DUCATI MARLBORO MEN AIM TO KEEP RUNNING STRONG The Ducati Marlboro Team flies into Australia this week hopeful of another strong race following last Sunday’s Marlboro Malaysian GP where Loris Capirossi finished a close second and Sete Gibernau took fifth in his comeback race following a lengthy layoff. Capirossi’s sixth podium of the season, which followed a brilliant win at last month’s Czech GP, moved him to within 43 points of the World Championship lead with four races to go. The Italian, who missed last year’s Australian GP through injury, goes well at the track, having finished third and established a new lap record in 2004. Gibernau also loves the spectacular seaside venue – he took pole in 2004 and finished that race a very close second. The weather will be a big topic of conversation this weekend because while temperatures hovered in the mid 30s at Sepang last weekend they may struggle to reach ten degrees on the island. LORIS CAPIROSSI, Ducati Marlboro Team rider, 4th overall, 171 points “The points gap is still big but the bike and tyres are good and I am feeling strong, so it’s not impossible to win the championship. As they say, it’s not over till it’s over, we will do our best and see what happens. People talk about pressure but the pressure doesn’t worry me. I’ve been racing in the World Championships for 17 years now, so I am used to this kind of situation! Normally when I’m under some strong pressure I become stronger, so I don’t care about the pressure, it just makes me more focused. Phillip Island is a good track for us. I got the lap record in 2004 and although I got injured there last year I watched the rest of practice and all the racing from my hospital bed and I could see that Carlos (Checa, Capirossi’s 2005 team-mate) was going really well. It’s a very technical track where a good rider can really make the difference. I’m expecting a close and exciting race, but I know that we have a lot of hard work ahead of us over the last four races.” SETE GIBERNAU, Ducati Marlboro Team rider, 11th overall, 69 points “The weather is going to be very different from Sepang, but then you always expect to be surprised by the weather at Phillip Island. Hopefully I’ll be a little bit stronger than I was last weekend and I’m really looking forward to getting some results at the last four races. We did preseason testing at the track which will help. It’s one of those places where if I click it right away and feel comfortable I have a good weekend, but if I start without that boom I can struggle. It’s a set-up thing, you need to have a good feeling for all those fast corners. If I’m not confident with the bike it’s difficult to ride around the problems whereas at other tracks I can ride well even if the bike isn’t perfect. You need a stable machine because there are a lot of direction changes, with the front wheel always in the air. There are some really fast corners and some heavy braking. The last corner is always important because it’s where I judge whether I’m going to be okay for the whole lap.” LIVIO SUPPO, Ducati MotoGP project manager “The weather looks like it will be pretty cold, though I hope not much colder than last year because otherwise things could be tricky. Race tyres need a minimum track temperature of around ten degrees to work properly and last year it was 12 degrees. We were very fast at Phillip Island last year and the year before. Even without Loris last time we got third with Carlos. We got into this race feeling confident, with Loris on incredible form and Sete feeling good after his superb comeback last Sunday.” THE TRACK Phillip Island is the fastest MotoGP track and demands much of man, machine and tyres. There are three essentials for a good result at the Victorian state venue: guts, determination and a sweet-handling motorcycle. Most riders count the track as one of their favourites because unlike many modern circuits that have been built to contain the speed of F1 cars, the Island is dominated by super-quick curves that test rider skill and daring to the limit. The Australian GP’s only negative is the area’s unsettled early spring weather that can whip up dangerously strong winds off the nearby Bass Strait. Situated 130 kilometres south east of Melbourne, Phillip Island hosted its first motorcycle races way back in the 1920s, when riders competed over a dusty 12-mile street circuit and the only access to the island was by boat! The circuit fell into disrepair but was redeveloped in the late 1980s and hosted Australia’s first bike GP in 1989. Since then the circuit