Bridgestone MotoGP Preview Round 3: Spain, Jerez Tyre compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard Rear: Soft, Medium After two overseas grands prix to start the season in Qatar and Japan, MotoGP turns to Europe and to the Jerez circuit. The third race of the season also brings a different tyre strategy for Bridgestone. Having selected soft and medium compound slicks for both front and rear for the past two races, the nature of the Spanish circuit means a harder front tyre is needed. The rear slick choices are again soft and medium compound, as seen in the previous two races, but the front Bridgestone is a step harder with medium and hard compounds available. These are the same front and rear options as were selected for the last pre-season test at the circuit at the end of March, so every rider (except the then-recovering Dani Pedrosa) has experience of Bridgestone’s new 2009 rubber at the circuit. Both grands prix this season, in Qatar and in Japan, have been affected by rain, and the pre-season test in Jerez was also partly wet. Whilst riders have now got much more experience on Bridgestone’s wet weather tyres, they’ll be hoping for a dry weekend. Last year’s race saw Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi as the highest-placed Bridgestone-shod rider, finishing in second place. It was one of only three races in which a Bridgestone rider did not take victory as Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa scored a home victory, his first of two wins last year. Hiroshi Yamada, Bridgestone Motorsport Manager Motorcycle Sport Unit “We have seen some very rare and challenging conditions in both race weekends so far this season, with Qatar’s race delayed until Monday and torrential rain in Motegi cancelling qualifying. I am looking forward to returning to Europe this weekend where hopefully the weather will be much better. We saw a good race in Japan which I am pleased about, and I am sure this can continue in Spain.” Tohru Ubukata, Bridgestone Motorsport Manager Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “The Jerez circuit has been totally resurfaced since last year’s race so this will make a difference to tyre performance, though we have experience from the pre-season test at the end of March. It was previously quite bumpy and now it is flatter which is less demanding for the tyre’s construction in absorbing the bumps, but the surface is more abrasive which is why we have decided to select a harder compound front Bridgestone to increase durability.” More, from a press release issued by Lawdog Sports: “SUNSHINE” MOVES ON TO SPAIN American hopeful racing Jerez this weekend Newport Beach, CA (April 29th 2009) Fresh off another successful learning weekend, the young American GP hopeful, Cameron Beaubier, has exchanged the new-for-him Japan for the comfortable surroundings of Spain and for a track that he knows much better, Jerez. The 125cc MotoGP World Championship rookie had a challenging qualifying situation in Motegi where the session was rained out and the grid was formed from previous sessions. As a result he found himself 23rd on the grid. Sunday provided even more of a challenge with a wet track that was rapidly drying and conditions that were daunting for even the most seasoned riders. But Cam proved up for the challenge and showed his mettle with a strong performance, particularly for a rookie, and powered to a credible 16th finish. Respectable considering he finished just less than a hundredth behind 125cc veteran Simone Corsi, who finished in the last points paying position with a 15th. “The weekend started off a little rough,” said the Roseville, California rider. “I had a small lowside in the first practice on Friday when I was just trying to learn the track. Then on Saturday in qualifying I had a few bike problems and so I ended up 23rd. The next day in warm up I felt pretty comfortable. But the weather was changing like crazy! About 30 minutes before our race the rain had finally stopped and the sun came out. The track started drying and the riders had to make up their minds on the grid whether to go on slicks or rain tires. I chose an intermediate on the front and a slick on the rear. I got a decent start and moved up the field a little in the first lap to around 14th. Then as I was adjusting to conditions I fell back to around 20th because the track was still wet and riders that were running rain tires had an early advantage. Towards the end of the race I was getting more confident and I made up a few positions. I finished 16th at the end with the 11th fastest lap of the race.” He also enjoyed Japan in general, as it was the first trip there for him. “Japan was a really cool place to go to. It was a great experience because it was so much different than Europe and especially the States. Of course the track was really nice also.” The former Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup rider has little time to reflect, however, as the Jerez race weekend begins in less than two days. “I am really looking forward to Jerez. It’s a track that I have ridden in the past and have had some success there as well, so I’m excited!” More, from a press release issued by Honda: HONDA’S MotoGP MEN TOUCH DOWN IN EUROPE The MotoGP World Championship returns to its traditional heartland this week for the first race on European tarmac, exactly a week after last Sunday’s Japanese GP, round two of the 2009 series. The Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez is one of the most popular events on the MotoGP calendar, regularly attracting a weekend crowd of more than 200,000 fans who create a