VICTORIOUS YAMAHA HEAD TO VALENCIAN SEASON FINALE FOR FINAL FAREWELL With the Triple Crown of Riders’, Teams’ and Manufacturers’ titles wrapped up last weekend in Estoril, the Fiat Yamaha Team heads to the traditional season finale race at Valencia in Spain this weekend for the eighteenth round of the season. For Jorge Lorenzo it will be a triumphant homecoming to race once more in front of his beloved Spanish fans, this time as World Champion, whilst for nine-time Champion Valentino Rossi it will be an emotional farewell to Yamaha after seven fantastic years. Lorenzo returned to the top step of the podium for the first time since Brno on Sunday and the 23-year-old World Champion is excited about one final chance to race in front of his home supporters this season. He has taken seven poles, won an incredible eight races and finished off the podium only twice on the way to his first premi er-class title this season and the Mallorcan now has the chance to break the record for the most premier-class points scored in a single season; a podium finish will be enough for him to surpass his team-mate’s record of 373 points, set with Yamaha in 2008. Surprisingly Lorenzo has never won at Valencia and, with two Spanish wins already under his belt this season, he will be hoping to make it a hat-trick by ending the season in the best possible way this Sunday. For Rossi and his crew this weekend marks the end of a highly successful partnership with Yamaha, which has spanned 116 races, 46 wins and four World Championships over the last seven years. After Valencia the Italian icon and Yamaha will part company but both sides are keen to make their final show together a memorable one. The 31-year-old has had six podiums at Valencia over his career including two wins, the last of which came during his inaugural Yamaha year in 2004. Last weekend’s podium has elevated him back to third in the championship and a top-three finish for Rossi would surely be an outstanding accomplishment considering his injury-plagued season. The Championship will wrap up in the usual spectacular Spanish style in front of some 130,000 race-day fans, packed into the unique stadium-style surroundings of the track. The layout is characterised by tight corners connected by short straights, whilst the final long looping left-hander and the fast entry to turn one contrast with the chicanes and slow speed corners of the infield. Jorge Lorenzo “IT’S SPECIAL TO FINISH IN SPAIN” “Finally the end of the season is here and for me it is so special to finish in Spain, with all of my fans. I have already celebrated in Mallorca but this will be the first time I ride in Spain as the World Champion and I am so proud to do so. It has been an incredible season for us and I was so happy to win again last weekend. We have won the Triple Crown now so our targets are complete, but I would like to make a new points record, which I can do if I finish on the podium. I have never won in Valencia so I would really like to try this weekend.” Valentino Rossi “AN EMOTIONAL WEEKEND FOR ALL” “So here we are, my last race with Yamaha and it will be an emotional weekend for all! Of course I would really like to try to win this final race because it would be a great end to this partnership, which has had so many beautiful moments. We improved the setting of our bike again in Estoril so I hope we will be in good shape in Valencia, although it hasn’t been the best track for me in the last few years. Anyway this is a special weekend so we will do everything that we can. I am third in the championship after Estoril and second is not impossible, although we know Dani is strong in Valencia and he is still 19 points ahead.” Wilco Zeelenberg “KEEP FOCUSED” “We need to keep our focus this weekend even though it’s the last race. It’s not Jorge’s best track but it would be great to have a good result there and make a new points record, which is possible if he finishes in the top three. It’s nice to have this focus and target when everything else has been achieved!” Davide Brivio “WE WANT TO FINISH IN THE BEST WAY” “The last race is always a bit special but this year it will be even more so. It’s the last race for Valentino with Yamaha and also for many members of our team, so we all want to do the maximum and finish this great story in the best way possible. We go there with a lot of motivation to do well and we hope to enjoy this final weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Bridgestone MotoGP Preview – Round 18: Valencia, Ricardo Tormo Tuesday 2 November 2010 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear: Medium, Hard (both asymmetric) One week after the Portuguese Grand Prix, the MotoGP paddock heads to Valencia and the Ricardo Tormo circuit for the traditional season finale on 7 November. With the riders’, teams’ and constructors’ titles already decided, the final race of the year will be a battle to round off the season on a high, just two days before what is effectively the first event of the 2011 season when riders will join their new teams, most of whom will use new equipment in a two day test. Being run in Europe in November, weather conditions are always a crucial consideration and in past seasons the temperature has