MotoGP-Estoril

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SETUP REPORT 26/10/2010
Fiat Yamaha looks to triple crown as MotoGP returns to Europe

Having wrapped up the Riders' and Teams' titles already this season, the victorious Fiat Yamaha Team returns to European shores this weekend for the penultimate round of the season at Estoril in Portugal. New MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo and his team-mate Valentino Rossi are eager to end the season on a high and hopeful that good results in the final two races will help Yamaha wrap up the coveted Triple Crown.

Lorenzo has swept all before him this season and the 23-year-old has a flawless record at Estoril, having won from pole position in both his MotoGP appearances at the track. The track was the scene of his first premier-class win and he was equally dominant last year, taking his fourth win of the season. This year he has taken seven victories but, having not won since Brno, the 23-year-old is keen to stand on the top step of the podium at least once more before the circus shuts down for the winter.

Rossi is still the most successful rider in history at Estoril and has taken five wins there. Last year was the first time in his ten visits to the track when he finished off the podium and he will be determined to return to it this year. The flyaway races saw an upturn in his fortunes and he took three podiums, including his stunning win in Malaysia, which have somewhat put the gloss back on a difficult season. With just two races left with Yamaha, the Italian hero is hopeful of ending on a high and will be going for the maximum this weekend.

Estoril circuit is located just seven kilometres from the Atlantic and is notorious for dramatic changes in weather, with spells of warm sunshine often interrupted by wild gusts of cold wind and rain. The layout of the Autodromo Fernanda Pires de Silva is similarly contrasting, featuring one of the longest main straights in MotoGP and one of the slowest corners. Several other twisty sections make for the lowest average speed in the championship but the 200km/h kink at turn five and the final Parabolica corner are two of the toughest tests of any rider's skill and bravery. The final two races will feature a revised practice timetable, with four 45-minutes sessions over Friday and Saturday taking the place of the usual three one-hour ones.

Jorge Lorenzo - "I always feel so good there"
"We now have the last two races in a row, and they are two very special races. The first one is Estoril, where I've had some of my best moments in MotoGP in the last two seasons. I had never won there before in 125 or 250, but since 2008 I have had two victories. It's the only one place where I've won twice in this category! I like the Estoril track and I always seem to feel so good there. Also it always seems a bit like another Spanish GP. Many people from home are coming and I am looking forward to feeling their support, because it's the first time I've ridden so close to home since becoming World Champion. I am still on a high and I would try to win again, like last year when the astronaut arrived!"
Valentino Rossi - "I want to finish the season on a high"
"The flyaways were very good for us, three podiums including one win - we were happy with how much we had improved the bike and also the level of my shoulder. Now we return to Europe and I feel very strongly that I want to enjoy these final two races and try to win again. Estoril was not a good track for me last year, we had some problems and I couldn't make it onto the podium so we will be trying to change that this year. After Phillip Island we hope the weather will be a bit warmer but Estoril can change very quickly so it could be a factor again."

Wilco Zeelenberg - "Set for the last part of the season"
"This will be my first visit to Estoril but I've watched the 2008/09 races and seen that Jorge loves the place. It's exciting coming back to race in Europe after the long trip overseas as World Champions, and it will be a big weekend for Jorge. He is definitely set for this last part of the season - fit, calm and ready to try for his third consecutive win in Portugal."

Davide Brivio - "Try to be strong from the start"
"We are arriving back in Europe satisfied and happy about the flyaway races; three podiums including one great win, and we are looking forward now to trying to continue this trend over the last two races. Portugal wasn't great for us last year so we will need to make the most of the practice time to find a good setting and try to be strong from the start."

Valentino Rossi : Information
Age: 31
Lives: Tavullia, Italy
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 105 (79 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc)
First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)
GP starts: 239 (179 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 59 (49 x MotoGP/500cc, 5 x 250cc, 5 x 125cc)
World Championships: 9 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 6 x MotoGP)

Jorge Lorenzo: Information
Age: 23
Lives: Barcelona, Spain
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 33 (12 x MotoGP, 17 x 250cc, 4 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Brazil, 2003 (125cc)
First GP: Jerez, Spain, 2002 (125cc)
GP starts: 143 (49 x MotoGP, 48 x 250cc, 46 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 41 (14 x MotoGP, 23 x 250cc, 3 x 125cc)
World Championships: 3 (MotoGP 2010, 250cc, 2006/7)

Estoril: Record Lap
D. Pedrosa (Honda) 2009, 1'36.937

Estoril: Best Lap
J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1'35.715

Grand Prix Results: Estoril 2009
1. J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 45'35.522
2. C.Stoner (Ducati) +6.294
3. D.Pedrosa (Honda) +9.889
4. V. Rossi (Yamaha) +23.428

 

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Capirossi to battle on in Portugal despite injuries

Loris Capirossi will compete at the Portuguese Grand Prix this weekend even though he has been diagnosed with fractures to the right foot he injured in Malaysia, on top of the groin injury he sustained in Australia.

Rizla Suzuki?s Italian racer returned early from the Australian event after crashing heavily and injuring his Adductor muscle. Capirossi visited the clinic on his return home to have the injury checked and also had a scan on his foot to fully understand the cause of his pain. This revealed a compound fracture of the Cuboid bone, two micro-fractures of the fourth Metatarsal and severe bruising to the Calcaneus and lateral Cuneiform bones. Although Capirossi is still in some discomfort from the injuries, he is determined to compete this weekend at Estoril.

?lvaro Bautista heads to Portugal on the back of three strong racing performances during the recent Pacific Grands Prix. He is in a determined mood ahead of what he believes to be another ?home? Grand Prix, at a racetrack where he has previous knowledge of riding a MotoGP machine - following last year?s November 'Rookie' test ? and the added confidence from winning at the Estoril circuit on three of his previous four visits.

The 4,182m Automotodrom Fernanda Pires da Silva circuit at Alcabideche near Estoril has ultra-fast corners and an almost kilometre-long straight, plus one of the slowest sections of the season making for a very contrasting layout. Situated on a rocky plateau high above the towns of Estoril and Cascais, just to the west of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, the circuit is only a few kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean and high-winds whipped up off the sea are a problem that riders have to contend with.

Rizla Suzuki takes to the track on Friday morning for the first practice session, as MotoGP again returns to four practice sessions in a weekend - instead of the usual three. The second and third sessions will take place on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning respectively, with qualifying taking place on Saturday afternoon. Sunday?s 26-lap race is the penultimate Grand Prix of the 2010 season with the riders taking to the grid at the earlier time of 13.00hrs local time (13.00hrs GMT).

Loris Capirossi:

?It was disappointing to find out I had got some small fractures in my foot, but it won?t stop me riding, because I was ok in Australia and it didn?t cause me too many problems there ? in fact it is easier to ride the bike than it is to walk! I have had some intensive treatment on the thigh muscle and that is also a lot better. I can?t wait to get back on my bike and give the guys something back for all their patience and hard-work over the season, especially after the tough three-week tour we had on the other side of the world which gave us nothing but pain and bike damage. Suzuki and the team have always been good to me and I want to show them that I am here to do my best and compete with the best riders.?

?lvaro Bautista:

?I really like it at Estoril, I have had lots of success there and it is a track I like to race at - it is as close to my home town as some of the Spanish tracks so it feels like a ?home? GP to me, especially because I know many of my family, friends and fans will be there to support me. I went there with the GSV-R last year so I will have a bit of an idea of the reference points on a MotoGP bike, similar to what I had at Sepang, so hopefully we can be as competitive right from the start in Portugal as we were there. We had a couple of problems at Phillip Island and they have all now been sorted and won?t happen again, so we will be able to go right from the start and try to get back into that top-six, where I know we are capable of being.?

 

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INTERWETTEN HONDA MotoGP TEAM: Grand Prix of Portugal

The penultimate of total 18 races for the premier class of the MotoGP world championship will take place in Estoril in Portugal next weekend. The MotoGP circus is travelling the eleventh consecutive season to the Portuguese ?Circuito do Estoril?, which is located only a few kilometres away from the Atlantic coast of Portugal.

Also the Portuguese Grand Prix is a big hope for improvement for Hiroshi Aoyama and the Interwetten Honda MotoGP Team. After the great performance of Aoyama in Sepang / Malaysia he suffered from the hard conditions and had a difficult time at Phillip Island and there was no chance to improve his performance from Malaysia, where he finished 7th. Portugal is a country with milder conditions, which will suit the Honda RC212V, the tyres and Aoyama better. The target is to collect as much points as possible in the last two races and if possible to finish the race in the Top 10 again. To repeat or better the performance of Malaysia would be Aoyama?s biggest wish for the last two races of the 2010 season.

Hiroshi Aoyama:
"I hope we can improve in Estoril. I like the track, but it is so different to the last two racetracks. Estoril is similar to the Motegi circuit and I hope it suits my bike. My race in Malaysia was so good and I had a lot of confidence and in Australia it was not good and I lost the confidence again. You never know in advance what will happen on the racetrack until you are really on it, so it is not easy to predict what will happen in Estoril and Valencia. The conditions will be different and for sure the bike will react different, so we will see where we are on Sunday afternoon."

 

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CARLOS CHECA ON THE PRAMAC RACING TEAM BIKE FOR THE LAST TWO RACES

After the news that Mika Kallio was unable to race for the last two Grand Prix of the 2010 Championship because of his shoulder problem after the fall he had during the first free practice of the French Grand Prix, the Pramac Racing Team had to quickly look for a rider with experience that could be ready to get on Ducati MotoGP for the Grand Prix of Portugal. The choice was on the expert rider, the Spaniard Carlos Checa, who finished third after a good Superbike World Championship riding a Ducati. He has accepted the challenge of the Italian team and has therefore signed an agreement to run the last two Grand Prix of the season. Carlos has a great experience in the premier class of the MotoGP where he has raced for fifteen years from 1993 to 2007. With two victories between 1996 and 1998, Carlos received a series of podium and good results that have brought him near the top position in the overall rankings in the late nineties and early years of this decade. His best seasons were in 1998 with the 500cc class when he finished fourth in the World Championship, and in 2002 with the new MotoGP when he finished in fifth place. The results on the track and the huge experience accumulated during the years of premier class, have allowed him the call of the Pramac Racing Team, that will line up in this way a couple of Spanish riders who are the youngest with Aleix Espargaró, born in the 1989, and the oldest Carlos Checa, born in the 1972. Carlos will run the last two races with the 71 on the livery, also because his preferred number, the 7 is already taken by another rider.


