REPSOL HONDA TEAM HEADS EAST FOR GERMAN GRAND PRIX The German Grand Prix marks the next stop for the Road Racing World Championship this weekend as the Sachsenring circuit welcomes the world’s best motorcycle racers, along with the huge MotoGP entourage. The Repsol Honda Team arrives in the east of Germany 80km from Dresden with its riders, Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso, lying second and third in the title standings and confident they can challenge for victory at the tight and hilly circuit. For Pedrosa, the hard-fought second place finish at the last race marked a return to the consistent results which the Spaniard had been missing out on this season. Previously a podium for Pedrosa had typically been followed by a lower-order finish at the next event, but having broken that pattern with two second places in a row the 24-year-old feels ready to pursue maximum points at each race. Sachsenring is a strong circuit for Pedrosa. He took pole position in his debut MotoGP season in 2006, won the MotoGP race in 2007 and has two 250cc GP victories to his name from 2004 and 2005. In last year’s race – which followed a treacherously wet qualifying session – Pedrosa set a new lap record while converting eighth on the grid into a strong challenge for victory, eventually finishing in third place just 2.899s back from the winner. Dovizioso comes into the German Grand Prix weekend in confident mood and ready to once again take the fight to the MotoGP frontrunners. His 15-lap duel with Jorge Lorenzo for the lead at the last race in Barcelona proved he has the out-and-out pace to compete for race wins and, although he fell during the contest, Dovizioso’s self-belief is undented as he prepares for another two races on back-to-back weekends ahead of the MotoGP summer break. The 24-year-old Italian will be determined to improve on his best MotoGP result at Sachsenring to date – fifth place in his debut season in 2008. Sachsenring is a short and technical circuit featuring spectacular elevation changes and two distinct sections. The first part of the lap comprises a series of slow, tight corners where the asphalt snakes back on itself before opening out and plunging down hill. The lap’s second section begins with a succession of increasingly fast left-hand corners leading to a fearsomely quick downhill right-hander onto the short back straight. At 3.671km (2.281 miles) the circuit is the second shortest on the MotoGP calendar. The shortest track is Laguna Seca (3.610km / 2.243 miles) which hosts the US Grand Prix just one weekend after Germany. The 30-lap German Grand Prix takes place on Sunday at 14.00 (GMT + 2 hours). DANI PEDROSA World Championship position: 2nd 113 points “It’s been nice to have some rest after three races in a row, but I’m already looking forward to facing the last two races before the summer break. The race at Catalunya was very positive for us, for me personally because I was able to give my friends and fans a good result, and for my team because they worked very hard again and we ended up with a second place – another podium after the one we got in Assen. I want to maintain this momentum and keep moving forward, and fight for the victory in the two next races. In addition, the three races on consecutive weekends we’ve just had helped me to achieve a very good physical condition and I feel really confident now. Sachsenring is a circuit where I enjoy racing and we’ve normally had a good performance there; even in 2008 when I crashed I was leading the race with a good gap, so it makes me feel that we can do well again this weekend. I want to be totally concentrated on not making any mistakes and be to ready to fight for the win. Finally, I want to congratulate the Spanish national football team for winning the World Cup. I watched the match on TV and it was very emotional!” ANDREA DOVIZIOSO World Championship position: 3rd 91 points “I’m look forward to racing in Germany again and I believe we can get a strong result this weekend. In Barcelona we had a very good race pace that allowed us to stay with the leader for two thirds of the race – and this was really positive. At every race this season we are improving – we take one step forward at a time – and now we have to take the final step and really challenge for the win. At the last race in Catalunya we had the pace to fight for the top position and, even though the final result was not good, we can say that we improved a lot and proved that we are almost where we need to be. So, we will continue working towards being able to fight for the win, starting this weekend in Germany. The Sachsenring racetrack is quite short, with a very slow first section followed by a very fast second half. Usually there are so many spectators all the way through the weekend. The y are truly passionate about motorsport and the atmosphere is really good.”