The MotoGP World Championship returns to its traditional heartland this week for the first race on European tarmac, exactly a week after last Sunday's Japanese GP, round two of the 2009 series. The Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez is one of the most popular events on the MotoGP calendar, regularly attracting a weekend crowd of more than 200,000 fans who create a carnival atmosphere in Jerez and surrounding towns.
This weekend local hopes will be particularly high, with last year's Jerez winner Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) scoring a remarkable third-place result in Japan, despite lingering problems from recent knee and wrist injuries. The Spanish hero still won't be 100 per cent fit for the first of MotoGP's three races in Spain, but his speed and determination at Motegi suggests that he can't be counted out of another great result.
New team-mate Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) also rode well at Motegi, taking a strong fifth place just nine seconds behind the winner. The result was especially impressive considering that riders went into the race after just one dry practice session, an extra challenge for riders like Dovizioso have switched teams and tyre brands for 2009. The Italian's second consecutive fifth-place result puts himself fourth in the current points standings.
Both Repsol Honda men are looking forward to returning to more familiar territory at Jerez. Pedrosa has enjoyed some amazing successes at the challenging track in the heart of Andalusia. He won the 2005 Jerez 250 GP and has scored podium finishes in each of his visits on a MotoGP bike — second in 2006 and 2007 and a dominant victory in 2008. Dovizioso also goes well there, having scored podium finishes in the 2006 and 2007 Jerez 250 GPs. Last year he was eighth on his Jerez MotoGP debut.
Pedrosa won't be the only home hero on a Honda at Jerez. Toni Elias (San Carlo Gresini Honda RC212V) also enjoys massive support in Spain and will be doing everything in his power to get closer to the front after difficult rides at the opening GPs in Qatar and Japan. Former MotoGP winner Elias believes that his team are now working in the right direction to find a set-up that works for his radical riding style and he is therefore excited and optimistic about Jerez.
Team-mate Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Gresini Honda RC212V) will be working hard to rediscover the pace he had in Qatar, where he finished sixth, but lacked in Japan, where he finished 13th. Like Elias, his main goal is to create a set-up which puts more heat into the rear tyre.
Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) is looking forward to building on the steady progress he's made since the start of the season. Like Dovizioso, de Puniet is one of a minority of riders who have switched tyre brands this year following the instigation of the single-tyre regulation with Japanese brand Bridgestone. With limited preseason testing and limited practice time (both testing and practice having been reduced in an effort to cut costs in the current global financial climate), de Puniet needs time to find the ideal match between his RC212V and its Bridgestone tyres.
Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda RC212V) is another man who needs time. The Japanese former 250 hotshot is one of three rookies in this year's MotoGP series and is still learning to get the best out of his RCV. His apprenticeship wasn't helped by an unlucky first-lap crash at Motegi, but the Japanese is more confident for Jerez, where he tested during the winter.
Jerez was the second purpose-built Spanish racetrack to host the country's world round, after Madrid venue Jarama. Early Spanish GPs were held on a complex street circuit within Montjuich Park in Barcelona, before Jarama took over in the late 1960s. Jerez hosted its first GP in 1987 and this year is the venue's 21st GP event.
Honda won its very first GP victory on April 23 1961 at the Spanish GP at Montjuich (where Australian Tom Phillis won the 125 race on a Honda RC144 twin) and has enjoyed excellent successes at recent Spanish GPs at Jerez, with 16 wins in the premier class, five victories in the 250 class and eight successes in 125s.
Jerez has always been popular with riders, placing a great emphasis on riding technique, while also presenting a real challenge for engineers and technicians. Jerez features a great variety of corners, from high-speed sweepers to dead-slow hairpins, with many of the corners leading into one another, demanding precise lines and exact machine settings. Getting the best out of the tyres is probably the greatest challenge of all at Jerez, since the many flowing corners require riders to spend a lot of the time on the edge of the tyres. The circuit layout has remained the same since 1996.
Dovizioso and Pedrosa are currently the top-placed Honda riders in the 2009 MotoGP World Championship, holding fourth and fifth places on 22 and 21 points. The series is led by Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) on 41 points, with Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) and Casey Stoner (Ducati) a close second and third on 40 and 38 points.
MotoGP rider quotes
Repsol Honda's Andrea Dovizioso said: "After the race in Japan we arrive in Jerez with more confidence. At Motegi we proved that we can fight hard for the whole race and run at the frontrunners' pace. I was happy about the race result in Japan because we succeeded in closing the gap to first place, but we still have to work to improve the machine package. In Japan we couldn't actually do any development work on the bike because of the bad weather conditions which affected most of the sessions. So there's still a lot of things we need to test including some new parts. Obviously we'll have to see what we can get done at Jerez , while also working on the set-up for the race. The Jerez circuit is not one of my favourite tracks, but I will still give it my all this weekend. The atmosphere here is always incredible — there are so many spectators and they have a great passion for bikes, so it's always a great experience to race in front of them. The Spanish GP is also the home GP for Repsol so I'll be doing my best to get a good result for them too."
Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa said: "It was great to get such an encouraging result in Japan right before we go to Jerez because now we have some momentum which we must try to maintain. Still, despite getting on the podium at Motegi, which I was really pleased with, we mustn't kid ourselves that we are fully competitive just yet. We struggled quite a lot in the practice sessions at Motegi and we're under no illusions that we have to keep working hard to bring our package up to its full potential. Still, I'm really looking forward to Jerez and it's always a very special experience for me to race there. The fans are so passionate and give me and all the Spanish riders great support. I like the Jerez track and have had some great moments there. Having got that result in Motegi, and now that my physical condition is improving, I hope I can give the fans and the team something to celebrate this weekend."
San Carlo Gresini Honda's Alex De Angelis said: "After Motegi it would be silly to try and predict what could happen at Jerez but we definitely won't struggle as much as we did in Japan. We really need to work hard on finding some traction because this is the only area we are missing - other than that my feeling with the bike is great. We didn't have a great preseason test at Jerez but hopefully it can be a similar situation to Qatar, where we had a poor test but the higher temperature and extra base setting data helped us to improve the situation for the race. After two very strange races in Qatar and Japan it will be nice to head back to Europe, where hopefully things will be a little more back to normal!"
LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet said: "I like the Jerez track because it is very technical and the Spanish fans are really warm. After the last races I am really hoping for some good weather conditions so that we can develop our base set-up in the dry. Honestly, I could get a better result in Japan, but we missed some track time in the dry, and that's why I want to concentrate on our machine setting during practice at Jerez. We have already been to Jerez for winter testing but bad weather did not give us the chance to adjust the bike package as we planned."
San Carlo Gresini Honda's Toni Elias said: "We improved at Motegi but not as much as I would have liked and we're not in the ideal situation going into my home Grand Prix at Jerez. However, the important thing is that I believe we are on the right path and by continuing to work hard in the way we are doing, along with a bit of help from Honda, we should be there soon. I've had some great races at Jerez in the past, the crowd there definitely give the Spanish riders a big lift and with the data we have from preseason testing there is no reason not to go into this Grand Prix feeling excited and optimistic."
Scot Racing Team Honda's Yuki Takahashi said: "I like Jerez. Here we tested during last winter. This means that we already have a few data, and it helps a lot as this is my first year in the class. In the last two GPs we understood several things about the bike — especially in Motegi, a track that I know well. The main point, in Spain, will be to avoid the wheeling, which can come out in a track with short segments like this."
250cc rider quotes
Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing Team 250cc) comes to Jerez on a high, following his brilliant ride to second place in last Sunday's Japanese 250 GP aboard his Honda RS250RW. Team-mate Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Racing Team 250cc) scored points despite being penalised for a jump start. GP rookie Shoya Tomizawa (CIP Moto GP250) had a good weekend at Motegi, finishing the race in the top ten, making him optimistic for his first race in Europe. Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG) and Hector Faubel (Valencia CF Honda SAG) had a tough time at the Japanese round, both men crashing in the race.
Hiroshi Aoyama said: "I like Jerez, the track that opens the European season. For some reason I've never been lucky, here - nevertheless, I like it. The competition is always fierce, because Spanish and Italian riders are generally very strong at this circuit. Some parts of it suit Honda, while some others don't. So, we will have to work to find the best compromise and to exploit our qualities. When we tested here in winter the feeling was good, but the weather conditions will be very different, now in Springtime. I hope to be able to fight for the top places."
Raffaele De Rosa said: "Jerez was the first circuit I met in my first complete season in the Championship — 125 cc class, at that time. That race was good, but the track, while it is not bad, in my opinion, at the same time is not one of my favorite. The essential will be to avoid any mistake. We know the track, and this will help us."
CIP Moto — GP250's Shoya Tomizawa said: "Step by step... At the next race I expect to be faster, but I have to learn something with every lap. That's the most important thing for me is to learn and to think that way because I'm already thinking about next year. And I have to try harder to improve my position in Jerez and I think I can do that there. I like the atmosphere, I like the circuit, I like the country of Spain. The IRTA test was good, but I crashed twice, so I don't want to do that during the GP weekend!"
Thai Honda PTT SAG's Ratthapark Wilairot said: "We have just arrived home from Japan and once again pack our bags to go to Jerez which is very hectic but I want to forget the bad memories from Motegi and replace them with good ones from Jerez this weekend. We tested in Jerez a few weeks ago and got some good results so I hope I can take advantage of this and finish off with a great race on Sunday. I am physically and mentally fine after the crash and will push hard this weekend".
Valencia CF — Honda SAG's Hector Faubel said: "Last weekend in Japan was difficult — we didn't do many dry laps so we didn't have a good setup, then on race day I crashed. Now I come to a circuit near my home with people close to me and this gives me more energy and motivation. I have a lot of hope for this weekend in Jerez. It's a track I know very well and I believe we will be lucky. We have demonstrated that we can be in the top five group and in Jerez I know we will have a decent result."