Paolo Campinoti - Team Principal Pramac Racing Team

"After the decision taken by Mika Kallio to not take part to the last two races, we decided to call a rider with experience and talent that could give us a good end of season. Thanks also to consult with Ducati, we decided to call after three year of absence from MotoGP races, the Spaniard Carlos Checa that was riding this year a Ducati in the Superbike World Championship. Of course it will be important for him to run as much as possible on Estoril´s track during the free practice session so that he can be able to improve as much as possible his feeling with the bike. We know about his undisputed talent and potential, this is also the reason why I cannot hide that we expect from him a good result in both races that he will race with the colors of the Pramac Racing Team."

Carlos Checa - Pramac Racing Team

"I really want to thank the Pramac Racing Team for believing in me and for this wonderful gift! After three years is a great pleasure for me to return in the MotoGP world, here I have some wonderful memories. So many things have changed over three years ago, both in the mechanical of the bikes and in the MotoGP world, but many others had remained unchanged. I know I should not expect too much because the Ducati Desmosedici GP10 is very different from the bike which I had run this year, but I know many of my next opponents and I will do my best to fight shoulder to shoulder with them to try to finish these two races with positive results."

CARLOS CHECA HISTORY
1993 - 125cc - 27th
1993 - 250cc - 23th
1994 - 250cc - 12th
1995 - 250cc - 13th
1995 - 500cc - 16th
1996 - 500cc - 8th
1997 - 500cc - 8th
1998 - 500cc - 4th
1999 - 500cc - 7th
2000 - 500cc - 6th
2001 - 500cc - 6th
2002 - MotoGP -5th
2003 - MotoGP - 7th
2004 - MotoGP - 7th
2005 - MotoGP - 9th
2006 - MotoGP - 15th
2007 - MotoGP - 14th
2008 - SBK - 4h
2009 - SBK - 7th
2010 - SBK - 3rd

IN THE MOTOGP CHAMPIONSHIP
VICTORIES - 2
PODIUM - 24
POLE POSITIONS - 3

IN THE SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
VICTORIES - 5
PODIUM - 19
POLE POSITIONS - 2
THE PRAMAC RACING TEAM BACK IN EUROPE FOR THE LAST TWO GRAND PRIX OF THE SEASON

After the long transfer to Japan, Malaysia and Australia that has seen the riders compete for three consecutive Grand Prix in three weekends, the two wheels World is back in Europe for the last two seasonal events. The spotlight will be pointed also on the Pramac Racing Team that will field, during the last two races, a new rider to replace the Finn Mika Kallio who had in advance finished the season and his experience on the Pramac Racing Team bike's because of is injured shoulder. The Team have chose to replace the inijured Mika with an experienced and international rider as Carlos Checa. The Spaniard has a huge experience in the Championship having taken part to more than two hundred races in fifteen years. Carlos has a good feeling with the Ducati motorcycles, in fact after being member of the official Ducati MotoGP Team, he had race the entire season of this year in the Superbike World Championship riding a Ducati derivative of the series. Thanks also to Carlos, the Pramac Racing Team will be able to have another record, in fact, the Team will have the youngest and the oldest rider of the MotoGP. The different of age between them is more than seventeen years. For Aleix is the absolute debut on the Portuguese track riding a MotoGP: the best result obtained by the rider on this track was during the 2008 season when the young Catalan was riding a middle class bike of the 250 cc, he had conquer an eleventh position after a good race weekend. Carlos, who has raced on this track for eight consecutive years first 500cc and then in MotoGP, had conquer a superb second place in the 2002 after starting the race from the pole position, while the previous year had won a good fourth position after a good race that had seen him overtake four positions. Sunday will take place on Estoril's track the eleventh Portuguese Grand Prix, that has been now a fixed stage of the MotoGP racing. The Pramac Racing Team, had conquer on this track, the second-position with Tamada during the 2004. During recent years, unfortunately the results haven't been so positive, the best Team result was the eleventh position conquered by Hofmann in the 2006. Last year, the Italian rider Canepa had finished the race in thirteenth position, while Kallio had withdraw the race just after a few laps from the start. The hope is that the current riders will be able to significantly improve the results of the last years and that they can be able to conquer a good position in the race.


Paolo Campinoti - Team Principal Pramac Racing Team

"After three consecutive October's races in which we haven't certainly had good performance, we'll be back in Europe for the last two Grand Prix of the season. We will be the only Team in the premier class to have a couple of Spaniards riders. Another curious fact is that the couple will be formed by the youngest and the oldest rider of the Championship. The results on Estoril's track were not exciting for our team in recent years, this is one more reason to give up and redeem. The hope is that both riders will be able to mark a good end of season and that they will conquer some good race positions. As in every Grand Prix, we aim to gain a top ten position with both bikes. "

Aleix Espargarò - Pramac Racing Team

"After the eighth position that I was able to conquer during last Grand Prix of Australia, I'll try to confirm the top ten even for the last two Grand Prix of the season. Unfortunately for me it is the first time that I'll be able to race a Grand Prix on this circuit with a MotoGP bike, my objective is to make as many lap as possible on this track so that I can be able to acquire more information and then try to have a better performance during qualifying session and the race. "

Carlos Checa - Pramac Racing Team

"After three years of absence I'll return to race in the MotoGP world with a Ducati. Of course the bike with the number 71 on the livery and the Pramac Racing Team colors, will be very different from the one I have been able to ride during this year, but I'll do my best to repay the trust and the choice that the Italian Team has placed in me. I do not feel any pressure, I'll just have to go on track and have fun to do my job. This will be a great adventure for me. "

 

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Honda MotoGP men all set for final two races of 2010

Following its three-race tour in Asia and Australia, MotoGP returns to Europe for two season-ending events on the Iberian peninsula, this Sunday?s Portuguese Grand Prix and the following Sunday?s Valencia Grand Prix. This weekend?s event will depart from the norm in having four practice sessions for each class, instead of the usual three.



At Estoril, 30km (18 miles) from Portugal?s capital city of Lisbon, Honda?s six-man MotoGP line-up should be back to full racing strength with the return of Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V). The Spaniard, who broke his left collarbone in a crash at the Japanese GP on October 1, attempted to race at the Australian GP on October 17 but had to withdraw from the event because the shoulder was too painful and too weak for racing. The injury had been pinned and plated in Barcelona the day after the accident.

Pedrosa is a famously brave rider, prepared to grit his teeth whenever necessary to reach his chosen goals, but Phillip Island was a race too early for the former 125 and 250 World Champion. Following his abortive Australian trip the 25-year-old Spaniard is hoping he will have recovered sufficiently since then to defend his second place in the 2010 MotoGP World Championship.

Until the accident at Motegi, Pedrosa had been sitting comfortably in second place, with a mathematical chance of winning the title following an impressive midseason run of results. Two wins and two second places at the four races preceding Japan had closed the gap on Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), but with three no scores he is now just 23 points ahead of 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner (Ducati).

Pedrosa has podium form at Estoril, with three top-three finishes at the last three Portuguese GPs, though he has yet to win a race at the challenging circuit which mixes ultra-fast sweepers with MotoGP?s slowest corner, the left/right chicane. Second in 2007 and 2008, he was third in 2009.

While Pedrosa is involved in a battle for the runner-up spot in the championship ? after countryman Lorenzo secured the title at the Malaysian round ? his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) is battling for third place in the highly competitive 2010 series. The 24-year-old Italian is currently fifth, just 14 points behind Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) and 26 points behind Stoner, following a DNF at the last round in Australia. Dovizioso has been on fine form at recent rounds, scoring two second-place finishes at Motegi and Sepang. Although a 2010 victory still eludes him, the former 125 World Champion had proved that he has winning pace, finishing just behind Stoner at Motegi and a fraction of a second behind Rossi at Sepang.

Rookie Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) has climbed the championship standings with a run of strong results at recent races. The 23-year-old Italian gets faster and more spectacular with every ride aboard his RCV and he?s finished in the top six at two of the last three races. This improvement has impressed HRC staff, who invited Simoncelli to visit the company?s R&D facility on his way home to Europe to test new bodywork, specially adapted to fit the lanky Italian. This was his second wind-tunnel outing this year.

Simoncelli?s sixth place at Phillip Island moved him into eighth overall, ahead of Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V). Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) is the third Honda rider in the battle for eighth, just seven points behind de Puniet. Simoncelli has good reason to be confident that this will be another good weekend for him because he goes well at Estoril ? he won last year?s 250 race at the track and was second in the 2008 250 encounter.

De Puniet and Melandri have yet to make the top three in the elite class at Estoril but both have stood on the 250 podium at the track; de Puniet in 2003, 2004 and 2005, Melandri in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V) scored his best result of the year three weeks ago at Sepang, taking a brilliant seventh-place result. This weekend the Japanese MotoGP rookie ? who missed five midseason races after breaking a vertebra at June?s British GP ? wants to get back inside the top ten after a challenging three days in Australia.

Estoril is one of the slowest circuits on the MotoGP calendar, with a lap record of less than 155km/h (96mph). Nevertheless the track presents a real challenge to riders and engineers. The contrast between very slow and very fast corners demands some tricky compromises in chassis set-up, with riders requiring manoeuvrability in the tight corners and stability in the sweepers. These two characteristics aren?t mutually exclusive but it?s not easy to create a motorcycle that excels in both situations, so compromise is the only answer. It?s the same with the engine ? the contrast between the fast start-finish straight and the many slow-speed corners requires maximum peak horsepower as well as gentle low-rev performance.

But perhaps the greatest concern for riders is the track?s proximity to the Atlantic. High-speed winds can whip off the ocean, blowing bikes and riders off course and throwing dust onto the circuit, making for challenging conditions.

