HONDA SHARES MotoGP LEAD AS SEASON RESUMES AT JEREZ

2013-04-30 17:41
After a thrilling flyaway start in Qatar and
Texas, the MotoGP World Championship returns to
racing routine this weekend at the classic Jerez
circuit – the first of three races in Spain, and
the start of the gruelling European season in the heartland of the series.

The Circuito de Velocidad, just outside Spain’s
sherry capital Jerez de la Frontera, has become
the traditional European opener as the series
gets down to serious week-in week-out business.
As such it regularly draws huge, race-starved
crowds – more than 180,000 over the three days last year.

The track twists back and forth in hilly ground
making natural grandstands for fervent Spanish
fans, who have shared in many exciting races and
many successes for Honda, including a clear win
last year for defending champion Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC213V).

This year, joint championship leader Marc Marquez
(Repsol Honda RC213V) comes home with a
fast-growing reputation after he claimed his
first MotoGP victory at only his second attempt.
His win at Austin added another new record for
the 20-year-old – he undercut former Honda triple
champion Freddie Spencer to become the
youngest-ever premier-class GP winner. Spencer’s record had stood since 1982.

Marquez joined the Repsol Honda team as Moto2
champion, having secured the 125cc crown two
years earlier ... but the rider from outside
Barcelona has yet to claim a win at the
Andalucian circuit, and will hope to change that on Sunday.

For Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V), Jerez has
always been special. In the last seven years with
the factory team in MotoGP, Dani has never
finished off the rostrum, adding five second
places and one third to his 2008 victory.

Dani is fresh from his latest rostrum finish,
second at Austin, and well placed in what
promises to be an epic battle for the title. He
currently lies third overall, with compatriot
Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) sharing the points lead with Marquez.

The race presents a fresh opportunity for Honda’s other two prototype riders.

Alvaro Bautista (Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini
RC213V) lies sixth overall after finishing sixth
and eighth at the opening two races; but hopes to
get closer to the front now that a finger injury
sustained in a pre-season testing crash at Jerez
has fully healed. Former 125 World Champion
Bautista is the only MotoGP rider using Showa
suspension, combining a crucial development role with his quest for results.

German former Moto2 champion Stefan Bradl (LCR
Honda RC213V) has a little ground to make up,
after crashing out of the first round in Qatar.
He made a good re-start at Austin, claiming a
solid 11 points after a strong ride to fifth place.

MotoGP rookie Bryan Staring (GO&FUN Honda Gresini
FTR Honda) will have the benefit of prior track
knowledge, after joining pre-season tests at
Jerez ... making his learning task that much
easier. The Australian claimed his first MotoGP
finish in Texas, adding valuable track miles on
his CBR1000RR-powered CRT machine. Step by step
he is gaining experience as he draws closer to the furious CRT battle.

In the Honda-powered Moto2 class, close and
fierce racing is guaranteed. The championship
positions after two rounds demonstrate: while
Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex) has a
slender lead of four points, five more riders are
jostling behind him, within a span of just two points.

Many of the fans’ hopes will be riding with Qatar
winner Pol Espargaro (Tuenti HP40 Pons Kalex),
who followed up in Texas with zero points after
sliding out in the early stages.

Others reliably in the front group are Redding’s
team-mate Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team
Kalex), third in Texas; second-placed Tito Rabat
((Tuenti HP40 Pons Kalex)) and first-time race
winner Nico Terol (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2), former 125 World Champion.

All Moto2 machines use Honda engines supplied by
the organisers to ensure not only close but also reliable racing.

In the Moto3 class, now in its second year in
place of the traditional 125s, Jack Miller
(Caretta Technology – RTG FTR-Honda) led the
Honda charge at Austin, the Australian teenager
finishing a fighting sixth in a thrilling
sprint-race restart after the first running was red-flagged.

South African Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing
Suter-Honda) is the top Honda rider in the
championship, by just one point after a top-ten
in Texas boosted his four points from Qatar. Then
three on level pegging; Miller joined by Briton
Danny Webb (Ambrogio Racing Suter-Honda) and
France’s Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold FTR-Honda).

All are confident the technical nature of the
Spanish circuit will play to the strengths of
their agile and responsive Honda-powered 250cc four-stroke racers.

The Circuito de Velocidad has become an important
part of the MotoGP series after almost three
decades years of continuous use not only for GPs
but also as a major test circuit. First used in
1987, it has been on the calendar ever since as
host to the Spanish GP, except in 1988 when it
ran under the Portuguese flag. In 2002 the layout
was modified to add further variety, and the paddock buildings modernised.

In that 26-year span, Honda has won the premier
class 17 times, almost three times as many victories as the next-best.

Overlooked by a soaring tower named for one of
the famous Jerez sherry houses and with the
start-finish straight straddled by a glassed-in
circular “UFO”, the very technical track is 4.423
km (2.748 miles) of almost continuous corner
sets. There are five to the left and eight
right-handers, and a short straight of just over
600 metres (0.38 miles). The lap finishes with a
hairpin overlooked by grandstands – frequently
the scene of decisive last-lap battles.


Honda MotoGP Rider Quotes

Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez says:
“The Austin race is a weekend I will never forget
and I would like to thank you all for all your
support and kind messages! Now we arrive back to
Europe and it's important to keep our feet on the
ground and remain focused. All the other riders
have much more experience than me in these
circuits and we will need to work hard. I’m
looking forward to racing in front of the Spanish
fans for the first time on a MotoGP machine in
Jerez and we will try our hardest to get the best
result. If we can achieve a podium then it would
be great! Our goal is to keep learning and finish each race.”

