The Repsol Honda Team head to Le Mans in positive spirits2011-05-10 19:42The 2011 MotoGP World Championship resumes this weekend for round four in Le Mans, France. After his first win of the 2011 season in Portugal, Dani Pedrosa has now cut the gap to World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo down to just four points. Team mate Casey Stoner - 3rd in Portugal, is currently third in the Championship with Andrea Dovizioso in 6th place. Pedrosa has enjoyed wins in 125cc (2003) and 250cc (2004, 2005) at Le Mans, but victory in MotoGP class eludes him, with his best result being 3rd in both 2006 and 2009. He has also achieved five pole positions at this circuit. Stoner has had mixed fortunes at Le Mans, with only one podium finish in 2007 he will be looking for a good result here on his RC212V. With a win in 125cc in 2004 and a 3rd place finish in 2010, Dovizioso will be hoping for a podium finish in Le Mans also. The Le Mans circuit - most famous for it's legendary 24hour car race, demands a very specific set up with it's series of tight chicanes and an incredibly fast first corner. The weather is also an unknown factor and has influenced the races in recent years, in both 2007 and 2009 the races were wet-dry - with riders needing to swap bikes in pits. This is sure to be an epic race for the large French crowds that attend the event every year. DANI PEDROSA – 2nd in Championship – 61 points "It's been the first week in a long time in which I have felt calm and confident, especially after the race we had in Portugal. It was a great release for me to feel good on the bike after the operation and makes me see things differently. After the race and Monday's test I was very tired and sore. I spent three days resting to relax the muscles and then I continued with the physiotherapy and gently working with my trainer. Now, I look forward to getting back on the bike. Le Mans will be, as always, a difficult and busy weekend. I've done well overall in this circuit, I have quite a lot of confidence there, but I am yet to win in MotoGP and I would like to. It's similar to Estoril, a stop and go track where Yamaha has been also very strong in the past. We need to take a big profit of the practice sessions to prepare a bike with good stability, traction and acceleration and be prepared f or any track condition because of the weather. In this track you need to be also very focused because the race is long and it's very important to be consistent and not make any mistakes". CASEY STONER – 3rd in Championship – 41 points "In Estoril I was very happy to retain 3rd and keep some valuable points for the Championship. We've always had some reasonable results in LeMans but never really quite good enough. The practice sessions will be important to get the set up of the bike just right, and I feel the Honda should work well there so I'm looking forward to it". ANDREA DOVIZIOSO – 6th in Championship – 30 points “After the improvements made in the post GP test in Estoril, we arrive in Le Mans more competitive. We will use the new clutch we tested in Portugal and take advantage of the set up solutions tested there. Le Mans is a slow track and has a lot of changes of direction, unfortunately the circuit has lost part of its fascination after changes made in the past years. I have always scored good results on this track, last year we had a very good race finishing on the podium. We head to Le Mans determined to repeat it. Our target is the podium and to achieve it we need to work well from the first day.” Rider Statistics - Dani Pedrosa Age 25 Racing number 26 Race machine Honda RC212V Date of birth September 29, 1985 Birthplace Castellar del Valles - Spain Height 1.59m Weight 52kg Hobbies Cycling, Music Grand Prix debut 2001, 125cc Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka First GP win 2002, 125cc Dutch Grand Prix, Assen GP wins 36: 8 x 125cc, 15 x 250cc, 13 x MotoGP GP podiums 91: 17 x 125cc, 24 x 250cc, 50 x MotoGP GP pole positions 35: 9 x 125cc, 9 x 250cc, 17 x MotoGP World Championships 3: 1 x 125cc (2003); 2 x 250cc (2004, 2005) Previous results at Le Mans 2010 5th (MotoGP), 2009 3rd (MotoGP), 2008 4th (MotoGP), 2007 4th (MotoGP), 2006 3rd (MotoGP), 2005 1st (250), 2004 1st (250) 2003 1st (125), 2002 3rd (125), 2001 17th (125) Rider Statistics - Casey Stoner Age 25 Racing number 27 Race machine Honda RC212V 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, 250cc Valencia Grand Prix, Valencia GP wins 31: 2 x 125cc, 5 x 250cc, 24 x MotoGP GP podiums 65: 10 x 125cc, 10 x 250cc, 45 x MotoGP GP pole positions 28: 2 x 125cc, 2 x 250cc, 24 x MotoGP World Championships 1: MotoGP (2007) Previous results at Le Mans 2010 DNF (MotoGP), 2009 5th (MotoGP), 2008 16th (MotoGP), 2007 3rd (MotoGP), 2006 4th (MotoGP), 2005 4th (250), 2004 8th (125) 2003 4th (125), 2002 DNF (250) Rider Statistics - Andrea Dovizioso Age 25 Racing number 4 Race machine Honda RC212V Date of birth March 23, 1986 Birthplace Forli, Italy Height 1.65m Weight 63kg Hobbies MX, Supermoto Grand Prix debut 2001, Italian Grand Prix, Mugello First GP win 2004, Africa's Grand Prix, Welcom GP wins 10: 5 x 125cc, 4 x 250cc, 1 x MotoGP GP podiums 50: 15 x 125cc, 26 x 250cc, 9 x MotoGP GP pole positions 14: 9 x 125cc, 4 x 250cc, 1 x MotoGP World Championships 1: 125cc (2004) Previous results at Le Mans 2010 3rd (MotoGP), 2009 4th (MotoGP), 2008 6th (MotoGP), 2007 2nd (250), 2006 2nd (250), 2005 3rd (250), 2004 1st (125) 2003 3rd (125), 2002 9th (125) Circuit information First race 1969 (Modified 2006) GPs held 23 Laps 28 Race distance 117.18km / 72.8miles Track length 4.185km / 2.600miles Track width 13m Longest straight 0.45km / 0.28miles Corners 13 (4 left, 9 right) Pole position Left Automobile Club de l'Ouest Circuit des 24 Heures 72019 Le Mans Cedex 2 T: +33 (0)2 43 40 24 00 F: +33 (0)2 43 40 24 88 Website: www.lemans.or Circuit records Pole position 1m32.647s (162.617 Km/h) Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2008) Race lap 1m34.215s (159.910Km/h) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha, 2008) Race time 44m29.114s (158.047Km/h) Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha, 2010) MotoGP Wins 3 (Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo) 2010 Winner Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) Source: Repsol Honda Team Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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