Estoril hosts its 11th Grand Prix this weekend, though this is the 13th Portuguese GP. The nation?s first two GPs were held at Spanish tracks in 1987 and 1988, because Estoril failed stringent track safety standards.



HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES



Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa says:
?We get back on track this weekend at Estoril and, in principle, the situation should be much better than it was for me in Australia. The Estoril circuit is not as demanding as Phillip Island and this should help me to feel more comfortable on the bike. Plus I?ve had some more time to recover which should help too. This kind of injury needs time to heal and with two more weeks having passed I?m really looking forward to seeing how much the shoulder has improved. I went to visit the doctor last Tuesday to have the stitches removed, and the scar is fine. I?ve been doing some more rehabilitation on the muscles and I have some more strength, but I will not be able to fully judge how much difference there is until I get on the bike on Friday morning. Also, I think it can be positive for me that there will be two practice sessions on Friday again, as we had in Aragon. In terms of the track layout, Estoril has some hard braking areas and it?s bumpy, but the fact that it has more right-hand corners than left can be good for us. So, I?m looking forward to getting there with my team and seeing how I feel.?

Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso says:
?We head into the Grand Prix of Portugal with a lot of confidence and I think we can get a good result at Estoril. We had two strong second place finishes in Japan and Malaysia, and we could have had another podium finish in Australia too, so there?s no reason to expect anything less this weekend. I know that we are competitive in Portugal and we are determined to have a good race and to fight for another top-three finish. Estoril is a track where I have achieved some good results in the past and, even though I was seventh last year, this wasn?t indicative of our potential. The circuit itself is quite difficult because the layout is slow and narrow, which makes controlling the power of a MotoGP machine a major challenge. This also means it?s really important to understand the track?s characteristics very well and to find a good compromise with the machine set up. We will make full use of the extra practice session on Friday morning and we?re looking forward to these last two races of the season.?

LCR Honda rider Randy de Puniet says:
?Estoril is a very interesting race track and I cannot wait to race there. I am bit worried about the weather which can be similar to Phillip Island, and the weather forecast is not very good at the moment. Anyway I think we can be fast there and we need to be fast to end the race in the top eight. I need to score important points for the championship as the season is coming to an end. Last race was not bad but I could finish in a better position. I must take the best from my machine in the final two rounds.?

San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli says:
?I was really satisfied with the race at Phillip Island but I want to see my performances reflected in numbers. It was a nice race in Australia but it was still a sixth place in the end so I need to work on my consistency. It won?t be easy but that is what I will be trying to do alongside the team. After Phillip Island I had a ?bonus trip? to Japan for another visit to the wind tunnel. Honda are looking at using a new cowling so that I can tuck in my over-size frame. As soon as I got home to Italy I started thinking about Estoril, a circuit I like a lot. I won there last year and finished second in 2008 and it seems to be a place that suits my riding style so if we can find a good feeling with the bike I?m sure I can have another good race.?

San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Melandri says:
?At Phillip Island we were dancing to the same old tune. I can?t get a feel for the bike, so it?s hard for me to ride. It is a tough situation but I have not lost hope and at Estoril I will try again although I think we need a miracle. We?ll see but I would love to finish the season with a good result.?

Interwetten Honda MotoGP rider Hiroshi Aoyama says:
?I hope we can improve in Estoril. I like the track, but it is so different to the last two racetracks. Estoril is similar to the Motegi circuit and I hope it suits the bike. My race in Malaysia was so good and I had a lot of confidence, but in Australia it was not good and I lost the confidence again. You never know in advance what will happen on the racetrack until you are really on it, so it is not easy to predict what will happen in Estoril and Valencia. The conditions will be different and for sure the bike will react different on that, so we will see where we are on Sunday afternoon.?

 

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Capirossi in the top-10 at a rain soaked Estoril

Rizla Suzuki?s Loris Capirossi made a promising return from injury by recording the 10th fastest time at a very wet Estoril circuit in Portugal today.

Capirossi (P10, 1?52.575, 14 laps) who was sidelined from the last race due to a thigh injury - and has since been diagnosed with three fractures in his foot ? made an impressive start to the weekend in conditions that he thought would be very difficult to ride in with his injuries. He was constantly within sight of the leaders and only the lack of track-time at the end of the session prevented him from making further in-roads on his time and improving his place in the standings.

?lvaro Bautista (P16, 1?54.410, 15 laps) had a big crash in the wet conditions towards the end of the session. He lost grip from the rear of his GSV-R on a right-hand bend and high-sided quite dramatically. Bautista was thrown across the track, but fortunately he was able to walk away uninjured from the accident.

Today should have seen two practice sessions, but torrential rain this morning left standing water on the track and made it impossible for riders to attempt to tackle the 4,182m circuit. This afternoon saw an improvement in the weather as the rain ceased and the sun managed to make an appearance towards the end of the session. The fastest time of the day was set by new World Champion Jorge Lorenzo.

Rizla Suzuki will have one more free practice session tomorrow morning, followed by qualifying in the afternoon ? both of which have been increased to an hour to compensate for the lost time this morning. Sunday?s race is the penultimate event of the season and it gets underway at 13.00hrs local time (13.00hrs GMT).

Loris Capirossi:

?Today has been ok when you consider what it was like this morning. When I saw all that rain I was a bit angry, because it would have been a lot harder for me to ride in those conditions. I use my body more in the wet and I have to push down a lot on my feet so this was going to be a problem, but the feeling was not too bad and it felt much better than in Australia. We have improved a lot since the last time out and we continued to improve in the session. I am only in 10th position, but quite happy because we were quite close to the top throughout the session and for us this is good. At the end, as the track improved, I came in to fix some things and the bike was ready just a couple of minutes before the end, but the conditions were changing so quickly it wasn?t worth going out because it was too risky. I hope that we can have a positive weekend here in Portugal ? we really need it!?

?lvaro Bautista:

?Today has been a strange day because it was impossible to ride this morning due to so much water on the track ? it would have made it very dangerous out there. This afternoon it was still very wet, but at least we were able to go out. During the session I improved my time step-by-step, but I felt that the bike didn?t quite have enough grip as I entered the corners. I tried to push a bit harder, but the grip stayed the same so I pushed a little bit more each lap and at the end I lost the rear and could do nothing to stop the crash. The important thing is that I am ok and we will see tomorrow if we can improve this problem with grip, because it is making it difficult to go fast.?

bwin Grande Premio de Portugal Free Practice Classification:

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1?48.522: 2. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) +0.135: 3. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.361: 4. Casey Stoner (Ducati) +0.539: 5. Ben Spies (Yamaha) +1.199: 10. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +4.053: 16. ?LVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +5.888:

 

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INTERWETTEN HONDA MotoGP TEAM ? Mixed first practice day for Aoyama in Estoril

The first practice day at the ?Circuito do Estoril? in Portugal was a mixed day for Hiroshi Aoyama. In the Morning the 29 year old Japanese, who was celebrating his birthday on 25th of October, was leading the time table as he and Carlos Checa, the substitute rider in the Pramac Ducati Team, where the only two riders on the track. The track was more like a river than a racetrack in the morning and so the other riders decided to stay in the pit box. In the afternoon the track dried off and Aoyama had a better feeling with the Honda RC212V, but still some adjustments have to be done tomorrow in the third free practice and then the MotoGP rookie hopes to improve his position. The first practice day Aoyama finished in 15th position in the combined times.

Hiroshi Aoyama, 15 ? 1?54.382 (combined times FP1 and FP2):
?This morning the conditions were not really optimal and I was not out on the track for very long. This afternoon it went better and all riders were on track again. I didn?t feel very comfortable in the wet, especially in the corners I had some difficulties. We improved on that in the afternoon, but not enough and tomorrow we will have to continue to work on that. I want my feeling to improve more.?

 

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THE RAIN SLOWS THE FIRST FREE PRACTICE OF THE PORTUGAL GRAND PRIX ON ESTORIL TRACK

As it happened during Aragon's Grand Prix, the riders would have to face today two free practice sessions, forty-five minutes each on Estoril's track. Unfortunately the rain felt throughout the morning has not allowed the riders to take part to the first free session practice. The track still wet, during the second free practice, did not help the Pramac Racing Team riders, which closed the session with the fourteenth and seventeenth best lap time, respectively with Espargar? and Checa. The gap from the first rider of the ranking was huge, Aleix Espargar? stopped the clock with over five seconds of gap from the fastest time of Lorenzo. Carlos Checa, who has returned on a MotoGP bike after three years of Superbike, has clocked his best lap time during the last lap, ending the session with six seconds of gap from the lead rider. Tomorrow morning, during the third free practice, both will be able to lower their lap times and be more close to the other riders. Despite the weather condition, the hope is that the white-green duo can be able to make as many lap as possible on Estoril's track.


Fabiano Sterlacchini - Technical Director

"The rain had a bit spoiled the day, either Aleix than Carlos needed to run as much as possible on the track and this morning was not possible. We had good feedback from Carlos that despite the difficult change of category, SBK in MotoGP, has since the firsts laps a good lap pace with our bike. His result, after all, is not the worst if we consider the reduced gap that he had accused by some riders who have raced since April in this category. This morning we had identified two wet settings with two different geometries. Thanks to the only lap that Carlos was able to do this morning he had understand which of the two bikes setting he preferred. He had told us that he had not pushed hard because he don't know yet the limits of his new bike, this gives us confidence for tomorrow because we think he could have significant improve his lap time."

Aleix Espargar? - Pramac Racing Team - 14th fastest time in 1'53 .769

"I do not have really much to say, today's weather conditions haven't certainly helped me this morning. I was the first rider to exit from the pit lane, but the track was really full of water and with lots of puddles. During this afternoon we worked on the bike setting, we had two alternatives to be developed. We've got the possibility to try them both and define which gives more guarantees of performance. It will be vital for me to stay on the track as much as possible during the third free practice tomorrow in order to reduce as much as I can my lap pace."