has been renowned for creating ultra-close racing action. Lap record: Marco Melandri (Honda), 1m 30.332s, 177.266km/h, 110.148mph (2005) Pole position 2005: Nicky Hayden (Honda), 1m 29.337, 179.244km/h DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM RIDER DATA LOGS LORIS CAPIROSSI Age: 33 (born April 4, 1973) Lives: Monaco Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP6 GP starts: 244 (74xMotoGP, 59×500, 84×250, 27×125) GP victories: 27 (5xMotoGP, 2×500, 12×250, 8×125) First GP victory: Britain, 1990 (125) First GP: Japan, 1990 (125) Pole positions: 40 (7xMotoGP, 5×500, 23×250, 5×125) First pole: Australia, 1991 (125) World Championships: 3 (125: 1990, 1991, 250: 1998) Phillip Island 2005 results: Grid: DNQ. Race: DNS SETE GIBERNAU Age: 33 (born December 15, 1972) Lives: Switzerland Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP6 GP starts: 170 (75xMotoGP, 76×500, 19×250) GP victories: 9 (8xMotoGP, 1×500) First GP victory: Valencia, 2001 (500) First GP: Spain, 1993 (250) Pole positions: 13 (12xMotoGP, 1×500) First pole: South Africa, 2000 (500) Phillip Island results: Grid: 3rd. Race: 5th More, from a press release issued by Pramac D’Antin: THE TEAM PRAMAC D’ANTIN DISEMBARK IN THE ISLAND OF PHILLIP ISLAND It’s on the Australian circuit of Phillip Island that will take place the second of the three extra-European races of these three weeks of September. The German ALEX HOFMANN, in the points again during the last competition in Malaysia, wants constancy to end the season in the best manner. Himself and the Spanish JOSE LUIS CARDOSO have done Winter Test on this track and this will surely be very useful to make a good race with the DUCATI DESMOSEDICI GP06 “Sat.” of the TEAM PRAMAC D’ANTIN MOTOGP. The first session of free practice will be on Friday 15 September at 10.00 a.m. I n Australia, GMT+10. LUIS D’ANTIN (Team Manager): “We are at the second of three weeks of intensive work. In the first race in Malaysia, we managed to be in the points with ALEX HOFMANN, we will continue making our maximum to be constant and to go on improving. Thanks to the Test that were done here this winter on this circuit, we already have a lot of information to start the free practice. I’m confident and we’re all enthusiast to improve and make a good race on Sunday”. ALEX HOFMANN #66: “Phillip Island is in the list of my favourite track, it’s one of the most beautiful ones! Besides, in 2004, I made here my best result, a good 8th position on the grid. I really like to ride on this track, the temperature also is fresher than it was in Malaysia and these conditions will surely allow us to work better. I’m really motivated, to obtain a good result here is very important for me and I hope everything will work in the best way. During the Winter Test, things already went quite good and I hope to go on with the improvements to make a good race”. JOSE LUIS CARDOSO #30: “This is already the second race, this time in Australia! Let’s hope that the lower temperature will help us! I really want to make a good race, there are 4 left in the 2006 calendar and I would like to conquest more points in the classification, my Team deserves it, they’re working very hard to put me in the best conditions every time. I will do my best to obtain a good result”. CIRCUIT DETAILS Il circuito di Phillip Island ha ospitato il primo Grand Prix dell’Australia in 1989. Dal 1991 al 1996, Il campionato del Mondo si è trasferito ad Eastern Creek, prima di tornare in maniera definitiva a Phillip Island. The circuit of Phillip Island, Australia, is situated 70 miles south of Melbourne, on an Island linked to the mainland by a bridge. Its track is one of the fastest and most fluid of the MotoGP World Championship, more than being one of the most beautiful. With its view on the Ocean, it’s long 4448 metres and has got 13 corners (7 on the left and 5 on the right). The only drawback can be the weather. Often the rain and high winds can batter the Island in September-October but it’s a small price to pay for such a magnificent race track. In the past, there had been racing on the roads of the holiday Island for many years but it was only when it was modified to its present day 4,448 km configuration in 1988 that it gained international recognition. The track and facilities were completely revamped for grand prix motor cycle racing and the result was a circuit that is the favourite for the majority of the MotoGP stars. The track simply flows through a series of undulating bends finishing in a long downhill start and finish straight. The