of the year, the weather could also play a contributory role with conditions likely to be cooler and more unsettled than last season. And the White and Green duo is ready to mount in the saddle of Desmosedici GP10. Loris Capirossi treated his right shoulder. He has therapy twice a week and a lot of work in gym. Randy De Puniet was also subjected an intervention to remove a screw in his left knee that the doctors inserted during the surgery on the broken leg last year at Sachsenring. The Estoril circuit remains a difficult and unfortunate for Loris Capirossi, who, in the past, has collected just one podium. Three third place is the score of the Frenchman, who hopes to repeat on this occasion. The weather could shuffle the cards: probability It may rain for all three regions of free practice, qualifying and the race. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Technical Director Pramac Racing ” Estoril is a difficult track, which combines slow sectors with other fast. The last corner is without a doubt the most difficult. The rain could shuffle the cards, just use the right strategy. I think our bike is best suited with a wet track. Loris Capirossi – Pramac Racing Team I like Estoril, although I’ve never done a great deal. In This week I have been training twice a day, I’m at 90% of the My physical condition. Running in the water will not be easy, but the bike paradoxically be better in the wet. I am confident we will succeed in delete the first two outputs unfortunate. Randy De Puniet – Pramac Racing Team There is a great desire to start again. Physically I’m fine, and I hope that bike is ready for Estoril. I know that Ducati can give us many satisfaction if we work well. All that remains is to prove in these days. The weather? It may rain, it does not matter to me. More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: GP of Portugal, preview The unscheduled break in the Championship is about to end, following the postponement of the Japanese GP. On the Estoril circuit the teams will start their engines once again this Friday for getting ready for the GP of Portugal, the third race of 2011. The JiR Team has exploited this break to finalize the development of some technical evolutions which will be applied to Alex De Angelis’ MotoBI and to analyze the data gathered so far. After the season’s start, the objective now is to find the best set-up to give the rider the desired feeling to be confident with his machine since the very beginning of practice, so to be comfortable and find the machine’s limit. During this unscheduled break, Alex De Angelis enjoyed not only some athletic training, but he also kept his competitive spirit sharp by participating in a rally in his hometown in San Marino. Gianluca Montiron When not involved in race a professional Teams keeps its vitality with initiatives dedicated to its partners, such as meetings and event that engage with them. Now it’s time to get back on track so we need to get back our concentration and get ready for Estoril. De Angelis has gotten a good season’s start, we have found a good balance and now we need to make a further step forward to stay with the top riders, this is the only way to aim for the best final result. In last race the Team faced a difficult race after our rider lost dropped the clutch on the grid making his machine jump off he line just seconds before the green light. The Team showed effective communication skills, giving the right directions to the rider so he could make the ride through. Everything was managed efficiently and this shows the confidence we have in working as a team. On our own we’re conscious that each race will be long as will be the Championship. Alex DeAngelis Some vacation is always to be appreciated, but honestly I’m looking forward to ride my machine again. The early races gave good data, I feel my MotoBI has a good equilibrium as a base and gives me good feedback and the sensation is that we still have a high potential. This is good because this means we can aim at the top, but also that we need to give all our best to take the most from this potential, not to leave it unexploited and play all our cards. Of course the Championship is still long, but we need to be consistent and stay always within top riders. We will exploit the practice sessions to test and develop some innovations we have studied, in order to finalize the set-up to be more aggressive in the middle and out of the corners, we also need to improve our performances on the single lap in qualifying. Estoril is a nice track, I like it and I have always had good performances here both in previous years and in 2011 pre season tests. More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: REDDING AND KALLIO BACK ON TRACK AT ESTORIL Marc VDS Racing Team riders, Scott Redding and Mika Kallio, head for this weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril determined to get their 2011 season back on track, after two difficult races in Qatar and Jerez. The Marc VDS riders are keen to resume racing this weekend in Portugal, after a rare early-season break due to the postponement of the Japanese Grand Prix. Both Redding and Kallio tested at Estoril back in February, when wet conditions severely limited track time. The few laps they did manage could stand both Marc VDS riders in good stead this weekend, however, as the weather forecast is for a 60 percent chance of rain on all three days. Neither of the Marc VDS riders count Estoril amongst their favourite circuits, but Redding took a hard fought fourth place there last season, while Kallio secured his first ever Grand Prix win at the circuit with victory in the 2005 125cc race. Estoril is one of the slowest tracks in the Moto2 calendar but it nonetheless represents a huge challenge to the riders as it snakes its way through 13 corners, including numerous hairpins and a technically demanding chicane. Then there’s the famous long, stretched-out, tyre-eating Parabolica, which sees the bikes at maximum lean for what must seem like an eternity before they get on the throttle for the start finish straight, which stretches for almost one kilometre. Built in 1972, the circuit, close to Portugal’s Atlantic coast and not far from the capital city, Lisbon, hosted its first Grand Prix in 2000 and has witnessed some of the closest racing in the championship’s history. Mika Kallio #36: “We tested at Estoril over the winter, so we know what to expect this weekend. I don’t like the circuit so much. For me it’s a bit of a Mickey Mouse track, very stop and go, with a lot of slow corners. But, for some reason, I’ve had good results there in the past, including my first GP win in 2005. We head for Portugal aiming for a podium finish this weekend. Given the results so far this season, this may seem overly optimistic, but if comes together for us then it’s possible. I’ve beaten many of the riders before who are now finishing top five, so we need to keep our aims high. We made some improvements to the bike in Jerez, although this wasn’t reflected in the result, so I’m heading to Estoril confident we can get our season back on track.” Scott Redding #45: The forecast for this weekend at Estoril is for rain, but hopefully it won’t be like last year when it was so heavy they had to cancel qualifying! The Estoril circuit is quite technical with a lot of heavy braking areas and, if I’m honest, it’s not one of my favourites. We’ve struggled with the front of the bike so far this season, but I know the team have been working hard to improve things since Jerez. Hopefully I’ll be able to get the feeling back from the front this weekend and put my season back on track. Last year I was fourth at Estoril in damp conditions, but I hope I can go at least one place better this time around and grab my first podium of the new season.” Michael Bartholemy: Team Manager “The aim is simple this weekend; we need to come away from Estoril with our first championship points of the season. It’s been a difficult start to the season so far, with Mika hampered by the injury he picked up in pre-season testing and Scott struggling to get to terms with the 2011 Suter chassis. Mika seemed to be more comfortable on the bike in Jerez, where he and his crew made some progress with set-up, and I hope he can carry that momentum into this weekend after such a long break. For Scott we need to give him back the feeling he had with the front end of last year’s bike. We have some options to try in practice at Estoril and, I hope, that this will give him back the confidence in the bike that he’s been lacking since the start of the season. Like I said, it’s important we score points this weekend and get our championship campaign back on track.”