Highly motivated Repsol Honda Team heads to Jerez2012-04-24 18:36This week the 2012 MotoGP World Championship heads to the south of Spain for the Jerez Grand Prix, the second round on the calendar. Following the positive Championship debut with two podium finishes at Losail circuit - second place for Dani Pedrosa and third for Casey Stoner - the Repsol Honda riders arrive in Jerez confident and look forward to repeating the same good potential they showed in pre-season at this track. The pre-season tests are a good reference to start working from this weekend. Casey Stoner managed to set the fastest lap (1'38.780) while Dani Pedrosa, lapped under his circuit record in Jerez (1'39.731 in 2010) with a best lap time of 1'39.157 and did a race simulation maintaining a high pace. Dani Pedrosa, who will be making his 100th premier class start on Sunday, has visited the podium in Jerez in the last seven years with two victories (2005 and 2008) and five second positions, while the best result for Casey is a third place in 2009. DANI PEDROSA World Championship Position: 2nd with 20 points "The pre season test at Jerez was positive for us, we had good feelings on the bike and finished happy, so I'm really looking forward to going there for the Grand Prix this weekend. We need to be very focused and have a good qualifying session in order to start the race in a good position. I love the Jerez circuit and the passionate support of the Spanish fans, I hope the grandstands are full again as it adds to the unique atmosphere there. We had a great race in Qatar and to start the season on the podium is important, but we cannot relax, we will be aiming for another strong race this weekend". CASEY STONER World Championship Position: 3rd with 16 points "After a difficult race in Qatar, I'm looking forward to Jerez. We had a very good pre-season test there, it's a track that hasn't been so good for me in the past so the fact we were able to hold a good pace there in testing has given us a lot of confidence. We still have some issues that we really need to resolve with the bike especially the chattering in the entrance and exit of the corner, when we solve these we believe we will have a very competitive package. Since Qatar I've been working on the arm pump issue I experienced in the race and it's definitely feeling better, we've treated it the same way as when I had it in 2010 at Silverstone so I'm hoping it won't be a problem for us this weekend". Rider Statistics - Dani Pedrosa Age 26 Racing number 26 Race machine Honda RC213V Date of birth September 29, 1985 Birthplace Sabadell - Spain Height 1.60m Weight 51kg Hobbies Cycling, Music Grand Prix debut 2001, 125cc Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka First GP win 2002, 125cc Dutch Grand Prix, Assen GP wins 38: 8 x 125cc, 15 x 250cc, 15 x MotoGP GP podiums 98: 17 x 125cc, 24 x 250cc, 57 x MotoGP GP pole positions 37: 9 x 125cc, 9 x 250cc, 19 x MotoGP World Championships 3: 1 x 125cc (2003); 2 x 250cc (2004, 2005) Previous results at Jerez 2011 2nd (MotoGP), 2010 2nd (MotoGP), 2009 2nd (MotoGP), 2008 1st (MotoGP), 2007 2nd (MotoGP), 2006 2nd (MotoGP), 2005 1st (250cc.), 2004 DNF (250cc.), 2003 4th (125cc), 2002 4th (125cc), 2001 10th (125cc) Rider Statistics - Casey Stoner Age 26 Racing number 1 Race machine Honda RC213V Date of birth October 16th, 1985 Birthplace Southport, Australia Height 171cm Weight 58Kg Hobbies Fishing Grand Prix debut 2001, 125cc British Grand Prix, Donington Park First GP win 2003, 125cc Valencia Grand Prix, Valencia GP wins 40: 2 x 125cc, 5 x 250cc, 33 x MotoGP GP podiums 80: 10 x 125cc, 10 x 250cc, 60 x MotoGP GP pole positions 38: 2 x 125cc, 2 x 250cc, 34 x MotoGP World Championships 2: MotoGP (2011, 2007) Previous results at Jerez 2011 DNF (MotoG), 2010 5th (MotoGP), 2009 3rd (MotoGP), 2008 11th (MotoGP), 2007 5th (MotoGP), 2006 6th (MotoGP), 2005 DNF (250cc), 2004 5th (125cc.), 2003 6th (125cc), 2002 6th (250cc) Circuit information First race 1987 (Modified 2002) GPs held 25 Laps 27 Race distance 119.421km / 74.196miles Track length 4.423km / 2.748miles Track width 11m Longest straight 0.600km / 0.373miles Corners 13 (8 right, 5 left) Pole position Left Ctra. de Arcos, Km. 10 - Aptdo. Correos 1709. Jerez - España Telephone numbers : International dialling: +34 F: 956 15 11 05 Centralita / Operador : 956 15 11 00 Alquiler de Pista / Track booking : 956 15 11 07 Circuit records Pole position 1m38.189s (162.164Km/h) Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha, 2008) Race lap 1m39.731s (159.657Km/h) Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2010) Race time 45m17.538s (158.200Km/h) Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha, 2010) 2011 Winner Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) Source: Repsol Honda Team Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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