carnival atmosphere in Jerez and surrounding towns. This weekend local hopes will be particularly high, with last year’s Jerez winner Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) scoring a remarkable third-place result in Japan, despite lingering problems from recent knee and wrist injuries. The Spanish hero still won’t be 100 per cent fit for the first of MotoGP’s three races in Spain, but his speed and determination at Motegi suggests that he can’t be counted out of another great result. New team-mate Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) also rode well at Motegi, taking a strong fifth place just nine seconds behind the winner. The result was especially impressive considering that riders went into the race after just one dry practice session, an extra challenge for riders like Dovizioso have switched teams and tyre brands for 2009. The Italian’s second consecutive fifth-place result puts himself fourth in the current points standings. Both Repsol Honda men are looking forward to returning to more familiar territory at Jerez. Pedrosa has enjoyed some amazing successes at the challenging track in the heart of Andalusia. He won the 2005 Jerez 250 GP and has scored podium finishes in each of his visits on a MotoGP bike second in 2006 and 2007 and a dominant victory in 2008. Dovizioso also goes well there, having scored podium finishes in the 2006 and 2007 Jerez 250 GPs. Last year he was eighth on his Jerez MotoGP debut. Pedrosa won’t be the only home hero on a Honda at Jerez. Toni Elias (San Carlo Gresini Honda RC212V) also enjoys massive support in Spain and will be doing everything in his power to get closer to the front after difficult rides at the opening GPs in Qatar and Japan. Former MotoGP winner Elias believes that his team are now working in the right direction to find a set-up that works for his radical riding style and he is therefore excited and optimistic about Jerez. Team-mate Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Gresini Honda RC212V) will be working hard to rediscover the pace he had in Qatar, where he finished sixth, but lacked in Japan, where he finished 13th. Like Elias, his main goal is to create a set-up which puts more heat into the rear tyre. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) is looking forward to building on the steady progress he’s made since the start of the season. Like Dovizioso, de Puniet is one of a minority of riders who have switched tyre brands this year following the instigation of the single-tyre regulation with Japanese brand Bridgestone. With limited preseason testing and limited practice time (both testing and practice having been reduced in an effort to cut costs in the current global financial climate), de Puniet needs time to find the ideal match between his RC212V and its Bridgestone tyres. Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda RC212V) is another man who needs time. The Japanese former 250 hotshot is one of three rookies in this year’s MotoGP series and is still learning to get the best out of his RCV. His apprenticeship wasn’t helped by an unlucky first-lap crash at Motegi, but the Japanese is more confident for Jerez, where he tested during the winter. Jerez was the second purpose-built Spanish racetrack to host the country’s world round, after Madrid venue Jarama. Early Spanish GPs were held on a complex street circuit within Montjuich Park in Barcelona, before Jarama took over in the late 1960s. Jerez hosted its first GP in 1987 and this year is the venue’s 21st GP event. Honda won its very first GP victory on April 23 1961 at the Spanish GP at Montjuich (where Australian Tom Phillis won the 125 race on a Honda RC144 twin) and has enjoyed excellent successes at recent Spanish GPs at Jerez, with 16 wins in the premier class, five victories in the 250 class and eight successes in 125s. Jerez has always been popular with riders, placing a great emphasis on riding technique, while also presenting a real challenge for engineers and technicians. Jerez features a great variety of corners, from high-speed sweepers to dead-slow hairpins, with many of the corners leading into one another, demanding precise lines and exact machine settings. Getting the best out of the tyres is probably the greatest challenge of all at Jerez, since the many flowing corners require riders to spend a lot of the time on the edge of the tyres. The circuit layout has remained the same since 1996. Dovizioso and Pedrosa are currently the top-placed Honda riders in the 2009 MotoGP World Championship, holding fourth and fifth places on 22 and 21 points. The series is led by Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) on 41 points, with Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) and Casey Stoner (Ducati) a close second and third on 40 and 38 points. MotoGP rider quotes Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso said: “After the race in Japan we arrive in Jerez with more confidence. At Motegi we proved that we can fight hard for the whole race and run at the frontrunners’ pace. I was happy about the race result in Japan because we succeeded in closing the gap to first place, but we still have to work to improve the machine package. In Japan we couldn’t actually do any development work on the bike because of the bad weather conditions which affected most of the sessions. So there’s still a lot of things we need to test including some new parts. Obviously we’ll have to see what we can get done at Jerez , while also working on the set-up for the race. The Jerez circuit is not one of my favourite tracks, but I will still give it my all this weekend. The atmosphere here is always incredible there are so many spectators and they have a great passion for bikes, so it’s always a great experience to race in front of them. The Spanish GP is also the home GP for Repsol so I’ll be doing my best to get a good result for them too.” Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa said: “It was great to get such an encouraging result in Japan right before we go to Jerez because now we have some momentum which we must try to maintain. Still, despite getting on the podium at Motegi, which I was really pleased with, we mustn’t kid ourselves that we are fully competitive just yet. We struggled quite a lot in the practice sessions at Motegi and we’re under no illusions that we have to keep working hard to bring our package up to its full potential. Still, I’m really looking forward to Jerez and it’s always a very special experience for me to race there. The fans are so passionate and give me and all the Spanish riders great support. I like the Jerez track and have had some great moments there. Having got that result in Motegi, and now that my physical condition is improving, I hope I can give the fans and the team something to celebrate this weekend.” San Carlo Gresini Honda’s Alex De Angelis said: “After Motegi it would be silly to try and predict what could happen at Jerez but we definitely won’t struggle as much as we did in Japan. We really need to work hard on finding some traction because this is the only area we are missing – other than that my feeling with the bike is great. We didn’t have a great preseason test at Jerez but hopefully it can be a similar situation to Qatar, where we had a poor test but the higher temperature and extra base setting data helped us to improve the situation for the race. After two very strange races in Qatar and Japan it will be nice to head back to Europe, where hopefully things will be a little more back to normal!” LCR Honda’s Randy de Puniet said: “I like the Jerez track because it is very technical and the Spanish fans are really warm. After the last races I am really hoping for some good weather conditions so that we can develop our base set-up in the dry. Honestly, I could get a better result in Japan, but we missed some track time in the dry, and that’s why I want to concentrate on our machine setting during practice at Jerez. We have already been to Jerez for winter testing but bad weather did not give us the chance to adjust the bike package as we planned.” San Carlo Gresini Honda’s Toni Elias said: “We improved at Motegi but not as much as I would have liked and we’re not in the ideal situation going into my home Grand Prix at Jerez. However, the important thing is that I believe we are on the right path and by continuing to work hard in the way we are doing, along with a bit of help from Honda, we should be there soon. I’ve had some great races at Jerez in the past, the crowd there definitely give the Spanish riders a big lift and with the data we have from preseason testing there is no reason not to go into this Grand Prix feeling excited and optimistic.” Scot Racing Team Honda’s Yuki Takahashi said: “I like Jerez. Here we tested during last winter. This means that we already have a few data, and it helps a lot as this is my first year in the class. In the last two GPs we understood several things about the bike especially in Motegi, a track that I know well. The main point, in Spain, will be to avoid the wheeling, which can come out in a track with short segments like this.” 250cc rider quotes Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing Team 250cc) comes to Jerez on a high, following his brilliant ride to second place in last Sunday’s Japanese 250 GP aboard his Honda RS250RW. Team-mate Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Racing Team 250cc) scored points despite being penalised for a jump start. GP rookie Shoya Tomizawa (CIP Moto GP250) had a good weekend at Motegi, finishing the race in the top ten, making him optimistic for his first race in Europe. Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG) and Hector Faubel (Valencia CF Honda SAG) had a tough time at the Japanese round, both men crashing in the race. Hiroshi Aoyama said: “I like Jerez, the track that opens the European season. For some reason I’ve never been lucky, here – nevertheless, I like it. The competition is always fierce, because Spanish and Italian riders are generally very strong at this circuit. Some parts of it suit Honda, while some others don’t. So, we will have to work to find the best compromise and to exploit our qualities. When we tested here in winter the feeling was good, but the weather conditions will be very different, now in Springtime. I hope to be able to fight for the top places.” Raffaele De Rosa said: “Jerez was the first circuit I met in my first complete season in the Championship 125 cc class, at that time. That race was good, but the track, while it is not bad, in my opinion, at the same time is not one of my favorite. The essential will be to avoid any mistake. We know the track, and this will help us.” CIP Moto GP250’s Shoya Tomizawa said: “Step by step”¦ At the next race I expect to be faster, but I have to learn something with every lap. That’s the most important thing for me is to learn and to think that way because I’m already thinking about next year. And I have to try harder to improve my position in Jerez and I think I can do that there. I like the atmosphere, I like the circuit, I like the country of Spain. The IRTA test was good, but I crashed twice, so I don’t want to do that during the GP weekend!” Thai Honda PTT