Carlos Checa - Pramac Racing Team - 17th fastest time in 1'54 .444

"There couldn't been worst weather conditions for my return in the MotoGP world. Too bad because the rain did not allow me to do many laps as I wanted. This morning tests were completely useless, the water on the track was really too much. There is a huge difference between the Superbike bike that I was able to ride during this year and the MotoGP bike of the Pramac Racing Team, but despite the difference I was able to improve my pace lap after lap. I need time to get used to this new bike that I've tested only during a short test on Mugello track, but in completely different conditions. I hope that I can run as much as possible tomorrow morning and improve the feeling with the bike."

 

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Lorenzo fastest on wet Estoril circuit, Rossi close behind in third

In echoes of the harsh weather conditions witnessed two weeks ago at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia, heavy rains and wind severely disrupted today's free practice sessions at the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril. The morning's 45 minute first free practice session saw less than five MotoGP riders take to the circuit for a minimal number of laps, the majority, Fiat Yamaha Team riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi included, deciding to sit it out in the hope of gentler conditions for the afternoon. The riders' patience paid off with a break in the rain signalling the start of the afternoon session, the circuit drying in patches towards the end of the 45 minute practice.

Newly crowned 2010 MotoGP World Champion Lorenzo was clearly enjoying one of his favourite circuits on the calendar, relishing the enjoyment of riding with the pressure of the world championship title battle no longer a focus. The young Mallorcan lapped consistently within the top four before a final push at the end of the session to secure the fastest time in advance of tomorrow's qualifying sessions. Rossi was also on form, delivering consistent fast laps from the off and leading the table mid-session as he worked through the wet settings. He finished the session in third, just over three tenths off his team mate. Tomorrow's two sessions have both been extended to one hour in order to make up for some of the time lost to the rain today.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1stTime: 1'48.522Laps: 20
"I love this track, I have won here both times in MotoGP so I am very happy to be here. Unfortunately the weather was terrible this morning and there was no point in riding, then this afternoon it was still very difficult, with a lot of water on the track and you had to be very careful. I felt good despite the conditions and step-by-step we improved so that at the end, when it was slightly drier, I was able to set a good time and we are on top. Tomorrow we will have two longer sessions so we will be able to recover some of the lost time, let's hope for no more rain!"

Valentino Rossi - Position: 3rdTime: 1'48.883Laps: 20
"This afternoon was a normal wet practice and I'm happy about my performance. I am close to the top, was fast from the beginning of session and had a good feeling with bike. Unfortunately we were losing a little bit in some sections of the track, especially the last one because the bike was moving a little too much. We will try for tomorrow to improve the settings, it's important that we made a good start this afternoon as this morning's session was cancelled and it looks like the weather may not be very good over the weekend, so we will not have a lot of time to set up the bike!"

Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager
"We are quite happy with the practice, not so happy with all the rain so far. The track was starting to dry towards the end of the session though and we were able to make some small improvements to the settings. We have to concentrate on entry and exit grip on the rear on the corners so if it's wet again tomorrow we'll focus on that. P1 is always good but the times are very close so we'll see tomorrow."

Davide Brivio - Team Manager
"It was a good session today, we started with a good base and Valentino was fast throughout the practice. There are still some improvements to make both with the electronics and the balance of the bike. We got some really useful information from the session so if we have any further wet sessions or a wet race on Sunday we can continue with this good base."


Spies learns fast at wet and windy Estoril
Ben Spies conquered another steep another learning curve at the Estoril track in Portugal today, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider ending the opening day of MotoGP practice in an impressive fifth position.

The tight and twisty Estoril circuit is another venue Spies has never ridden on before and the task of learning the circuit was made more complicated by this afternoon's session taking place on a wet track. Conditions were so treacherous as a result of torrential rain and strong winds this morning that Spies and Colin Edwards didn't even venture out on track as Friday morning practice was restored to the schedule. After a succ essful trial at the Motorland Aragon track in Spain last month, practice and qualifying will run over four 45-minute sessions for the final two rounds.

When this afternoon's practice got underway, the relentless rain had stopped and by the end of the session blue and sunny skies had broken through, which had seemed an unlikely prospect less than an hour earlier. Spies once again demonstrated his skill at learning a new track with incredible ease, the 26-year-old building up his confidence before a lap of 1.49.721 secured him fifth position. The 2010 Rookie of the Year was once again the leading non-factory rider and he's confident further set-up tweaks to cope with more wet weather forecast for the rest of the weekend will put him in contention for a third podium finish of the season.

A heavy crash with just under 15 minutes remaining ended the session prematurely for Edwards. The 36-year-old was able to quickly find a strong rhythm in the tricky conditions and was comfortably lapping in the top three in the early stages. But he slipped down to 12th with a best time of 1.53.510 after a small mistake at turn eighth saw him crash out, the Texan suffering a painful blow to his left hip.
Ben Spies - Position: 5thTime: 1'49.721 Laps: 21
"Today didn't start off well with the heavy rain this morning and it just wasn't worth going out and taking any risks. This afternoon was much better but it was still full wet conditions. It makes it really hard having to learn a new track when the conditions are wet. You just don't know what the grip is like or where the strong points of the track are and for the first part of the session it was a bit like riding blindfolded. I tried to follow a few people and I got a good feeling pretty quickly though and to be top five on my first day in those conditions is something I'm really happy about. There were a few tricky spots out on the track today and that made it difficult without me fully understanding the limits. A few guys were caught out but I didn't really have any moments and I'm looking forward to a positive weekend after a strong start."
Colin Edwards - Position: 8thTime: 1'53.510Laps: 11
"The session started really good. I felt confident on the bike immediately and was right at the front for a while. This track is kind of funny because it looks really slick but there is actually a lot of grip and obviously Yamaha has got a really good rain setting because Jorge, Valentino and Ben are all in the top five. I'm sure I could hav e been up there too but I made a small mistake before the chicane. I drifted a little bit wide and all of a sudden the rear stepped out. It came back and I saved it but looked up and saw the wall on the other side of the gravel trap, so I just threw myself off the bike. I banged my left hip but I'm going to be fine for tomorrow."

Circuit Length: 4182
Temp: 19
Weather: Wet
Lap Record: 1'36.937 (Daniel Pedrosa, 01/01/2009)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'35.715 (Jorge Lorenzo, 13/04/2008)
Last Years Winner: Jorge Lorenzo
2010 MotoGP Portugal - Estoril 29/10/2010
Free Practice
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 1'48.522
2 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 1'48.657
3 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'48.883
4 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'49.061
5 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 1'49.721
6 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'49.784
7 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 1'50.043
8 Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 1'51.283
9 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 1'52.294
10 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 1'52.575
11 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 1'53.131
12 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'53.510
13 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'53.592
14 Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP 1'53.769
15 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 1'54.389

 

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Cancelled qualifying leaves Rizla Suzuki frustrated

Rizla Suzuki racers Loris Capirossi and ?lvaro Bautista will start tomorrow?s Portuguese Grand Prix from 13th and 14th positions on the grid respectively after today?s qualifying session was washed out.

Capirossi (1?51.518, 25 laps) and Bautista (1?52.734, 23 laps) were both able to get an hour of practice this morning - despite the rain that had previously fallen ? and the pair improved their lap-times from yesterday to leave them in 10th and 12th places on the timesheets. Both riders were looking to improve further in this afternoon?s qualifying session, but a huge storm hit the Estoril area around lunch-time and with no sign of the rain abating as the day progressed, the race officials had no option but to cancel all of this afternoon?s proceedings. This left both riders frustrated and disappointed, as the grid positions for tomorrow?s race had to be decided by the combined times from the two practice sessions that have managed to go ahead so far this weekend. World Champion Jorge Lorenzo will start tomorrow?s race from pole position.

Rizla Suzuki will be hoping for better conditions in tomorrow?s warm-up session so Capirossi and Bautista can make some improvements to their bikes if it is a wet race, but with the forecast showing drier weather for Sunday, they will need to work hard to get a dry set-up to prepare for the 28-lap race that gets underway at 13.00hrs local time (13.00hrs GMT).

Loris Capirossi:

?I am a little bit upset about the weather because it has made it really strange for the whole weekend. Yesterday morning we didn?t do practice because of the rain, then we were able to go out in the afternoon, this morning we rode in the wet and then this afternoon we just couldn?t go out because it was so dangerous on the track. Overall I feel quite happy with the bike, but I am not happy at being 13th on the grid. I was 10th yesterday and 10th this morning, but on combined times I have dropped back! I think it looks like the weather tomorrow will be better and I believe we can have a competitive race if it is. The bike worked well here last year, so we are feeling quite positive and hoping for a good result.?

?lvaro Bautista:

?I am disappointed, but at least this morning we were able to try a different setting in the bike and it felt much better than yesterday. We had another improvement for this afternoon, but we could not try that. Depending on the weather tomorrow we will continue with the wet weather settings and try to make some improvements for those conditions during the warm-up. If it is dry it will be new for everybody so it will be interesting to see who is faster in the drier conditions and who can adapt the quickest. I will be pushing really hard for a good result, I just hope I can make a good start and fight my way through.?

bwin Grande Premio de Portugal Qualifying Practice Classification:

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1?48.522: 2. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) +0.135: 3. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.361: 4. Casey Stoner (Ducati) +0.539: 5. Ben Spies (Yamaha) +1.199: 13. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +2.996: 14. ?LVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +4.212:

 

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PRESS RELEASE ? 2nd Practice Day ? GP Estoril 2010

INTERWETTEN HONDA MotoGP TEAM ? Short second day for Aoyama

Hiroshi Aoyama and his MotoGP colleagues hat a short second working day today in Estoril / Portugal. After the session was already wet this morning, the rain got heavier in the afternoon and the track was completely under water, which was the reason for the cancellation of all qualifying sessions of all classes. The starting position for tomorrow?s race was decided regarding to the combined times of all three practice sessions. Aoyama therefore will start the race from 16th position on the grid tomorrow, after he finished the third free practice this morning in 14th place.

