Rossi rues strategy, hard day for Hayden

The third round of the MotoGP World Championship, at the Portuguese circuit, saw Ducati Team’s Valentino Rossi finish in fifth place after being pipped by Andrea Dovizioso on the line of the very last lap. Team mate Nicky Hayden had a tough race after contact with fellow American, Ben Spies and he eventually finished in ninth.

Rossi rues strategy, hard day for Hayden

Rossi started well from the third row and made up more positions on the first lap, bringing him to fourth place. From there, the Italian maintained a good rhythm for the entire race, holding off Andrea Dovizioso until the very end, when the Repsol Honda rider slipped by in the race to the line and finished in front of the Ducati by just twenty-five thousandths of a second.

Starting from the fifth row, Nicky Hayden also had a very strong launch, and the American was seventh after the first lap. A small shifting problem affected him a little, but it was mainly the contact with Spies that caused him to lose ground to the opposition in front. Tomorrow the Ducati Team will stay for a post-race test with the other MotoGP teams, the riders are hopeful for good weather for so that the team can continue its development of the GP11.

Valentino Rossi, Ducati Team

“Apart from Dovizioso, today went well! I’m joking, but Dovizioso obviously rode a race that was strategically perfect. I think he played with me a little, knowing that on the straight, he could probably beat me to the line. He couldn’t pass me because I was strong on the brakes, so he had me do all the work for 28 laps, before making his attempt, and he got me by twenty-five thousandths of a second. Apart from that, the team and I are very happy, because it was a nice race and this, for the time being, is the best we can do. I started well, I made up several positions, and then I was very consistent, with decent lap times. I practically did the same lap from qualifying 28 times, so it’s a good result. My only disappointment is that fourth would have been my best finish with the Ducati Team. Anyway, another positive is that I’m physically well, as I’m missing just fifteen percent of my strength, but I think I’ll be at 100 percent between Le Mans and Catalunya. As for the bike, there’s certainly still work to do, but we’re working together with the Ducati technicians. They’re pleased with the data they have, and I’m seeing that what I get from the racing department works. It will take some time, but we’re going forward. Tomorrow we’ll have some new things to try, so let’s hope that it’s dry, and we’ll see how it goes. We don’t expect to solve everything in seven hours, just to continue down the path we’ve started on together.”

Nicky Hayden, Ducati Team

“Starting from 13th, it was always going to be difficult for us, but the bike was good off the line and I got a good start. I made some early mistakes, but I was also recovering a few positions. I got into seventh, but I was having difficulty back-shifting. Already on the sighting lap, I knew it was an issue. On the grid, we talked about getting on the other bike, but we decided together, that it was better to stick with our bike and not start from the pitlane. It caused some difficulty, especially on corner entry, and some guys came past. Then Spies hit me pretty good and stood me up going into Turn 3, so I lost time to Hiroshi Aoyama and Cal Crutchlow. I’m really happy we have a test tomorrow. We’ve got some stuff to try, and hopefully we’ll get some good weather, because we lost some dry time this weekend with the rain. The bike was great in the wet—third Friday and fourth this morning—but we need to make it better in the dry.”

Lorenzo and Simoncelli lock horns after QP

Jorge Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli will line up alongside one another on the starting grid for the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal on Sunday after taking the top two positions in Saturday’s qualifying session at Estoril, and following the hour-long session the pair were involved in a heated debate during the post-QP press conference.

The disagreement stemmed from comments made by Lorenzo about Simoncelli’s riding style, and with the media fanning the flames the duo were drawn into an open discussion which can be viewed in the attached video. Below is a transcription of what was said between the two…

Marco Simoncelli: “Yes, I read something he said about my riding style but I don’t know, for me he said some wrong things because he said that last year in Valencia I touched him and he almost crashed, but it was not true because I was in front and he tried to pass me and made a mistake. He touched me and his tyre was on my leathers, from the leg to the shoulder, so for me it’s not a correct example. Another thing is that some years ago he was disqualified by Race Direction for his aggressive riding style, so for me he said a wrong thing.”

Jorge Lorenzo: “For my part I think that yesterday I said the right words. For me it’s not a problem if it doesn’t happen, we’ll see what happens in the future.”

MS: “Yes, but you gave a wrong example, for me, from Valencia.”

JL: “I think you have touched with a lot of riders, no?”

MS: “Yes, but your example was wrong, for me.”

JL: “How many races have I not crashed in? I didn’t touch anybody.”

MS: “I said that your example was wrong, sorry!”

JL: “This is your opinion! But I think a lot of people here in the paddock, a lot of riders, have the same opinion as me.”

MS: “Try to ask.”

JL: “Ask (Andrea) Dovizioso, for example. Ask (Hiroshi) Aoyama, for example.”

MS: “Ask Dovizioso in 2005!!”

JL: “It doesn’t matter. If nothing happens in the future, it’s not a problem for me. But if something happens with you in the future, it will be a problem.”

MS: “Okay. I will be arrested!”

JL: “This question, everybody is laughing, but it’s not funny because we are playing with our lives. We are riding at 300km/h and we are on bikes which are very powerful and very heavy. It’s not minibikes. It’s a dangerous sport and you have to think about what you are doing. It’s okay, I am ready to fight with all the riders, but I don’t like to fight not clean. It’s the way. I injured myself a lot of times, I made De Angelis crash in Japan which was my fault, my mistake, so from that moment I’ve always tried to ride clean. I can make a mistake because I am human but normally when I am riding I think twice about things. I am not impulsive because it’s one thing to play with your health, and another thing to play with the other riders’ health.”

Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden start well in Portugal

The rain that was forecast for the first day of practice at the Estoril Grand Prix arrived, but fortunately for the MotoGP riders, both sessions took place in dry conditions. After a nighttime shower, the weather granted a respite until shortly after the finish of the premier class’ 45 minute second free-practice session of the top class.

The rain that was forecast for the first day of practice at the Estoril Grand Prix arrived, but fortunately for the MotoGP riders, both sessions took place in dry conditions. After a nighttime shower, the weather granted a respite until shortly after the finish of the premier class’ 45 minute second free-practice session of the top class.

It was a good day for both Ducati Team riders, with Valentino Rossi fourth and Nicky Hayden ninth, making progressive improvement from the morning to the afternoon. The Italian rider improved his time by approximately five tenths, while the American actually dropped a second and a half from his earlier time.

Valentino Rossi:
“I’m pretty satisfied with how the day went. Let’s start with my physical condition, which I’m very happy with: I was obviously aware of being a little better when I arrived here, but I wanted to wait until I tested my shoulder on the track, which confirmed that I’m able to ride well and have fun. It still hurts a little, and I’m missing a little strength, but the difference compared to my left shoulder is less. I can concentrate on riding the bike, and when watching myself on television, I can see that my style is starting to be a little more normal. Naturally, we’re also working on the bike. Today we used a different weight distribution and some changes to the electronics that worked well. For the first time, we went faster in the afternoon session than in the morning. We dropped almost half a second, getting us closer to the top. I still have some problems with rear grip, so tomorrow we have to do better, but I’m happy for now.”

Nicky Hayden:
“This morning was not a good session at all, but the afternoon was a lot better. We had a problem with one bike in FP1. I’m not sure what happened, but we’ll send the engine back to Bologna to check it out. I went back out at the end, but we used hard tyres because I didn’t want to waste another soft tyre, since it looks like it will be a soft-tyre race this weekend. Also, I had just gone out with a new setting, and since I only did about four corners, we got no information on that. We lost some valuable time, but this afternoon went better—not spectacular, but pretty steady. I was in the top ten for most of the session, and I had a decent feeling with the bike—I would say better than what the lap time shows. I’m sure everybody thinks they can do better tomorrow, but I feel like we can do a good job and try to get in a good lap in qualifying, which is going to be really important.”

Simoncelli happy after topping the timesheets on day one

San Carlo Honda Gresini Team’s Marco Simoncelli was fastest in both practice sessions on Friday for the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal, despite a crash in the afternoon.

After the disappointment of crashing whilst leading the race in Jerez, the 24 year old dominated both first and second practice, to finish ahead of fellow Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner. Simoncelli was consistently quick on a circuit where he has enjoyed good results in the past. His best result of his debut season was here at Estoril with a fourth place. The rider from Cattolica was happy with his set-up after improvements were made from earlier in the day and is confident of continuing enhancements throughout the weekend.

Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini Team

”Yes today is a great day of course for me because I started the morning very fast. We continued this into the afternoon. We did some work on our set-up and made some modifications to the chassis and everything is working good. We still need to improve the grip in the first corner for the maximum angle, this is the main problem. This morning we had some problems with the brakes but we solved the issue, not completely but a very good step forward. I’m happy and confident with the set-up of my bike.”

Simoncelli fastest again in FP2

San Carlo Honda Gresini Team’s Marco Simoncelli was quickest for the second practice for the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal after also topping the timesheets in FP1. The Honda rider got the better of reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda).

The Italian lost the front end of his Honda going into turn 3 midway through the session so had to jump onto his second machine but he was never headed. The 24 year old has won at this circuit back in 2009 in the intermediate class and will be aiming for his maiden victory/rostrum after missing out on the opportunity in Spain.

The second practice of the day was run in much hotter temperatures underneath the Portuguese sunshine. The MotoGP class just missed out on the rain which began to fall at the end of the forty five minute practice. All 17 riders were separated by 2.510s.

Lorenzo who has recorded three pole positions here in the premier class, was consistently quick throughout FP2 and finished with a deficit of just 0.061s behind Simoncelli. The 23 year old was 0.003s faster than his rival Pedrosa in third. The Repsol Honda rider has yet to win in any category at this circuit. It’s only one of only four venues the Spaniard has been unable to achieve victory at.

Finishing on identical lap times of 1’38:102 were Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) and Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) after their much talked about coming together from the last race in Jerez. The Italian has had five wins here in the premier class. The Australian spent a large portion of the session in the pits as he did in the morning. Stoner claimed his maiden victory in the intermediate category back here in 2005.

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was again solidly in the top ten, keen to put the disappointment of Jerez behind him. The American has had two fourth places here in 2006 and 2008 which are his best results at this circuit. Rookie Karel Abraham (Cardion ab Motoracing) was seventh quickest in only his third race of the MotoGP campaign. The Czech rider finished in 10th place here last season.

Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) has not had a happy time so far at this venue after crashing on the sighting lap here in 2010 and therefore was unable to take part in the race. After a run off in first practice this morning, the Yamaha rider was eighth fastest, 0.900s off Simoncelli’s best time.

The final two places in the top went to two Ducati machines. Ninth was Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) who will be hoping to achieve the first win for Ducati at this circuit. Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar Team) who had his best ever finish in MotoGP after his sixth place in Jerez was tenth quickest in FP2. The ten riders were covered by less than a second.

Estoril press conference reunites MotoGP frontrunners

Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner and Álvaro Bautista were the riders in attendance at the Thursday press conference ahead of the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal.

After an almost four-week break the 2011 MotoGP World Championship resumes on Friday, when the opening practice sessions for the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal get underway, and the pre-GP press conference on Thursday set the scene for Round 3 of the campaign.

Leading the early standings after just two rounds – including a victory last time out at Jerez – and with a formidable premier class record at the Estoril circuit, Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo was first to speak as he got the press conference underway.

“It’s a track I love. I’ve won three times here and took my first MotoGP win here too,” said Lorenzo. “But this year is different, in theory it’s a tough year for us. We are leading the Championship because we have had two fabulous races, but now the circumstances are different and it’s a different year.”

Looking ahead to the official Test on Monday, Lorenzo added: “I think the bike needs to improve quite a lot and especially this year, but we don’t have a bad bike, we can fight for the podium and I think this is what we need to fight for the Championship. I would like to fight for the same wins as last year, but maybe it’s going to be hard so our target is to be as close as we can to first position.”