fluctuated significantly year-on-year, so the conditions will play an important role in riders’ tyre compound choices. Well prepared for the cooler European climes, Bridgestone has selected the soft and medium compound front slick tyres and the medium and hard asymmetric rears, exactly the same as were prepared for Portugal last weekend. Although it was only used in the race at Estoril, rider feedback was go so again Bridgestone’s new extra soft compound will be used in the rear tyres in Valencia to provide better warm-up performance, especially in the colder morning sessions. Valencia is a tight and twisty circuit and so does not give the tyres much time to rest during a lap, so it is very important that teams get their bikes using the tyres most efficiently. With little chance during a lap to cool down, excess sliding can easily generate excess tyre temperature. With one of the longest total race distances of the year, the tyres have 420 corners to contend with during the 30 laps. Two days after the Grand Prix, the traditional post-race Valencia test will also be held again over two days, and will be the first occasion at which next year’s rider changes will come into affect. Hiroshi Yamada Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department “There is always a special atmosphere in Valencia that many people look forward to because it is the last race of the season and because it is where the trophies are awarded and the successes of the year recognised. Although there are no championship titles left undecided, Spanish rounds are always popular and competition is sure to be just as intense. We also have the test after the Grand Prix which will be very important, not just because the rider changes will take effect but because there are a few new items that our technical department are testing.” Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “Valencia is a slippery and technically complex circuit with a slow, twisty asymmetric layout. It’s what we could call a busy circuit because the number of corners means that the tyres are always working and have very little respite. Even though the ambient temperature is quite low, if a bike’s setup isn’t optimised, it is easy to generate excess tyre temperature because of this. “We will use the soft and medium front compounds but the front tyre must be strong to cope with the heavy braking loads into the first corner. With the low track temperature softer rear compounds are also required to provide good grip but a harder compound is needed in the left shoulder of the rear tyres because of the asymmetric layout and the tyre temperature generated by the long left-handed last corner. There are only a few tight right-handers so warm-up performance in the right shoulders is important, and this is why we are again using our extra soft compound in our softer option asymmetric rear tyres in Valencia.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: The Ricardo Tormo Circuit hosts the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana this weekend for the 12th year running, and what has since 2002 been the traditional season-ending round. The 18th instalment of the 2010 MotoGP campaign will see runner-up to already-crowned Champion Jorge Lorenzo decided, with Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi the candidates still able to take the honour. Despite having wrapped up the title with three rounds to spare Lorenzo is still hungry for victories, as proven with his eighth of the season last time out at Estoril. The Fiat Yamaha rider is also on course to set a new record for the highest number of points scored in a single season in the MotoGP class as well as equal a number of other milestones, with the added incentive that Valencia is just one of three circuits on the current calendar at which he has not won in any class. He did finish on the podium last year however and will now aim to go one better. The man with the most success at the venue is Pedrosa, last year’s race winner and with five victories in total across the premier (twice), 250cc (twice) and 125cc classes. The Repsol Honda rider currently has the best chance of finishing second in the Championship, holding a 19-point advantage over third-placed Rossi, but he is still recovering from his collarbone injury having only made his return to racing in Portugal having sat out three races. Rossi has winning form at Valencia from 2003 and 2004, but is yet to taste victory on an 800cc machine there. The Italian, along with Lorenzo, will be aiming to deliver Yamaha their first win in the format, and came close last year in finishing second. Leading Ducati rider in the standings Casey Stoner took his first GP win at Valencia in the 125cc class back in 2003, and in 2008 the Australian won from pole. Along with Rossi he will be looking for an end-of-season victory to bring the latest chapter in his premier class career to a winning close, whilst just behind him in the standings Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) will be aiming to snatch fourth spot. Rookie of the Year Ben Spies is desperate to ride despite dislocating an ankle last weekend in Portugal, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider keen to depart the satellite team for the factory set-up with what would be a third podium of his debut season. He placed seventh as a one-off entry in last year’s race, and level on points in the Championship is fellow American Nicky Hayden who will also be searching for a rostrum finale to 2010. The Ducati Team rider was fifth last year in his first ride at the track on a Desmosedici, and has fond memories of clinching the 2006 title there. Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) came agonisingly close to a first premier class podium at Estoril and will aim to seal that at a track he won on in 2008, his 250cc title-winning year, while LCR Honda’s French rider Randy de Puniet will mark a personal milestone with his 200th Grand Prix start. With a day’s rest on Monday the preparations for the 2011 season will get underway on Tuesday and Wednesday following the GP, with the Official two-day Test scheduled to take place. Moto2 With the final round of the debut season of the Moto2 class also taking place the spectacle offered up by the intermediate category in its first campaign is due for review and it has been a 2010 packed with great action. No fewer than eight different riders have so far won races this year, with 17 different individuals having stepped onto the podium. Toni Elías may have been crowned Champion with three rounds to spare back in Malaysia, but the fight for the coveted runner-up spot is still on and just six points separate Spanish rider Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) and his Italian rival Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) going into the final-round showdown. Simón has winning previous form at Valencia having taken victory last year in the 125cc class, whilst Iannone’s best result to date remains a sixth-placed finish in the same class in 2008. Keeping their scrap for second in the 2010 Moto2 Championship well and truly alive with finishes of 12th (for Simón) and 21st (Iannone) in the previous round at Estoril, the pair will again enter one final contest of the year. Meanwhile Elías, who has seven wins already this year, will also be seeking an improvement on his previous best of second at Valencia, twice taken in the 250cc class and once in the 125s. Swiss rider Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Moriwaki) clinched his 125cc title with ninth at Valencia in 2005, and he will bid to seal fourth in the Moto2 standings ahead of Simone Corsi (JiR Moto2) who sits in fifth at 14 points behind. Other riders still looking for a first win in the class and wanting to sign off the year in style will be Gabor Talmasci (Fimmco Speed Up) and Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing), whilst their fellow top-ten accompaniments Jules Cluzel (Forward Racing), Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) and Yuki Takahashi (Tech 3 Racing) will all be keen to add to their single victories of 2010. Alex de Angelis is a rider in a strong vein of recent form and the JiR Moto2 man will also be keen for a second win. Additional entries for this round will Xavier Simeon (Holiday Gym Racing), Javier Fores (Twelve Motorsport/Motorrad) and Roman Ramos (MIR Racing), whilst following the GP on Monday will be the Official one-day Test. 125cc The 2010 125cc World Championship will be decided at the Ricardo Tormo circuit where the home crowd will see a Spanish rider claim the title. Seventeen points separate leader Marc Márquez and now his only title rival Nico Terol, following a thrilling previous round in Portugal. In a highly eventful Estoril appointment Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider Márquez took his tenth win of the season, and this weekend could equal Valentino Rossi’s 1997 record as the rider with the most wins in the 125cc class in a single season (11). Such a result would emphatically deliver him the title, and if the 17 year-old were to accomplish the achievement he would become the second youngest World Champion ever. Márquez has only raced once before at Valencia, last year, when he placed 17th following a crash when fighting for fourth, whilst Terol has a best finish of second in 2008. If Terol were to win the race Márquez would need to finish no lower than eighth to claim the title. Pol Espargaró’s title hopes ended in Portugal but the Tuenti Racing rider will still be going for victory as he aims to sign off from the 125cc class in winning style, while Bradley Smith is still in search of his first win of the season and will likewise want a winning end to the 125cc chapter of his World Championship career. Meanwhile Efrén Vázquez (Tuenti Racing), Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX) and Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo) are still contesting positions five to seven. Niklas Ajo (Ajo Motorsport), Juan Perello (SAG Castrol), Jonny Rosell (SAG Castrol), John McPhee (KRP Bradley Smith Racing) and Taylor Mackenzie (KRP MMCG) are the five wild card entries at Round 17. The Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana takes place from November 5th-7th with the 125cc class getting the action underway at 9.05am on Friday with the commencement of FP1. This weekend will also see the continuation of the three-practice session schedule.