Hiroshi Aoyama, 13 ? 1'33.190:
?Unfortunately the Qualifying was cancelled. We wanted to try some adjustments on the bike and try to improve the lap times. But I think that the decision made was right, as it is quite risky to go out in these conditions. Tomorrow we will have to see what we can improve in the short Warm up time. Normally I prefer a dry race, but this time I think it would be better if we have a wet race as well.?

 

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QUALIFYING CANCELLED ON ESTORIL TRACK. PRAMAC RACING TEAM BIKE'S WILL STARTS TOMORROW RACE IN ELEVENTH AND SEVENTEENTH POSITION.

The heavy rain fell throughout all the day on Estoril's track, has made cancel the qualifying session that should had form the starting grid of the Portuguese Grand Prix. The starting grid will be than established by the combined times of the second practice session of yesterday afternoon and the third free practice session of this morning in which both Pramac Racing Team's riders were able to mark the seventh and sixteenth position respectively with Espargar? and Checa. Tomorrow, thanks to the combined times, Aleix will start the race from the eleventh position, while Carlos will attend the Grand Prix in the last position of the starting grid. The Portuguese Grand Prix will start tomorrow at 1 pm local time.


Fabiano Sterlacchini - Technical Director

"What a bad luck we had. Too bad because we were not able to perform today's qualifying session: this morning during the third free practice Carlos has been able to further reduce the gap accused yesterday during the second free practice by more than half of a second and improve his best lap time. Shame because Aleix was able to score the best seventh lap time this morning, and we were having good feelings for this afternoon. The rain has a bit spoiled our tables, but we are still confident for tomorrow and we hope to take advantage of tomorrow morning warm-up."

Aleix Espargar? - Pramac Racing Team - 11th fastest time in 1'50 .787

"The bike was much better on the wet track this morning then yesterday and the seventh fastest time that I was able to conquer during this morning free practice is the proof of that. I could try to gain a better starting grid position, instead of the eleventh in which I'll take part to the race. After this morning free practice I spoke a lot with my engineers to identify additional improvements that could afford the bike to be more efficient. Too bad because I was not able to try them on track. "

Carlos Checa - Pramac Racing Team - 17th fastest time in 1'53 .933

"The last position on the starting grid for my return to MotoGP World is not very exciting. I'm still very happy because I had improved my feeling with the bike during this morning and also because I have reduced my best lap time by almost half of a second. For now it's okay. I hope to be able to make many laps during tomorrow warm up in order to further improve my feeling."

 

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Spies and Edwards frustrated at storm-hit Estoril

Ben SpiesMonsoon conditions that battered the Estoril track forced this afternoon's MotoGP qualifying session to be abandoned, leaving Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Ben Spies and Colin Edwards fifth and ninth on the grid for the Grand Prix of Portugal.

After a rain-hit morning practice session, conditions started to deteriorate shortly after midday as strong winds and heavy rain lashed the circuit located close to the Atlantic coast. The MotoGP session was delayed by 35 minutes and Race Direction declared track conditions unfit for any action to take place at 2.30pm.

Yesterday morning's first MotoGP practice was also a victim of atrocious conditions but today's qualifying session was the first to be abandoned since a storm hit the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan last season.

As a result of today's severe disruption, grid positions for tomorrow's races were decided on combined practice times, leaving Spies on the second row in fifth after he clocked a best lap of 1.49.721 in yesterday afternoon's practice.

The Texan was frustrated that conditions worsened this afternoon having been confident planned radical changes to the wet set-up of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine would improve his pace.

Edwards will start from ninth, his best time of 1.50.313 from this morning's third practice session counting. Fifth fastest in wet but rideable conditions this morning, Edwards is confident of a strong penultimate race to the 2010 season.

Ben Spies 5th 1.49.721

?There was no way we could have ridden this afternoon. There is nothing we could have done about it but it is frustrating for me having missed the first session too because of the weather when I need to be doing laps to get more accustomed to the track. It's a shame too this afternoon because we were looking to make big strides with the bike. I don't have a lot of time on this bike in the rain so we've basically been running a softer version of my dry setting. But I've been told there's quite a radical change that Yamaha think would really help me and I didn't get chance to try it. That's a bit unfortunate because I was told the bike would feel better and I was already pretty confident in the rain. That said I've still a good starting position in fifth, so learning the track quickly yesterday helped me out a lot. We can't do anything about the weather so we'll wake up tomorrow, see what the skies have for us and go for it wet or dry. I don't feel like we'll be miles off even if it is dry and I've never ridden in full dry conditions at this track."

Colin Edwards 9th 1.50.313

?It is a little bit annoying to be on the third row of the grid because I was looking good yesterday before the crash and this morning I was fifth quickest. I missed out yesterday when the track conditions were better than at any other stage this weekend because of the crash and I'm sure I could have been much higher up the grid. But there was no way we could have gone out in those conditions. It was impossible so I'm not going to get too upset about it and just look forward to the race. I feel if it is wet tomorrow that I'm going to be really strong because the rain setting is working really good. If it is dry I'm confident and I'm sure I will be able to come through the field and get a good result. I guess the worst case scenario is if it is a wet warm-up and then a dry race but I feel ready rain or shine.?

 

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Stormy atlantic weather knocks out Estoril qualifying

Relentless heavy rainfall at Estoril this afternoon forced the cancellation of all three qualifying sessions for tomorrow?s Portuguese Grand Prix. Grid positions have thus been decided from the three practice sessions from yesterday and this morning, all of which were run on a wet track.

Conditions have been pretty miserable since practice got underway yesterday morning, with strong winds and squalls blowing in from the nearby Atlantic Ocean. The track was awash when the first MotoGP practice session got underway at 10am yesterday, so much so that only two MotoGP riders went out, completing a total of just seven laps between them. Conditions improved during yesterday afternoon?s session, but the rain got worse again this morning and by lunch time the storms lashing Estoril grew in their intensity until race direction decided it was too dangerous for riders to venture out for qualifying. Yesterday there were 37 crashes across all three classes ? MotoGP, Moto2 and 125 ? and there were a further 45 tumbles this morning as riders fought vainly to find meaningful grip on the treacherous tarmac. The only rider to suffer injury was Moto2 rider Axel Pons (Tenerife 40 Pons, Pons Kalex), who fractured his right collarbone.

The last occasions on which grid positions were decided from free practice was at Motegi last year and at Sepang in 2006 when torrential rain forced the cancellation of qualifying.

The loss of qualifying hasn?t been kind to Repsol Honda duo Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) who will start tomorrow?s race from the third and fourth rows of the grid. Both men had been planning to be further up the order in this afternoon?s qualifying, but the chance never came. Both seventh-fastest Dovizioso and 12th-fastest Pedrosa recorded their best laps at the end of this morning?s session, still using rain tyres.

Dovizioso had been confident of improving his position in qualifying after making useful forward steps this morning, especially with his RCV?s electronics set-up, which allowed him to run a fast, consistent pace. Pedrosa?s goal this weekend is to score as good a finish as possible to protect his second place in the championship. The Spaniard, who broke his left collarbone at last month?s Japanese GP and made an abortive attempt to race at the Australian GP two weeks ago, has mixed feelings about the rainy conditions. The upside is that riding in lower-grip conditions is physically less demanding than riding in the dry; the downside is that it is much easier to crash on a slippery wet track.

Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) has had a difficult 2010, struggling to get comfortable with his RCV in dry conditions, so he revelled in the rain, claiming his first second-row start of the season. The Italian?s previous best grid slot this year was eighth at Silverstone in June. Melandri rode his fastest lap in yesterday afternoon?s session, two tenths faster than Dovizioso?s best Saturday morning time. Team-mate Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) rounded out the top ten, setting his best time this morning.

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) was eighth to complete an all-Honda third row, just three hundredths behind Dovizioso. Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V) qualified 16th with his best lap in the closing moments of this morning?s outing.

HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V): 7th, 1m 50.007s
?I?m sorry we couldn?t have the qualifying session because our target was to get a front-row starting position and, since I was third in the wet this morning that looked achievable for us. This morning we improved a lot in terms of our set-up and electronics, and I was able to maintain a fast and consistent pace thanks to some important changes on the machine. It was really impossible to have qualifying though ? there was no way we could ride in those conditions. Tomorrow the weather forecast seems to be for a wet warm-up and a dry race ? and if this happens it really means the race will be a lottery because no one has had any practice time in the dry. Also for me this is a track where it takes some time to find a good rhythm, so really I hope for a dry warm-up session and a dry race.?

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V): 12th, 1m 50.824s
?We were improving step-by-step this morning in terms of my lap times and my position and I think we could have continued that this afternoon, so it?s a pity the qualifying session was cancelled ? although of course there was no alternative. At the beginning of the morning session I didn?t feel particularly confident on the machine but I decided with the team to stay out and keep lapping to get more time on the bike. It was a good decision because we made some good progress in the second half of the session. We wanted to move further forward on the grid this afternoon and I think this should have been possible if the session had gone ahead. Tomorrow we don?t know what the weather will do, but what I do know is that from 12th I have to make a great start ? wet or dry. I?m not thinking about what Casey and Valentino will do tomorrow ? all I can do is give my maximum and hope to keep any loss as small as possible.?

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V): 8th, 1m 50.043s
?What can I say? It was not safe for us to ride in these conditions so this is the best solution. This morning we saved one set of tyres ahead the qualifying thinking that the conditions could be a bit better but at the end we could not take advantage of this. Anyway my yesterday?s lap time gives me the chance to start from the third row. We could have done a lot better but we focused on race set-up, not on the lap time. We are pleased with our race pace in the wet but if the race is dry we will all be in the same difficult situation.?

Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V): 16th, 1m 53.317s
?Unfortunately qualifying was cancelled. We wanted to try some adjustments on the bike and try to improve the lap times. But I think that the decision made was right, as it is quite risky to go out in these conditions. Tomorrow we will have to see what we can improve in warm-up. Normally I prefer a dry race, but this time I think it would be better if we have a wet race.?