circuit staged the first Australian Grand Prix in 1989 and to the delight of the whole nation was won by Australian Wayne Gardner riding the Honda. Gardner won the next year but then the Australian Grand Prix venue was switched to Eastern Creek near Sydney. It returned to its original home in 1997 and has remained ever since. Longest Straight: 900m Width: 13m Pole Position: Left Direction: Unclockwise MotoGP – Lap Record: 1’30”332 (Marco Melandri – 2005) MotoGP – Fastest Lap: 1’29”337 (Nicky Hayden – 2005) 2005 MotoGP Race: 1st Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2nd Nicky Hayden (Honda) 3rd Carlos Checa (Ducati) More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone Motorsport: BRIDGESTONE AIMS TO EXTEND COMPETITIVE STREAK IN AUSTRALIA Following a sensational head-to-head battle between Bridgestone rider Loris Capirossi and his compatriot Valentino Rossi at Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, MotoGP barely has time to exhale before this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix gets underway at the renowned Phillip Island circuit. Bridgestone Motorsport heads ‘down under’ buoyed by strong performances at the last two rounds of this season’s MotoGP calendar in the Czech Republic and Malaysia, where the Ducati Corse team has scored a dominant victory and a tantalisingly close second place in succession. Bridgestone’s three teams, Ducati, Kawasaki and Suzuki, have amassed two podiums and six top eight finishes between them over the last two events, a competitive streak that the team hopes will be extended this coming weekend in very different conditions. The tropical rainstorms and sweltering heat that pervaded the Malaysian GP weekend are in stark contrast to the cooler weather expected in Phillip Island. Last year’s Australian GP took place in mid-October as temperatures were gradually on the increase but with this year’s event some four weeks earlier, MotoGP teams, riders and tyre manufacturers could well find themselves dealing with new challenges in the form of the Antipodean winter. Last year’s race rewarded a strong performance from the Ducati team with a third place for Carlos Checa, but an accident in free practice sidelined Loris Capirossi for the duration of the event. Similarly, Kenny Roberts was unable to take part in his Suzuki, leaving four riders to fly the Bridgestone flag. Shinya Nakano and John Hopkins both claimed top ten results in what was an encouraging weekend. Eleven months later and with valuable data from a test in February, Bridgestone is confident of continuing its most competitive season in MotoGP to date. Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport – Motorcycle Racing Manager “Phillip Island is a traditional high-speed circuit which requires a unique and challenging approach to tyre development. The track is unlike any other venue on the calendar and, as such, we have produced special tyres which have been shipped directly from our plant in Japan to Australia. We must develop harder compound tyres to cope with the increased temperatures caused by the high-speed nature of the circuit which sees riders reach an average speed of around 175kmh over the 4.445km circuit layout. However, we will face some of the lowest ambient and track temperatures of the season as we head into the cooler Australian climate at this time of the year. The track reached 27°C in last year’s race which took place one month later in mid-October, so we must brace ourselves for even cooler conditions in mid-September. The long, high-speed final corner is crucial to the overall lap at Phillip Island. Our tyres will need to work in unison with the bike to allow the rider to carry the speed through the corner and to build up a good rhythm and momentum coming into the next lap. We carried out an important test at the circuit back in February that yielded some promising results from which we have created this year’s race tyre selection. Bridgestone tyres helped Ducati to third place last year with Carlos Checa, so we will be hoping to improve upon that result, particularly in light of our recent high level of competitiveness and positive podium results.” Bridgestone’s 2005 Australian GP Race Results Pos. Rider Motorcycle Race Time Gap P3 Carlos Checa Ducati 41m12.757s +4.215s P7 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki 41m53.597s +45.055s P10 John Hopkins Suzuki 41m58.802s +50.260s P16 Olivier Jacque Kawasaki 41m56.837s +2 laps Neither Loris Capirossi nor Kenny Roberts Junior started the race following accidents in practice