Repsol Honda Team heads to Sachsenring with Championship tied

2012-07-03 18:56
With no time to take a breath and just five days after the challenging race at Assen, the Repsol Honda Team follows the Championship to Sachsenring for this weekend's Grand Prix of Germany, the eighth round of the season.

After the double podium in the Netherlands, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa will aim to maintain this momentum and take another step forward in the World Championship, where Casey is now equal on points at the top of the standings with Lorenzo (140), while Dani (in third position with 121 points) has seen the gap to the leaders reduced to 19 points.

The Sachsenring track, the second shortest on the calendar after Laguna Seca, is a much slower circuit than Silverstone and Assen, but again it will be very demanding on tyres: 13 turns -10 left and only 3 to the right - means a lot of stress on the tyres and the track layout requires a very accurate set up of the bikes.

Casey has four podium finishes in Germany, including a victory in 2008, while for Dani Sachsenring has been like a talisman circuit in the past, with five victories (three in MotoGP, including the last two years) and six podiums in total.

CASEY STONER World Championship Position: 2nd with 140 points

"I hope we can go to Sachsenring and get another good result especially after our tough, but rewarding weekend in Assen. We were quite competitive there last year, but in the long corners we are struggling a little more with our bike at the moment so we're going to need to work hard on Friday and Saturday, try to find more grip from the edge of the tyre and also see if we can reduce the front chatter. It's a very interesting track, maybe not one of the greatest on the circuit but has one of the best corners coming down the hill which is a little scary with spending so much time on the left before switching to the right side of the tyre. It's a good atmosphere there though with all the spectators so close to the track, it feels like a Coliseum ! There's always an interesting race there as we saw last year so we'll see what this weekend has in store".
DANI PEDROSA World Championship Position: 3rd with 121 points

"Sachsenring has been a successful track for us in the past, we've got some very good results there and it's a circuit where I always enjoy racing. Every race counts and we have to keep working hard and our time will come. We had a very good weekend in Assen and we have to repeat it in Germany; hopefully with the first win of 2012 that we are chasing so much. Sachsenring is a short track where the performance of the tyres will again play a big part, because you are leaning on the left a long time and the fastest corner is to the right. We need to set up the bike the best we can and give our best on Sunday".
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 43: 2 x 125cc, 5 x 250cc, 36 x MotoGP
GP podiums 85: 10 x 125cc, 10 x 250cc, 65 x MotoGP
GP pole positions 41: 2 x 125cc, 2 x 250cc, 37 x MotoGP
World Championships 2: MotoGP (2011, 2007)
Previous results at Sachsenring 2011 3rd (MotoGP), 2010 3rd (MotoGP), 2009 4th (MotoGP), 2008 1st (MotoGP), 2007 5th (MotoGP), 2006 DNF (MotoGP), 2005 7th (250cc), 2004 DNS (125cc), 2003 2nd (125cc), 2002 DNF(250cc)

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 103: 17 x 125cc, 24 x 250cc, 62 x MotoGP
GP pole positions 38: 9 x 125cc, 9 x 250cc, 20 x MotoGP
World Championships 3: 1 x 125cc (2003); 2 x 250cc (2004, 2005)
Previous results at Sachsenring 2011 1st (MotoGP), 2010 1st (MotoGP), 2009 3rd (MotoGP), 2008 DNF (MotoGP), 2007 1st (MotoGP), 2006 4th (MotoGP), 2005 1st (250cc), 2004 1st (250cc), 2003 4th (125cc), 2002 7th (125cc), 2001 11th (125cc)


Championship standings
1 Jorge Lorenzo 140 pts SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing Team
2 Casey Stoner 140 pts AUS HONDA Repsol Honda Team
3 Dani Pedrosa 121 pts SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
4 Cal Crutchlow 77 pts GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
5 Andrea Dovizioso 76 pts ITA YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
6 Valentino Rossi 61 pts ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
7 Nicky Hayden 59 pts USA DUCATI Ducati Team
8 Alvaro Bautista 58 pts SPA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
9 Stefan Bradl 51 pts GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
10 Ben Spies 48 pts USA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing Team
11 Hector Barbera 46 pts SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
12 Aleix Espargaro 20 pts ESP ART Aspar Team MotoGP
13 Randy De Puniet 19 pts FRA ART Aspar Team MotoGP
14 Michelle Pirro 16 pts ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
15 Mattia Pasini 12 pts ITA ART Speed Master
16 Danilo Petrucci 9 pts ITA IODA Ioda Racing Project
17 James Ellison 9 pts GBR ART Paul Bird Racing
18 Ivan Silva 5 pts SPA BQR-FTR BQR
19 Yonny Hernandez 4 pts COL BQR-FTR BQR
20 Colin Edwards 4 pts USA SUTER NGM Mobile Forward Racing
21 Karel Abraham 4 pts CZE DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing
22 Chris Vermeulen 0 pts AUS SUTER NGM Mobile Forward Racing

Circuit information
First race 1961 (Modified 2003)
GPs held 26
Laps 30
Race distance 110.130km / 68.430miles
Track length 3.671km / 2.281miles
Track width 12m
Longest straight 0.780km / 0.485miles
Corners 13 (10 left, 3 right)
Pole position Left

Sachsenring
AM Sachsenring
09353 Oberlungwitz
http://www.sachsenring-circuit.com


Circuit records
Pole position 1m21.067s (163.020Km/h) Casey Stoner (Ducati, 2008)
Race lap 1m21.846s (161.469Km/h) Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2011)
Race time 41m12.482s (160.352Km/h) Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2011)
MotoGP Wins 4 (Valentino Rossi 2002, 2005-06-09)
2011 Winner Dani Pedrosa (Honda)

Source: Repsol Honda Team

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