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa says:
“Even though I missed out on the victory in
Austin, we take many positives from the weekend.
I am happy as we have reduced the gap to the
leaders and I have recovered the good feelings
that we had pre-season. Now we head to Jerez,
which is one of my favourite circuits to race at.
The atmosphere there is amazing and the fans are
very passionate. The weather wasn’t good for us
in testing there a month ago, but it’s a track we
know well. We will look to continue with the
momentum we left Austin and work hard from the
first practice session to give ourselves the best chances for the race.”

GO&FUN Honda Gresini rider Alvaro Bautista says:
“We worked really hard through the weekend at the
last Grand Prix at a new and difficult circuit to
find a compromise with the setting, but we
improved the bike every time we went out. By the
end of qualifying I had a great feeling but
unfortunately it wasn’t quite the same in the
race and in the later laps I was unable to open
the gas where I wanted. From that point I just
focused on bringing the bike home and scoring as
many points as we could after a nice battle with
Dovizioso. Now we go to Jerez, which is a very
special Grand Prix that feels like the true start
to the championship. It is my home Grand Prix,
it’s a great place and I love the circuit. Lots
of my friends and fans are coming down to Jerez
and the atmosphere will be incredible. We have a
lot of data for the track, which should allow us
to be competitive from the start, so we will be
working hard to find maximum confidence with the
bike. I really want a good result in front of my
fans! It is a technically complete track with
slow and fast corners, hard braking zones and
some fantastic direction changes. It will be
crucial to find a good compromise for the chassis
and suspension and the electronics play a very
important role at this track. I took my first
ever win at Jerez so it is a place that holds great memories for me.”

LCR Honda rider Stefan Bradl says:
“I am really looking forward to the first round
in Europe. We have tested the bike there in March
gathering useful data for the race weekend and I
was comfortable with the bike’s overall package.
I am happy to be back in Europe because we return
to the standard time schedule, and the atmosphere
especially in Spain is very warm. After my DNF in
Qatar I was happy to battle with the guys in the
front in Austin which is a very technical race
track. So I think we will arrive in Jerez with a
good base and high motivation to maintain our position in the top five.”

GO&FUN Honda Gresini rider Bryan Staring says:
“I was happy to complete full race distance in
MotoGP for the first time at Austin because I was
able to learn a lot. It means we go to Jerez on
the back of a positive experience and we know we
have the opportunity to take another big step
forward in terms of my adaptation to this class.
Every time I go out on the bike I get a better
feeling for the bike and the main thing right now
is to complete laps and follow the instructions
of the team. Jerez is an incredible circuit and
this is my first chance to race in front of the
amazing crowds that MotoGP attracts in Europe. I
am feeling confident and can’t wait to get out on track.”


Moto2 Rider Quotes

Marc VDS Racing Team rider Scott Redding says:
“Jerez promises to be a tough weekend, one of the
toughest of the season. A lot of riders are fast
at this track and the Spanish riders in
particular are always keen to do well at home.
After just two races the championship is just
names on a piece of paper, but at least it shows
we’ve started strongly and that we can be in the
hunt for the title. If I’m in with a shout of
winning races then I’ll go for it, but this year
it’s not about winning every race, it’s more
about scoring points every weekend. That’s what
we did in Texas and that’s how we’ll continue. If
I can come away from Jerez still leading the
championship then I’ll be satisfied.”

Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 rider Nico Terol says:
“It was hard to take in my first Moto2 win in
Texas, but I have enjoyed it a lot at home with
my people. Perhaps it took longer than expected,
but I knew that sooner or later it had to come.
We had a lot of time doing a great job, but it
didn’t all come together at the races. Now we
have achieved a win, and that makes me feel much
more motivated, yet with confidence through the
roof. The victory was a huge reward, now we have
to keep working hard to not lower the level. We
have seen that we can win races, so the goal
should be to try for podium positions every
weekend. Now we go to Jerez, aiming for the
highest level. We have a lot of information from
the pre-season tests, where we were among the
best every day, in both dry and wet conditions.”

Tuenti HP40 Pons Kalex rider Tito Rabat says:
“I have been really looking forward to Jerez, and
to race in front of the Spanish fans. The first
two races had different results for me, but at
the same time they were similar – racing outside
Europe, with the schedule changed and the tracks
in complicated situations. Jerez has always been
good to me, and I hope to keep on track, to keep
at the top, and to add another good result to my Austin podium.”

Honda Moto3 Rider Quotes

Ambrogio Racing rider Brad Binder says:
“You don’t need big top speed at Jerez so we
expect it to be much better there. I’ve got to
say thanks so much to the team. The bike is
handling like it’s on rails. Jerez is one of my
favourite tracks of the whole season, so I expect to do well there.”

Caretta Technology rider Jack Miller says:
“It shouldn’t be so bad because the straights
aren’t so long. I’m hoping we can get some better
bits for the engine and keep the results coming.
The big thing Honda is working on is the intake
and injector system. Plus we are working on
aerodynamics with a modified fairing – just
little things we can do on our own.”

Ongetta-Rivacold rider Alexis Masbou says:
“We can improve a lot, I think. Jerez has less
long straights than COTA, so I think the gap to
the front will be a lot less and I hope we can
fight with the top four. We must work very hard
on the settings to take advantage of our chassis
and try to get back into the front group.”

Source: Honda Pro Image

Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story

Headlines