From a press release issued by Dorna Sports:

MotoGP set for Middle East debut at Marlboro Grand Prix of Qatar

The MotoGP World Championship heads to the Middle East for the first time in its 55-year history this weekend for the inaugural Marlboro Grand Prix of Qatar. The fabulous Losail International Circuit, purpose-built on the outskirts of the capital city of Doha, has been constructed in little over a year but after an investment of some $58 million USD and round-the-clock dedication of up to 1,000 workers it is ready to host the thirteenth round of the world’s premier motorcycle racing series.

The track itself is a flowing layout of 5.4 kilometres, featuring a main straight of 1100 metres, surrounded by artificial grass designed to prevent sand from the neighbouring desert from blowing onto the circuit. Only one man has completed a lap of the track on a MotoGP machine, former 500cc racer Randy Mamola riding the two-seat Ducati Desmosedici at the opening ceremony in July, meaning it will be a completely new challenge for the riders and an interesting sub-plot to the World Championship title chase.

Valentino Rossi remains in pole position to retain his crown after extending his points advantage at the top of the standings in each of the last two rounds. Victory and second place respectively in Portugal and Japan, complimented by fourth and sixth for Sete Gibernau and two crashes for Max Biaggi, have seen Rossi establish a 39-point cushion with just four rounds remaining.

However, the unpredictability of MotoGP racing was never better illustrated than in the last round at Motegi, where Biaggi was one of six riders to go down in a first-corner pile-up caused by Loris Capirossi. Whilst Biaggi escaped uninjured, as did Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden, Capirossi broke two bones in his foot, John Hopkins snapped several ribs and Kenny Roberts dislocated his elbow.

This weekend both Capirossi and Hopkins have promised to ride through the pain barrier and compete at Qatar whilst Roberts has been ruled out for the next three races and will be replaced at Suzuki this weekend by Yukio Kagayama. Roberts’ younger brother Kurtis is also out of action, missing his third race since fracturing his left elbow and wrist in a practice crash at Brno five weeks ago, and will be replaced at Proton Team KR by James Haydon.

Kagayama and Haydon will be joined on the grid by fellow British Superbike regular James Ellison, who rides in place of the departed Michel Fabrizio at WCM. Fabrizio, meanwhile, could get a late call-up from Aprilia as a replacement for Shane Byrne, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after further tests on his injured wrist following a painful return to action at Motegi revealed ligament and tendon damage. Fabrizio previously rode as a substitute for Byrne at Estoril.

One rider who will find himself in a common situation this weekend despite the unfamiliarity of the surroundings is Dani Pedrosa. The Spaniard has tackled each of the twelve circuits so far this season for the first time on a 250cc machine and had excelled at almost all of them, picking up ten podiums including five victories to open up an advantage of 47 points over Randy de Puniet at the top of the championship. Further victories in the next two races would secure the title for Pedrosa in Malaysia, where he was already crowned 125cc World Champion just one year ago.

The man looking to inherit Pedrosa’s 125cc crown, Andrea Dovizioso, faces a virtually identical challenge as he defends a 45-point advantage at the top of the championship. Like Pedrosa, Dovizioso has led the series since the opening round in South Africa and has benefited from the inconsistency of his main rivals, never less than in the previous round at Motegi when second-placed Roberto Locatelli crashed on the last lap and Hector Barberá, who lies third, retired with a mechanical problem.



More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda:

Qatar GP – MotoGP

MotoGP MAKES ITS MIDDLE EASTERN DEBUT

The Camel Honda team and the entire MotoGP circus will be involved in an historic event this coming Saturday, the first motorcycle Grand Prix in the Middle East. The race will take place on an entirely new track, opened barely two months ago, and of which only its layout is known. There is a very long straight (1,068 metres), 16 bends with ten right-handers and six to the left, and at 5,380 metres in total, it is amongst the longest tracks on the whole calendar (fourth behind Assen, Sepang and Brno respectively). It will be a real challenge for riders and engineers therefore besides dealing with the intense heat and the unknown grip levels of the track. However both of the Camel Honda team riders remain calm, with Max Biaggi always a fan of the hot weather and also a specialist on new circuits to the championships (Welkom 1999 as an example), whilst Makoto Tamada has an advantage in the fact that everyone will be new to the track and event.

Sito Pons – Camel Honda (Team Principal)
“The team come here on the back of a winning Grand Prix, with Makoto, but also agonising after an unfortunate and unavoidable retirement from Max after a first corner incident during the Motegi GP. We will be aiming for a top result with both riders in Qatar, it’s a new track for everybody and so it will be particularly challenging. It will probably be very hot, which will put the tyres under pressure, and we’ll need to get the set-up right on the bike fairly quickly. Due to this, the intense work done by the mechanics, engineers, riders and tyre technicians will be paramount. ours is a squad that has proved it can win on several occasions, so I am hoping for that kind of result again in Qatar.”

Max Biaggi #3: (Michelin tyres)
“I really like the idea of this race, because it reminds me a bit of the beginning of my career, when everything was new to me, and I had to learn a track in just a couple of days of practice. Besides, I enjoy riding in extremely difficult weather conditions, where the heat doesn’t bother me too much. So I’m hoping to do a good race, if nothing else to make up for the misfortune at Estoril and Motegi. This year I had been scoring regularly but to get two zeros in a row have made the championship difficult. That’s what is most disappointing, and also the fact that on both occasions my team and I, along with the Honda technicians, managed to do some fantastic work during practice and the bike was really going well. So because of that I want to at least get the satisfaction of getting some good results in race by race.”

Giulio Bernardelle – Camel Honda (Technical Director for Makoto Tamada)
“Qatar is completely new for everybody, but we will go there with the same spirit and the same calm we take to every race. Analysing the track it seems like it could be similar to the tracks at Motegi and Sepang and that would be great for us considering that in Japan Makoto won, whilst in Malaysia during the winter tests, he was very quick. We just need to find out what the asphalt is like: the only thing we know is that it will be hot, whilst we don’t know how good grip will be. Seeing as it is right in the desert it’s normal to expect there to be sand, but we’ll have to see. Whatever the case our tyres have made a big jump forwards in quality in this second half of the season, so we are both confident and relaxed.”

Makoto Tamada #6: (Bridgestone tyres)
“Winning in Motegi, in front of my friends and compatriots, was honestly fantastic, a great emotion that I won’t ever forget, but now we have to concentrate on the next race. Qatar is a track that no team knows of course and none of the tyre manufacturers either. This means that the rider’s talent will be even more important than normal and that’s why I can see myself fighting for the podium at the end of this race. I’ve seen the track plan and the design looks simple, without too much technical difficulties. It will be better to ride it though before saying too much. Let’s say that it shouldn’t be too tough to learn, but that we will only know how to act once we get the wheels on the track, but I’m very confident and feeling strong.”