SAG’s Ratthapark Wilairot said: “We have just arrived home from Japan and once again pack our bags to go to Jerez which is very hectic but I want to forget the bad memories from Motegi and replace them with good ones from Jerez this weekend. We tested in Jerez a few weeks ago and got some good results so I hope I can take advantage of this and finish off with a great race on Sunday. I am physically and mentally fine after the crash and will push hard this weekend”. Valencia CF Honda SAG’s Hector Faubel said: “Last weekend in Japan was difficult we didn’t do many dry laps so we didn’t have a good setup, then on race day I crashed. Now I come to a circuit near my home with people close to me and this gives me more energy and motivation. I have a lot of hope for this weekend in Jerez. It’s a track I know very well and I believe we will be lucky. We have demonstrated that we can be in the top five group and in Jerez I know we will have a decent result.” More, from a press release issued by Indianapolis Motor Speedway: MotoGP PREVIEW: GRAND PRIX OF SPAIN EVENT: Grand Prix of Spain WHERE: Jerez de la Frontera Circuit, Jerez, Spain. Circuit is 2.748 miles (4.423 km), with 13 turns. Race is 27 laps. WHEN: Sunday, May 3. It is the third of 17 events this season. 2008 RACE WINNER: Dani Pedrosa, by 2.883 seconds over Valentino Rossi 2008 POLE WINNER: Jorge Lorenzo, 1 minute, 38.189 seconds U.S. TV: 6-7 p.m. (ET), Sunday, May 3, SPEED THE AMERICANS: U.S. riders Nicky Hayden (Owensboro, Ky., Ducati Team) and Colin Edwards (Houston, Yamaha Tech 3) will compete in this race. Edwards is sixth and Hayden 15th in the MotoGP standings after two races this season. “¢Nicky Hayden: “I can’t deny that it’s been a tough start to the season, especially in Japan, but we have to move on and look ahead. Now we go to Jerez, and even though we didn’t have a great test there in March, things are different now. At Motegi I felt as though the communication within the team had improved, the work we’re doing together as a group is becoming more smooth. So I’m looking forward to starting again at Jerez with a clear and positive mind. I don’t even want to think about the possibility of it raining again there! At the moment, it looks like the forecast is good, but it seems as though somebody upstairs likes seeing MotoGP riders in the wet! Joking aside, it would be nice to have a ‘normal’ weekend so that we can work properly on the bike. I want my season to finally get going.” “¢Colin Edwards: “I’m feeling confident. When we tested there last, I had a couple of issues with some movement on the front. We’ve since changed that when we went to Qatar. We showed up at Motegi, and it worked. And now we’re going to go back to Jerez with a little bit different setting than what we had at the test. They asked me if I wanted to bring the bike if we tested. I said no. We weren’t one of the fastest guys, so let’s go with what we have now. I know it’s better already. It should be good. For me, Jorge, Stoner and Valentino you’ve got to beat one of them to get on the podium.” THEY SAID IT: “I love Jerez. It’s always a brilliant atmosphere, and the fans make a big, big party for three days. I hope I can be part of the party this time!” Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi about the boisterous Spanish fans at Jerez FAST FACTS: Six-time MotoGP World Champion and reigning Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Valentino Rossi has five victories and two other podium finishes in nine career MotoGP starts at Jerez “¦ Spaniard Dani Pedrosa has finished on the podium in each of his three MotoGP starts at Jerez “¦ Jerez is the only circuit on the 2009 schedule other than Indianapolis at which 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner hasn’t finished on the podium in any class of Grand Prix racing. His best finish at Jerez is fifth in 2007 in MotoGP “¦ When Jorge Lorenzo beat Valentino Rossi to win the Grand Prix of Japan on April 26, it was only second time in MotoGP that Rossi has finished second to a teammate. Rossi placed second to then Repsol Honda teammate Tohru Ukawa at the South African Grand Prix in 2002 “¦ The best finishes at Jerez by Americans Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden are third “¦ American Cameron Beaubier will continue his first season in the 125cc class at this event. Beaubier, 16, from Roseville, Calif., has finished 16th in his first two World Championship starts this season for the Red Bull KTM 125 factory team “¦ Americans Jake Gagne, Benny Solis and Hayden Gillim will compete this weekend at Jerez in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, a European-based series designed to groom teen-age riders for MotoGP. All three raced in the Red Bull Riders Cup event in September 2008 during the Red Bull Indianapolis GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. *** 2009 IMS tickets: Established in 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has long prevailed as an icon of motorsports excellence. Beginning in 2009, the Speedway celebrates its Centennial Era, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the facility in 2009 and the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 2011. Tickets for the three events in 2009 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the Indianapolis 500, Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and Red Bull Indianapolis GP can be purchased online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com at any time. Tickets for groups of 20 or more also are on sale. Contact the IMS Group Sales Department at (866) 221-8775 for more information.