Pole position : 1m48.522s Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha
Circuit record lap : 1m36.937m (155.309Km/h) Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2009)
Circuit Best Lap : 1m35.715m (157.291Km/h) Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha, 2008)
Qualifying position
1 Jorge Lorenzo 1m48.522s SPA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
2 Nicky Hayden +0.135s USA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
3 Valentino Rossi +0.361s ITA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
4 Casey Stoner +0.539s AUS DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
5 Ben Spies +1.199s USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
6 Marco Melandri +1.262s ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
7 Andrea Dovizioso +1.485s ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
8 Randy De Puniet +1.521s FRA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
9 Colin Edwards +1.791s USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
10 Marco Simoncelli +1.978s ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
11 Aleix Espargaro +2.265s SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
12 Dani Pedrosa +2.302s SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
13 Loris Capirossi +2.996s ITA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
14 Alvaro Bautista +4.212s SPA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
15 Hector Barbera +4.609s SPA DUCATI Aspar Ducati
16 Hiroshi Aoyama +4.795s JPN HONDA Interwetten Honda MotoGP
17 Carlos Checa +5.411s SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
Championship standings
1 Jorge Lorenzo 333 pts SPA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
2 Dani Pedrosa 228 pts SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
3 Casey Stoner 205 pts AUS DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
4 Valentino Rossi 197 pts ITA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
5 Andrea Dovizioso 179 pts ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
6 Ben Spies 163 pts USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
7 Nicky Hayden 152 pts USA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
8 Marco Simoncelli 102 pts ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
9 Randy De Puniet 100 pts FRA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
10 Marco Melandri 93 pts ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
11 Colin Edwards 90 pts USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
12 Hector Barbera 76 pts SPA DUCATI Aspar Ducati
13 Alvaro Bautista 73 pts SPA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
14 Aleix Espargaro 60 pts SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
15 Hiroshi Aoyama 47 pts JPN HONDA Interwetten Honda MotoGP
16 Mika Kallio 42 pts FIN DUCATI Pramac Racing
17 Loris Capirossi 42 pts ITA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
18 Alex De Angelis 11 pts ITA HONDA Interwetten Honda MotoGP
19 Roger Lee Hayden 5 pts USA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
20 Kousuke Akiyoshi 4 pts JPN HONDA Interwetten Honda MotoGP
21 Wataru Yoshikawa 1 pts JPN YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team

 

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QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 30/10/2010
Fiat Yamaha to start from the front row after Estoril qualifying washout

Severe weather at Estoril today forced the cancellation of the MotoGP qualifying session, with torrential rain flooding the circuit and making any on-track action impossible in the afternoon. As a result the starting grid has been taken from the combined free practice times, leaving Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo on pole and his team-mate Valentino Rossi in third. It was a proud moment for Lorenzo, whose 42nd pole puts him equal with Jorge Martinez Aspar as the most successful Spanish pole-man of all time.

This morning's practice was run in wet conditions and the slippery track caught several riders out, including Lorenzo who high-sided in the last corner late in the session. Luckily the World Champion was unhurt and he still managed to top the standings once again. Rossi had a good morning's work and finished as runner-up, just over half a second off his team-mate. The top six fastest times were all set yesterday however which left Lorenzo on pole but Rossi in third, with Nicky Hayden splitting up the Yamaha pair for the season's penultimate race. Tomorrow's race, weather permitting, is due to get underway at 1300 local time, which is 1400 CET.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1stTime: 1'48.522Laps: 39
"It was a pity about this today because we needed a bit more time in the very wet conditions to try to improve our setting more, but there was no way we could have ridden this afternoon. This morning I felt quite good but at the end I was pushing too hard, I thought the other riders were closer to my time and I just went a step too far and crashed. I was lucky, my airbag inflated and I didn't hurt myself. Now we have to wait and see how the weather is and we especially hope that warm-up is the same conditions as the race, it will be very, very difficult if not. Today I became the Spanish rider with the most poles of all time, joint with Aspar, and this is a great honour for me, I feel very proud."

Valentino Rossi - Position: 3rdTime: 1'48.883Laps: 46
"It's a real disappointment about today because we had some things we wanted to try, but in the end the rain was just too much and it was too dangerous. It really was impossible to ride this afternoon! In the wet I have a good setting, even if we could have improved a bit this afternoon, but I am happy about the balance of my bike. Now we just have to wait for the conditions tomorrow. We are prepared for the wet; if it's dry it could be interesting! If it's dry from the morning and it's possible to have the warm-up in the dry then it will be okay to have a dry race, but if warm-up is wet and then the race is dry....honestly it's better not like this! We will just have to wait and see and at least we're on the front row."

Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager
"Our seventh pole of the season, but without actually qualifying! Jorge had quite a big crash this morning when he was pushing quite hard and lost the rear, but he is fine and this is all that matters. We wanted to improve our pace in the wet conditions a bit more; when it's drying up we're okay but when it's really wet we're struggling a bit with the rear feeling, so we need to work on this tomorrow morning if possible. Of course we don't know how the weather will be so we will just have to wait and see."

Davide Brivio - Team Manager
"A strange weekend and a difficult one with the weather. So far, in the two sessions we've had, we've been quite good and it seems our wet setting is okay. It's a pity because we had some things to check today to try to improve a bit but it was impossible. We will have to wait for tomorrow. If the race is wet we are prepared, if it's dry it's going to be a big gamble."

 

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Bautista narrowly misses the top-10 at a windswept Estoril

Rizla Suzuki?s ?lvaro Bautista just missed out on 10th place at the Portuguese Grand Prix today as the rain that had plagued the race weekend finally relented to allow a dry race.

Starting from 14th on the grid, Bautista got a good start and by lap five he had moved up in 10th position. As the race wore on he got involved in a battle with Hector Barbera and Hiroshi Aoyama, which saw the three swap places regularly. Bautista fought to the line, but was just unable to get past Barbera in the closing metres and finished a mere 0.187 seconds behind his countryman to claim 11th position.

Loris Capirossi (P13) had a tough afternoon as the injuries that he is suffering with took their toll on the Italian?s battered body. He fought manfully to overcome the discomfort he was suffering and managed to bring the bike ? and himself ? safely home to see the chequered flag for the first time in six races.

Today?s weather was a marked contrast from what had previously been experienced at the Portuguese circuit as the heavy rain that had caused the cancellation of yesterdays qualifying gave way to windy, but sunny conditions. World title holder Jorge Lorenzo produced a champion?s performance in front of a crowd of just over 40,000 to win the race by over eight seconds from his nearest rival.

Rizla Suzuki will now travel directly to Valencia in Spain for the final round of the season next weekend, with both riders hoping to put today?s difficult race firmly behind them and finish the season on a positive note.

?lvaro Bautista:

?I feel very disappointed because I just didn?t expect this result here. I know the weekend has been very strange, because we only rode in dry conditions in the race, but before I came here I thought we would have a good performance. When I started the race I quickly realised I couldn?t get a good rhythm because I didn?t seem to have much grip in the front or rear tyres and on the straights I also had a problem with the bike being very unstable - I even had to close the throttle sometimes because I couldn?t control the bike properly. I fought for a position in the top-10, but I also had a bit of a problem with braking hard and that made it very difficult to overtake other riders. I hope that next week we can finish the season with a good result to make up for today?s disappointment.?

Loris Capirossi:

?The race was not so good, nor was the position, but I am still happy because it has been a long time since I have finished a race. I don?t remember when the last one was ? I think it was Indianapolis ? so to finish was my first target today. We never rode in dry conditions here all weekend so we did not know what setting to go for in the race and the bike was really unstable today, so I had to fight with that as well. I was able to overtake Carlos early on and from then I just wanted to finish the race. It has been really hard for me today, but as I said I am happy just to finish.

Paul Denning ? Team Manager:

?Going straight into the race with no dry practice at all was always going to throw up some interesting results, but unfortunately we definitely needed some dry running to get the bike working properly. The biggest problem for both riders today was stability, which was not helped by the strong cross winds down the main straight, but our competitors didn?t seem to have the same trouble at all. ?lvaro fought hard ? as always ? but we couldn?t give him a good enough tool for the job today and we?ll be hoping that we can improve things in Valencia and he can finish his season as strongly as his potential has shown in the last few races.

?For Loris it was a bonus for him just to see the chequered flag, his physical condition is far from good and he did well to tough it out and bring the bike home.?

bwin Grande Premio de Portugal Race Classification:

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 46?17.962: 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +8.629: 3. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) +26.475: 4. Marco Simoncelli (Honda) +26.534: 5. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) +27.154: 11. ?LVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1?17.908: 13. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1?39.752:

World Championship Classification:

1. Lorenzo 358: 2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 236: 3. Rossi 217: 4. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 205: 5. Dovizioso 195. 13. ?LVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 78: 16. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 44:

 

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PRESS RELEASE ? Race ? GP Estoril 2010

INTERWETTEN HONDA MotoGP TEAM ? Position 12 for Aoyama in Estoril

Hiroshi Aoyama finished the Portuguese Grand Prix today on 12th position and earned four more points in the world championship standings. At the beginning of the race the 29-year-old Japanese didn?t want to risk anything as after three wet practice sessions it was the first dry session on the track today and he didn?t know how the tyres and the bike will react under these conditions. Then it went better and betters for Aoyama and he gained confidence and pushed very hard to be fast. When he reached the group in front of him he was able to overtake them. In 10th position the MotoGP Rookie made a mistake and he had to run wide to avoid crashing and lost his position to the riders, who followed him. For the coming Grand Prix in Valencia, the last Grand Prix of the 2010 season, Aoyama hopes he can have a better result.

Hiroshi Aoyama, 12 - 47'50.987:
?I had a good start, but I didn?t want to risk anything at the beginning of the race. I wanted to see how the bike and the tyres react on this condition first. Then it went better and better and I was faster and faster at the middle of the race. I could catch the group in front of me and was able to overtake them. Unfortunately I made a mistake then and to avoid crashing I had to go wide. Fortunately I didn?t crash, but I lost my position. I am angry about the mistake, but that is racing and it happens. Next time I will try to ride a better race in Valencia.?