Dani Pedrosa used the extended interval which followed Jerez to undergo surgery and remove the metal screws in his collarbone. The Repsol Honda rider has had admirable results in the two opening rounds (third and second) and hopes that with an improved physical comfort he can make further strides.

“The surgery was successful, and now we must see how much I can improve here,” said Pedrosa, who has finished on the podium three times in the premier class at Estoril. “I’ve had a lot of rehabilitation, which included ten days of doing nothing. It’s been tricky, because I had to exercise to be able to be here, but I couldn’t push too hard.”

He added: “It’s still a bit sore and stiff, but I hope I can test it here, get a good feeling and see if I can improve.”

All eyes were on Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi following their coming together at Jerez, and both appeared fully focused on this weekend’s race.

Repsol Honda rider Stoner said: “I’ve done lots of training and work and it’s been a long break, which has been really nice. It’s quite early to have that in the season but very enjoyable. It also gives a lot of motivation for the rest of the season.”

The Australian is more than eager to recuperate the points lost in Spain in the last round, and said of his record at Estoril: “I’ve always been fast here, the last few years haven’t gone the best, but in general we’ve been quite competitive here and this year with the Honda it should be easier. All we need to do now is accumulate points and get our Championship on track.”

Ducati Team rider Rossi has had huge success at the track during his career, finishing on the podium ten times from 11 premier class races with five victories included.

“In the past I’ve had some good races and a lot of points, it’s a difficult track but I love it,” said the Italian. “We have worked a lot (on the bike) and have tried to improve some areas of it, but I think for the weekend the bike will remain more or less the same except for something on the electronics to improve the character of the engine. The Test on Monday will be very important.”

Making his return from a broken left femur is Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista who will test his fitness in Friday’s first practice session, after which he will take a decision on whether he will continue this weekend.

“The crash in Qatar was horrible and it’s been very hard, every day working 24 hours on the injury to improve and now I am here. Tomorrow I’ll try with the bike. At the moment I’m very confident,” said the Spaniard. “I rode a supermotard yesterday and didn’t feel too much pain, but a MotoGP bike is very different and we’ll see what happens.”

“After first free practice I will make a decision if I continue. It’s very important, it’s not just the injury but I also have to rediscover the feeling with the bike,” he concluded.

Repsol Honda raring to go at Estoril

After a three-week break riders Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso and Casey Stoner are all more than ready to get back to action at the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal this weekend.

Dani Pedrosa, second in the Championship and nine points behind leader Jorge Lorenzo, will get back aboard his Honda RC212V after his surgery on April 6th. Last week the Spaniard had the stitches removed from his left collarbone and despite not being 100% physically will fight for another podium, as will team-mates Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso who are both aiming to score points after a hard race in Jerez.

Dani Pedrosa:
“I did what I had to do in these three weeks off and I look forward to getting back on the bike after this period, which has been good for me to undergo surgery and start rehabilitation. Last week I had the stitches removed, so everything is still very fresh and I don’t know how I will feel in Estoril, but I’m excited to see if everything went well and if I can put the issues aside once on the bike. I want to make the most of the four practice sessions to prepare for the race. It would help if we have good weather, as this year we race in April, but you can never trust the weather there having the Atlantic Ocean so close. With regards to the circuit, Estoril has heavy braking zones and it will be important to find traction to take advantage of the good acceleration we have.”

Andrea Dovizioso:
“I am looking forward to the race in Estoril, it’s a track where I have had very good results in my career. I arrive motivated, and want to get back to form after the Jerez weekend with a good race and to show the results of all the positive work done with the team. I think that we will be competitive at Estoril. The circuit is very slow and it’s not the best to ride with a MotoGP machine, in fact, one of the more difficult tasks is to manage the power of the RC212V on this slow track. We will have four practice sessions to work on the set-up and it's important to start well from the first day. After this long break, I’m happy to return on track. I have enjoyed this period at home with my family, having time to relax but also time to dedicate to training and to prepare for the coming races. Now it’s time to jump on the bike.”

Casey Stoner:
"I had a good rest in Switzerland and I feel very good at the moment. I'm looking forward to Portugal after a difficult last race in Jerez, we were looking for a good result in Spain after positive practice sessions and qualifying so we are happy to get back on track. Estoril is not one of my favourite tracks but we have had good success there in the past. We will be looking to get back some points against Lorenzo as he has been the strongest there in the past three years. I think our bike should work quite well at this circuit as it has some tight turns with exits onto big straights so I hope to find some good traction in these points and be competitive from the first day.”

MotoGP action back on at Estoril

After an extended break in the MotoGP calendar the premier class returns to action at the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal this weekend, and there is plenty to watch out for at Estoril in Round 3.

Almost four weeks after the Jerez round – the extended break being due to the postponement of the Japanese GP until October – the MotoGP World Championship returns to action at Estoril this weekend, where the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal hosts Round 3 of the 2011 season. This will be the 14th occasion that there has been a Portuguese GP.

There was no shortage of talking points following Round 2 in southern Spain, where defending World Champion Jorge Lorenzo took his first win of 2011 in the wet, and was followed onto the podium by a Dani Pedrosa struggling with his recovering left arm and Nicky Hayden. Casey Stoner’s inability to finish the race after being taken down in an incident involving Valentino Rossi, the latter of whom managed to remount his bike and finish fifth, merely added to what was a highly eventful race at Jerez.

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Lorenzo has a formidable recent record at the Estoril track, having won for the past three consecutive seasons from pole position. The Spaniard has now finished inside the top four for 22 straight races, and leads the early Championship standings by nine points ahead of rival Dani Pedrosa. The Repsol Honda man arrives in Portugal hopeful that surgery immediately after Jerez will have eased the discomfort caused in his left arm, and despite that he secured a 90th GP podium in the last round making him only the tenth rider to reach the milestone in the World Championship’s 63-year history.

Stoner will be eager to put the DNF from Jerez firmly behind him and regain the momentum he has established in the early stages of the season. The Repsol Honda rider has twice stood on the Estoril podium in the premier class but is yet to win there in MotoGP (he has a 250cc victory to his name), and will view such a result as the perfect response. Nicky Hayden is the highest placed Ducati rider in the standings after two rounds, with factory team-mate Rossi close behind. The Italian has only once finished off the podium at the circuit in the premier class, and counts five victories amongst his haul of rostrum results there.

Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) experienced different fortunes in the previous round, the Japanese scoring his best premier class result to date with fourth whilst the Italian ended the race 12th. Dovizioso’s last premier class podium came at Estoril in the penultimate round of 2010.

Héctor Barberá’s (Mapfre Aspar Team) sixth at Jerez was another premier class personal best and the Spaniard will aim to build on that further, whilst rookie Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) finished eighth after a fall in the wet and now heads to another new track in Estoril. The Brit is another rider to have taken advantage of the almost four-week break to have undergone surgery, having an arm issue sorted out. Fellow rookie Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) will be confident after taking seventh at the last outing.

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) will be more determined than ever to record a first premier class podium having crashed out whilst leading at Jerez, likewise Factory Yamaha Racing’s Ben Spies will want to make up for taking no points at Jerez having been set for a podium finish when he fell whilst riding in second position. Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) will also feel he has a point to prove after crashing in Spain, Toni Elías (LCR Honda) returns to the sight of his sole premier class victory, and Pramac Racing duo Loris Capirossi and Randy de Puniet will hope for an upturn in fortunes. The Frenchman had a screw removed from his left knee following Jerez, as he underwent follow-up surgery from his broken leg suffered last season.

Hoping to make a welcome return after missing the opening two races of the season following a fractured left femur, suffered in Qatar, is Álvaro Bautista. The Rizla Suzuki rider has been working hard to regain fitness and make his comeback just six weeks to the day after he sustained the injury, and has been named on the entry list for Estoril.