Following two weekends of action-packed racing, the MotoGP™ grid heads south to the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM at Mugello for the final race of the triple-header. Having encountered mixed weather and high-profile crashes in both of the preceding races, the teams and riders will no-doubt be hoping for an incident-free and sunny weekend in Italy. Despite being taken out at Assen and finishing second in Germany, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge heads into the Italian race 14 points adrift at the top of the championship. The Spaniard, who is still nursing an injured ankle from his crash, will undoubtedly be focussing on his race at Mugello last year, which he won in stunning fashion. Heading into the last race it was Repsol Honda Team’s Casey Stoner who was his main challenger, however after a scintillating win at the Sachsenring, it is his teammate Dani Pedrosa who lies second in the championship and looking in ominous form. Stoner, however, was the main talking point after last weekend, after an uncharacteristic crash saw him drop vital points in his championship bid. Despite his self-confessed “win it or bin it” attitude to a race, the Australian will be looking for a solid points finish in Italy to claw back championship positions. Behind Stoner, there is likely to be another triplet of Yamahas consisting of Monster Yamaha Tech 3 riders Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow, as well as Lorenzo’s teammate Ben Spies. Despite Crutchlow seemingly having the upper hand on outright pace, its Dovizioso who is winning the race battles so far, having taken his third podium of the season last time out. Dovizioso also beat Stoner to second spot on the podium at his home track last year. Spies on the other hand has struggled to match his teammate’s pace and has had his work cut out with the satellite bikes. He has however improved drastically from his difficult start to the season, and will be looking to take yet another step forward at Mugello. The Ducati Team heads into its home round with expectations heaped upon them, yet will no doubt remain realistic about their chances, as they are still far off the other factory bikes. They will however take heart from the fact that Valentino Rossi, a nine-times winner at Mugello, recorded his best result of the season in the dry in Germany, and that both him and Nicky Hayden were able to do battle with a satellite Honda and Yamaha machine. Pramac Racing Team’s Héctor Barberá will once again be looking to mix it up on his satellite Ducati, while Cardion AB Racing’s Karel Abraham is likely to be replaced once again by Ducati test rider Franco Battaini, as the Czech rider continues to recover from injury. A final decision will be made closer to the time. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista has now served his penalty for the Lorenzo crash in Assen, and will once again be able to contest qualifying at the Italian round. He looked strong in Germany as he fought his way to seventh place after starting from last on the grid. LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl finished a tremendous fifth at his home race, and will be hoping to go one further again, as he looks ever more comfortable on board his satellite machine. The CRT field continues to be headed by the dominant Power Electronics Aspar Team with Randy de Puniet and Aleix Espargaró, yet NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards made a big step forward in Germany, and looks to be back on form. As usual they will be joined by Speed Master’s Mattia Pasini, San Carlo’s Michele Pirro, Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci, Paul Bird Motorsport’s James Ellison and Avintia Blusens duo of Yonny Hernández and Iván Silva. Moto2 The Moto2™ contingent gave it their all once again in Germany last weekend, yet it was not enough to stop Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Márquez taking a win and extending his championship lead to 43 points before the intermediate class heads to the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM at Mugello this weekend. Márquez, who took victory at the Italian track last year, will no doubt be looking to extend his winning run to five, but will once again face a stiff challenge from Pons 40 HP Tuenti’s Pol Espargaró, who put in a tremendous performance last time out as he raced from 17th to fourth place. He will however be well aware of the fact that he crashed out of the race in Mugello last year, and will aim to avoid this at all cost, as he tries to claw back points on his compatriot. Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom Lüthi, who looked to have had a slight dip in form after his surging start to the season, had a solid race last time out to collect some valuable points, which leaves him heading into this weekend third in the championship. The man to watch will however be Speed Master’s Andrea Iannone, who crashed in Germany whilst challenging Márquez for the lead. The local rider has also had winning experience at the track, having taken victory in 2010. Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding will aim for a reversal in fortunes in Mugello as he crashed out of the last race in the first couple of bends, while his teammate Mika Kallio will undoubtedly be looking to carry over his form, after taking his first podium of the season. Tech 3 Racing’s Bradley Smith, who finished third in Italy last year, has been a somewhat mixed performer this year, yet still lies seventh in the championship and will be hoping of a repeat podium to push him up the order. Italtrans Racing Team’s Claudio Corti, currently eighth in the championship, will be looking to put on a good show for his home fans, and an improvement over the previous years where he has not finished higher than 21st. NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Alex de Angelis will be one to watch this weekend as he put in a stunning performance just two races in on a new chassis, to take third step on the podium in Germany. He has looked reinvigorated since his switch, and has no doubt given hope to other FTR rider Simone Corsi on board his Came IodaRacing Project machine, that a top three finish is within reach. Moto3 The Moto3™ grid will once again face off at the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM at Mugello this coming weekend with Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Sandro Cortese in the championship lead once again. The German, now 18 points ahead of Blusens Avintia’s Maverick Viñales, put in a dominant performance in the wet and mixed conditions ahead of his home crowd, and will undoubtedly be carrying a lot of confidence into the next round. Viñales on the other hand had a weekend to forget, after qualifying in 24th and finishing 17th. The Spaniard will however look back to his performance at the track last year, where he fought his way onto the third step of the podium. RW Racing GP’s Luis Salom, who recorded another podium in Germany, was less than happy after the race, sighting an engine problem, which he felt cost him a win. Salom is showing ever more confidence and desire to run at the top, making him one to watch, as he looks to fight his way higher than third in the championship. Caretta Technology’s Alexis Masbou, who broke his podium duck at the Sachsenring may have started a new run of form, and will be one of the favourites for Mugello to run up at the front. Team Italia FMI’s Romano Fenati still lies in fifth in the championship, despite finishing at the back last time out with a problem. However, as the Moto3 class heads to Italy, Fenati will no doubt be aiming to put on a good show for his home fans. AirAsia-SIC-Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin will once again be hunting for his first Grand Prix podium, while Racing Team Germany’s Louis Rossi will hope for no bike reliability issues this time out, as he has been looking strong in the previous rounds. Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Rins did not have a very successful Sachsenring race and will hope for a reversal of fortunes in Mugello, whilst Cortese’s teammate Danny Kent, who had been in terrific form before suffering a bike issue, will be wishing for the same. San Carlo Gresini Moto3’s Niccolò Antonelli has been a consistent performer after a slow season start, yet will be aiming for results a little higher up the pecking order, especially in front of his local support. More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Repsol Honda Team head to Mugello This weekend the MotoGP paddock head to Mugello for the ninth round of the 2012 World Championship. The Grand Prix of Italy also marks the half way point of the season and the third race in a row after visiting Assen and Sachsenring. The Repsol Honda riders are looking forward to arriving at traditionally, one of the warmest races on the calendar. After an intense battle in Germany, where they demonstrated a very high pace, Dani hopes to maintain momentum after taking his first win of the season and Casey is determined to put his crash behind him. The Honda RC213V has showed great potential in the last two races, where Dani and Casey have both visited the top step of the podium. They are confident to be again very competitive in Mugello, a track that combines a very long straight (1,141 Km) and fast changes in direction. They will be looking to make the most of the Honda engine’s power at a track with the highest top speed on the calendar. In fact, Dani, currently second in the World Championship standings 14 points off Lorenzo, has the record top speed in Mugello with 349,3 Km/h in 2009, while Casey, third in the overall standings 6 points behind Dani, has the fastest lap ever at this track thanks to his pole position last year (1’48.034). Dani has six podium finishes and 2 victories in Mugello (2010 in MotoGP and 2005 in 250cc); and Casey has four podiums and 1 victory in MotoGP 2009. DANI PEDROSA World Championship Position: 2nd with 146 points “I’m really looking forward to getting to Mugello and try to keep this momentum in a circuit that I also love, for the layout and the great atmosphere. It’s a very demanding track physically; last year I got there very weak due to the injury and I couldn’t manage a good race, but we had a nice win in 2010 and I feel good now and ready to enjoy riding there again. Mugello is a completely different track, it’s important to have a very fast bike in these corners and to get our strong points out in the track, we must take profit of the power of our Honda engine. The first win in Sachsenring has been great for me and my team, we are closer in the Championship on points, but one win will not give us the title. I’ve kept cool without winning and we will not relax now because we have the first one. This season you have to be almost perfect in every race to get a win, so we will keep pushing hard”. CASEY STONER World Championship Position: 3rd with 140 points “I’ve always liked Mugello, we’ve enjoyed some pretty good results there. Last year didn’t go to plan but we know what we did wrong so hopefully this year we can be a little more competitive. I really enjoy the fast corners there, there are a lot of areas where we get a lot of wheel spin and a lot of fast changes of direction. It’s not a small dinky little track that you can’t use these bikes on, it’s actually somewhere where you can open the throttle up and actually get to full throttle. After a disappointing race in Sachsenring, I want to get back on the bike and take some points back in the Championship”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha MotoGP Team: MotoGP Moves to Mugello for Third Consecutive Grand Prix Weekend The MotoGP paddock arrives in Tuscany this week for the third consecutive race weekend in a row, the Grand Prix of Italy at the Mugello circuit. Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo prepares for the weekend after an incident packed previous two races which saw him first lose his 25 point Championship advantage over Casey Stoner, then regain a 14 point lead over new second placed rider Dani Pedrosa. The Mugello circuit is a favourite for Lorenzo, having taken victory in the 250cc class, two second place premier class finishes in 2009 and 2010 and his first Grand Prix premier class win last year. Team mate Ben Spies heads to Mugello having valiantly battled against tyre issues in the last two races, intent on finding a set up solution to eliminate the issue in Italy. His first visit to the Tuscany circuit provided an entertaining battle, running as high as fourth at times before finishing in seventh in 2010. Last year saw another strong fight with the Texan eventually finishing just off the podium in fourth place. The Mugello circuit is one of the fastest tracks on the MotoGP Calendar. With a straight of over a kilometer in length fans can expect to see some incredible speeds as the 1000cc prototypes race there for the first time. The rest of the track is guaranteed to provide exciting racing with varied camber and gradient changes and high speed chicanes set on an extra wide track with many overtaking possibilities. Jorge Lorenzo “After two very difficult race weekends we arrive at Mugello, where we delivered a great victory last year. I love the track; it’s very fast and should be a good one for our bike. I’m very happy to be leading the Championship but we still have many races to go so our target is to again aim for the podium and victory if it is possible.” Ben Spies “Sachsenring was a very difficult race for us, with the different weather conditions it proved to be hard to find the right set up. Having found something that worked on Sunday we were then unfortunately compromised by a lack of side grip so were unable to ride to our full potential. Mugello is a much faster track which should suit our bike well so I can’t wait to get started on Friday.” Wilco Zeelenberg “We’re looking forward to some stable weather, the last couple of races were quite dramatic on that front. Jorge had a fantastic victory at Mugello last year, we know he’s fast there and he loves the track. It’s the ninth race so we are half way in the season and so far we are looking under control and fighting for the Championship.” Massimo Meregalli “The last two weekend’s have been not what we predicted, but finally we head to Mugello with a lead in the Championship, a place where we know Jorge is very fast from last year’s race. Ben has had two difficult weekends but has ridden very well under compromised situations. We know the bike can work well so we hope to find a set up and a tyre choice that work well as early as possible this weekend and hopefully enjoy stable weather to focus on race day!”