 

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Double podium at Estoril delivers thirs consecutive Yamaha triple crown

Fiat Yamaha riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi put in a superb team performance today at the Grand Prix of Portugal on the Estoril circuit, taking first and second respectively to deliver Yamaha it's third consecutive Triple Crown with the Team, Rider and Manufacturers' titles. The achievement marks the first time since the Triple Crown's inception that any manufacturer has won it three times in a row. After a weekend of disruption from the weather today's race was run mainly in bright sunshine, although rain earlier in the day meant the track was still patchy to begin with.

2010 World Champion Lorenzo made a strong start from pole, taking the lead into the first corner before briefly relinquishing it to Nicky Hayden for a few seconds before taking back control of the race. Team-mate Rossi made a play for the lead on lap four, relegating Lorenzo to second until lap 17 where a decisive out braking manoeuvre saw the Spaniard retake the lead, putting his head down to build an impressive eight second lead over Rossi by the chequered flag. The victory was another landmark for Lorenzo, being the third consecutive time he has won from pole position at this track. Rossi's second position finish continues his impressive record in Portugal, giving him his tenth podium here in all classes.

Rossi's second-place and a non-finish from Casey Stoner means the Italian has moved back to third in the championship standings, 19 points off Dani Pedrosa and second place. The final round of the season comes in one week's time at Valencia in Spain.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1stTime: 46'17.962
"On the warm-up lap I could see there were still a few wet parts and I knew that I was going to have to be careful at the beginning. I got a great start and was in the lead but eventually Valentino overtook me and then off he went. He had a better pace than me then and I couldn't go with him. As the track got drier I found my pace improving and then step-by-step I closed the gap and was able to get past him. At that point I felt really good and I am so happy to win for the third time here at Estoril. It was a long time since I have won but my confidence has remained high and I haven't been worried. I knew I could win here at my favourite track. We also confirmed the Triple Crown for Yamaha today so well done to the whole team for this victory."

Valentino Rossi - Position: 2ndTime: +8.629
"Like I said yesterday, a wet warm up and a dry race is a difficult one! I am happy about this weekend, we worked really well on the bike on the wet and this morning I was the fastest in the warm up, if it had been a wet race I could have been very competitive. For the dry we started blind so I had to try to take some risks at the beginning because the setting was ok, but it was not enough because when Jorge got into his rhythm he was faster than me, I had no way to fight with him. I tried to stay with him but he was too fast. Anyway second place is positive for my championship because I am back in third place and I'm not so far from Dani Pedrosa in second. I'm happy to have improved the setting of the bike but we are still not strong enough so we will try to improve for Valencia for a final win with Yamaha."

Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager
"They were strange conditions for the race today, being run in the dry after all the wet practice sessions. We struggled at the start a bit with a full fuel tank, Jorge over braked a little on the end of the straight so P1 was not so good in the beginning. After eight or nine laps however the feeling was a lot better and he was able to catch up with Valentino and pass for the win. This is victory number eight and after a few races of not winning we are happy to be first again! We need to keep our focus for Valencia because it would be great to finish this fantastic season with one more win."

Davide Brivio - Team Manager
"On one side it was a very good race because we went into a dry race with a blind setting and we got a very good result, but unfortunately when you are so very close to the victory it's hard to not get there. Anyway we took a positive second position and we learned a lot today about out setting for the final race. It was a very positive day for Yamaha too because we took the Triple Crown again, well done to everyone."


Mixed fortunes for Edwards and Spies in Estoril
The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha Team experienced mixed fortunes at the Grand Prix of Portugal today, Colin Edwards racing to a gutsy seventh position while Ben Spies was unfortunately unable to start after a heavy fall on the sighting lap.

After a weekend of atrocious weather severely disrupted the practice and qualifying schedule, the MotoGP race started on a drying track in bright and sunny but blustery conditions. Some damp patches were still visible on the surface after further torrential rain this morning, but with no dry track time under his belt, set-up and tyre choice became a lottery for Edwards.

Edwards needed to call on all his experie nce as tricky conditions in the early laps presented the 36-year-old with a severe test of skill and bravery. Working out quickly where he could push, Edwards spent the majority of the race on the fringes of an exciting five-rider fight for third place. He got up to seventh on lap 18 with an overtake on Randy de Puniet and at that point he was only 1.6s behind Marco Simoncelli in third.

Frustratingly for the Texan, he was unable to force his way into contention for a rostrum, despite launching numerous attempts to close down on the podium battle unfolding directly in front of him. He eventually finished seventh and heading to the final round in Valencia next weekend, Edwards is just one-point behind Marco Melandri in his bid to claim a top ten overall championship finish.

It was a difficult afternoon for fellow American Spies, who had impressed all weekend on his first visit to the Estoril track. Spies w as confident of a strong race despite having never completed a single lap of the track in the dry. But he crashed on the second of two sighting laps at turn four and was unable to start the 28-lap encounter.

Spies suffered a dislocated left ankle and aggravated injuries suffered in Le Mans and Silverstone earlier in the season. The 26-year-old will now travel to Spain where he will undergo MRI scans on the ankle, though he is determined to end his outstanding rookie campaign by participating in the final round in Valencia next weekend.

Colin Edwards - Position: 7th 99-points
"It was a lottery before the race because we'd had no dry track time and at the start there was still quite a few damp patches around. My guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 though did an awesome job because what we ran on the bike worked pretty good. But if you don't adapt in a couple of laps then you're in big trouble and off the pace. I felt pretty good from the start even though it was so difficult in the first few laps. It was hard to find the limit or work out when you were going to slide and everybody was having big moments. This is all going on why you're trying to push at the same time and it was a bit of a lottery just to keep it on two wheels. I caught that group and I could see third but I couldn't do anything with them and that was pretty frustrating. I made up time on them on the brakes but they just had a bit more punch coming out of the corners. So each time I'd close up, they'd gap me leaving the next corner. The podium was right there, I could see it, but I just couldn't get close enough."

Ben Spies - DNS 163-points
"I knew the race was going to be tough because I had never turned a lap in the dry on this track. The first sighting lap was fine and o n the second I just made a mistake at turn four. Aoyama and Capirossi were in front of me and they nearly did the same thing. I just didn't have the left side of the tyre heated up enough and it spat me off. I'm frustrated because I'm sure even in the dry I could have had a fairly good race. I've hurt my left ankle again and it's pretty painful right now. I'll have some more scans in Spain but my intention is to go to Valencia and race and hopefully do the test too. We'll have to wait and see but that's my plan right now."

Herve Poncharal - Team Manager
"It was certainly a mixed day for us. Colin rode a great race and he was always in that group fighting for the podium. He gave his maximum effort and he wasn't that far away from the podium at the end in a race that was very difficult considering nobody had any dry track time over the weekend. I was standing on the grid when Race Direction told me that Ben had crashed at turn four and I feel really sorry for him because all weekend he's done an incredible job. He'd never seen this track and in atrocious conditions he was always one of the fastest on track. When you look at the race it is not impossible to imagine Ben being capable of fighting for the podium again. We hope he'll be fine for Valencia and I know already that he wants to race. Congratulations also to Jorge for another fantastic win in what has been an amazing year for him and Yamaha."

Circuit Length: 4182
Weather: Dry
Lap Record: 1'36.937 (Daniel Pedrosa, 01/01/2009)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'35.715 (Jorge Lorenzo, 13/04/2008)
Last Years Winner: Jorge Lorenzo
2010 MotoGP Portugal - Estoril 31/10/2010
Race 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 46'17.962
2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0'08.629
3 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 0'26.475
4 Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 0'26.534
5 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 0'27.154
6 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 0'28.297
7 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'30.109
8 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'44.947
9 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'13.649
10 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 1'17.721
11 Alvaro Bautista Suzuki ESP 1'17.908
12 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 1'33.025
13 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 1'39.752

Rider Standings 31/10/2010
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 358
2. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 236
3. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 217
4. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 205
5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 195
6. Ben Spies Yamaha USA 163
7. Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 163
8. Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 115
9. Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 110
10. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 100
11. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 99
12. Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 82
13. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki ESP 78
14. Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP 60
15. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 51
21. Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha JPN 1

Manufacturer Standings 31/10/2010
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. Yamaha 379
2. Honda 331

 

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UNLUCKY RACE FOR THE PRAMAC RACING TEAM ON ESTORIL'S TRACK

Unlucky race for the Pramac Racing Team riders, who have both completed in advance the Grand Prix of Portugal. In particular, Aleix Espargar? fell during the first lap just a few corners from the start. He had lost his rear tyre during a turn. The young Spaniard has slipped ending a weekend that saw him as one of the protagonists of the MotoGP. He had been the yesterday the eighth fastest rider during the third free practice session and the seventh fastest position during this morning warm-up. Aleix was also able to make a really good start that allowed him to conquer two positions in the first sector. Unfortunately, his race ended prematurely in the sand of the Portuguese circuit. Different think happened to Carlos Checa. The Spaniard that had join the Pramac Racing Team from the Superbike, has not had many opportunities to try the new bike over this weekend and this has irretrievably compromised his race. Carlos, thanks also to a good start, had conquer four positions in the first lap, but after six laps he has considerably increased his lap time becoming second last thanks also to the overtaken made on him by Aoyama first and then by Barber?. Then during the thirteenth lap, Carlos had came back into the pits complaining a terrible pain in his right forearm used for braking and he wasn't able to ride the bike in the best way. Both will now have three days off to get back in the shape for the next Grand Prix of Valencia that will close, with Sunday's race, this long season of the MotoGP World Championship.


Fabiano Sterlacchini - Technical Director

"Unfortunately the rain that we had during recent days have also damaged our race. Carlos had never got the possibility to try the bike on the dry track and this have not allowed him to ride the bike in the best way and to find the right riding position that would allow him to avoid him having to use too much his right forearm. I'm sure that if he had got the possibility to full race the first free practice and yesterday's qualifying session, he could be able to do a good race today. We are very sorry for Aleix who had a good weekend, he was very fast and very close to the front riders by almost all the weekend, today he could be able to fight with many of his opponents."

Carlos Checa - Pramac Racing Team - DNF in the race - Not classified

"My bike was perfect, but my forearm, unfortunately not. I feel sorry for the technicians who worked for me this weekend and for the Pramac Racing Team, for not having completed today's race. The bike I got to ride in Superbike this year is very different from the MotoGP given to me by the Pramac Racing Team and it never got the possibility to try it on the dry asphalt condition for more than ten laps, this certainly haven't helped me. After six laps my forearm pain was really insufferable, I could not properly use the brake, my lap pace was not very good as the beginning of the race, and because of the pain I could not be able to be as fast as I wanted. I tried to keep it until the end, but the pain was too strong to complete the fifteen laps that had separated me from the checked flag. I hope that in Valencia the weather condition will be kind with me so that I can be able to have a good race weekend."

Aleix Espargar? - Pramac Racing Team - DNF in the race - 14th in the World Championship

"I cannot understand what happened. I made a very good start by passing from the eleventh to the ninth position after the first sector. My opponents were very close to me and the pace I had this morning had me had high hopes for today's race. Then suddenly, while I was turning in to a curve, even not one of the fastest of the circuit, I completely lost the rear of my bike as I had found a patch of oil or something very slippery. I tried to go back in the saddle, but my bike was already turned off. Too bad because I really had a good rhythm on this track, both in yesterday's practice and this morning during the warm up. My thoughts are now turned to Valencia for the final race of the 2010 World Championship."

 

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Dovizioso/Simoncelli podium battle lights up Estoril

Honda riders Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) and Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) lit up this afternoon?s windswept Portuguese Grand Prix with a thrilling last-lap duel for third place. The two Italians swapped places twice on the final lap, Dovizioso finally passing Simoncelli as they raced towards the chequered flag to grab third by 0.059 seconds. The pair ? who have been racetrack rivals since they contested minimoto races together in the late 1990s ? likened the duel to their frequent confrontations as youngsters!

The race was won by recently crowned World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) who outpaced team-mate Valentino Rossi on a track that was still damp in places following two days of torrential rain. Although all riders started the race with slicks tyres, this was the first time all weekend that they had ridden on slicks. Conditions yesterday afternoon were so bad that all qualifying sessions were called off, and even this morning?s warm-up outings were run on a soaking track. Grid positions for all classes were decided by lap times from free practice.

With no dry track time before the race, riders and teams had no choice but to guesstimate a suitable dry set-up and gamble on tyre choice, which suggested three highly unpredictable races. The first laps of the MotoGP were hectic, with the leading pack swapping places every other corner as riders tried to suss out the conditions. Lorenzo led lap one, Hayden lap two, before Lorenzo and then Rossi took control. With a 1.8 second lead at one-third distance, it seemed like Rossi had the race won, but Lorenzo was the fastest man on the track in the last two thirds of the 28 laps and won his eighth victory of the season by a comfortable 8.6 second margin.

The contest for third place was frantic throughout, with four Honda riders ? Dovizioso, Simoncelli, Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) ? in the hunt for the position at one stage, along with Nicky Hayden (Ducati). During the later stages the contest became a three-way affair between Dovizioso, Simoncelli and Hayden, though the American never got close enough to mount a serious bid for the final place on the podium.

On the last lap Simoncelli nipped inside Dovizioso at Estoril?s low-speed chicane, but Dovizioso kept his cool and focused on getting the best-possible drive out of Estoril?s sweeping final curve, which took him past Simoncelli who made a minor error in the last corner, losing him crucial speed. De Puniet finished sixth, just over one second behind Hayden who finished six tenths behind Simoncelli whose team-mate Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) had a difficult ride to ninth.

Pedrosa rode a hero?s race despite his recently broken left collarbone. The Spaniard started from the fourth row of the grid and steadily worked his way forward until he was in the group disputing third place. But as the race went on his collarbone injury began to tell ? unable to fully control his RCV during heavy braking Pedrosa ran wide on several occasions, the lost time relegating him to eighth place at the finish. Despite that the former 125 and 250 World Champion retains second place in the point standings with one race remaining, at Valencia next weekend.

Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V) rode well to work his way into the top ten shortly after half-distance but then he ran wide, allowing fellow MotoGP rookies Hector Barbera (Ducati) and Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki) to come past him again. The Japanese ace crossed the finish line in 12th position.

The MotoGP circus now drives across the Iberian peninsula to Valencia, where the last of this year?s 18 World Championship events will take place next weekend at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, just inland from the Mediterranean city of Valencia.

HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V): 3rd
?To be back onto the podium is so important for us and I?d like to thank my team and fans for their support this weekend. We can?t be completely happy with our pace today because we were a long way from the front two riders, but overall the result is positive for us. The situation at Estoril has been strange for the whole weekend with every session being held in wet conditions and third position was the best we could have done today. It was quite an aggressive battle with Simoncelli but it has always been like this with him, so I needed to have a strategy for the last lap. He was faster than me in T3 and T4 and every time into the chicane he overtook me, but I knew that it was possible to take him out of the last corner because I had a bit more speed onto the straight, so this was my plan ? and it worked. Now it?s possible to fight with Stoner for fourth place in the championship and - although it will be difficult because he was fast here before he crashed and also has a ten point lead - this will be our target for Valencia next weekend.?

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V): 4th
?I am really pleased with my race today. We did everything right and I was able to maintain a good rhythm from the start to the end. Dovizioso was a little bit faster than me on the straights but I still thought I could beat him. Unfortunately I made a tiny mistake in the final turn and lost a little bit of speed onto the straight, which gave him the advantage over the line. It was a shame but I am still delighted because this feels almost as good as a podium to us. Over the last four or five races I have been consistently on the pace from Friday practice and we did it again here at Estoril. Obviously we still have to work to improve the bike, especially the electronics, if we want to be on the podium but maybe we can do that at Valencia.?

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V): 6th
?I am quite satisfied because this is the best result so far after my bad injury. The weather today was good but it was a sort of gamble for everybody as we did not test in the dry. I took a good start and felt immediately comfortable on the bike. I missed my braking point in turn one and ran wide, losing three seconds. Probably without that little mistake I could have battled for the podium. Since my injury I am still facing some problems in braking and during downshifting but I am really pleased with this result and want to thank the team for the good overall package.?

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V): 8th
?I have mixed feelings after this race. On one side the fact that I could finish 28 laps is good because from quite early in the race I didn?t know if it would be possible. From the third lap I lost strength in my left arm and I couldn?t really feel it. Honestly I didn?t think I could keep that pace at the beginning of the race. At one stage I could see that finishing third would have been possible with the pace we were running, but it was impossible because soon I had no power in the arm. On every lap I was feeling more tired and I couldn?t maintain the 1m 39.5 laps. With ten laps to go I couldn?t keep pushing and I dropped back quite a lot. I?m going to have a check-up again with the doctors tomorrow because the arm still feels quite numb, but anyway we?ll have three days to relax and recover to be ready for Valencia. In terms of the position in the championship, I?m 19 points ahead and so I hope to hold on to second place.?

Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V): 9th
?I am disappointed and upset because nothing has gone our way since the start of the season. I don't know what else to say and I don't want to start talking about why this is happening to us. All I can say is that I am very disappointed."

Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V): 12th
?I had a good start, but I didn?t want to risk anything at the beginning of the race. First, I wanted to see how the bike and the tyres reacted to the conditions. Then it went better and better and I was faster and faster in the middle of the race. I could catch the group in front of me and was able to overtake them. Unfortunately I made a mistake then and to avoid crashing I had to go wide. Fortunately I didn?t crash, but I lost my position. I am angry about the mistake, but that is racing and it happens. Next time I will try to ride a better race in Valencia.?

Pole position : 1m48.522s Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha
Fastest lap : Lap 20 - 1m37.928s (153.737Km/h) Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha
Circuit record lap : 1m36.937m (155.309Km/h) Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2009)
Circuit Best Lap : 1m35.715m (157.291Km/h) Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha, 2008)
Event results - Round 17 - Race 1
1 Jorge Lorenzo 46m17.962s SPA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
2 Valentino Rossi +8.629s ITA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
3 Andrea Dovizioso +26.475s ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
4 Marco Simoncelli +26.534s ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
5 Nicky Hayden +27.154s USA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
6 Randy De Puniet +28.297s FRA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
7 Colin Edwards +30.109s USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
8 Dani Pedrosa +44.947s SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
9 Marco Melandri +1'13.649s ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
10 Hector Barbera +1'17.721s SPA DUCATI Aspar Ducati
11 Alvaro Bautista +1'17.908s SPA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
12 Hiroshi Aoyama +1'33.025s JPN HONDA Interwetten Honda MotoGP
13 Loris Capirossi +1'39.752s ITA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
16 Carlos Checa NC 15 Laps SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
17 Casey Stoner NC 24 Laps AUS DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
18 Aleix Espargaro DNS SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
19 Ben Spies DNS USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
Championship standings
1 Jorge Lorenzo 358 pts SPA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
2 Dani Pedrosa 236 pts SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
3 Valentino Rossi 217 pts ITA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
4 Casey Stoner 205 pts AUS DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
5 Andrea Dovizioso 195 pts ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
6 Nicky Hayden 163 pts USA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
7 Ben Spies 163 pts USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
8 Marco Simoncelli 115 pts ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
9 Randy De Puniet 110 pts FRA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
10 Marco Melandri 100 pts ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
11 Colin Edwards 99 pts USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
12 Hector Barbera 82 pts SPA DUCATI Aspar Ducati
13 Alvaro Bautista 78 pts SPA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
14 Aleix Espargaro 60 pts SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
15 Hiroshi Aoyama 51 pts JPN HONDA Interwetten Honda MotoGP
16 Loris Capirossi 45 pts ITA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
17 Mika Kallio 42 pts FIN DUCATI Pramac Racing
18 Alex De Angelis 11 pts ITA HONDA Interwetten Honda MotoGP
19 Roger Lee Hayden 5 pts USA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
20 Kousuke Akiyoshi 4 pts JPN HONDA Interwetten Honda MotoGP
21 Wataru Yoshikawa 1 pts JPN YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
22 Carlos Checa 0 pts SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing