GAULOISES YAMAHA TARGETS PODIUM REPEAT AT DONINGTON PARK The 2005 MotoGP World Championship reaches its halfway stage this weekend as the Gauloises Yamaha Team heads back to Europe for the British Grand Prix at Donington Park. After consecutive podium doubles for Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards in the last two rounds at Assen and Laguna Seca, both riders are confident of continuing their form at a circuit where they claimed the top two steps of the rostrum one year ago. After taking third place on his first visit to Laguna Seca last week, Rossi’s podium run now stretches to an impressive eleven races. The Italian has made Donington Park his own over the past few seasons, taking victory in all but one of the MotoGP races there since 2001, adding to previous successes in the 125cc and 250cc classes. He now returns to the scene of his debut premier-class victory with a 79-point lead at the top of the championship standings. Edwards will again be counting on huge local backing, with his army of British fans following up the excellent support he received at his home Grand Prix last week. The American managed successive podiums for the first time in his MotoGP career at Laguna Seca and moved up to fifth place in the championship. He is now looking for a podium hat-trick as he chases down second place in the championship, with just 14 points now separating him from Rossi’s closest pursuer Marco Melandri (Honda). The Donington Park circuit is known for its vastly contrasting sections, which require a competitive overall machine set-up to cope with the combination of fast, flowing corners in the opening half of the circuit and the stop-start chicanes towards the end of the lap. Last year’s YZR-M1 machine proved to be more than competent, with Rossi winning the race by a comfortable 2.945 second margin over Edwards, but the 2005 version has already shown that it is a more complete motorcycle with six wins from the opening eight rounds of the season, and it should adapt perfectly to the demands of the Derbyshire circuit. After a revised weekend timetable designed to accommodate a host of support events and provide extra track time for the MotoGP riders at Laguna Seca, normal service is resumed for practice at Donington Park, although the race-day schedule has been altered slightly. The red lights will go out for the 30-lap MotoGP event at 15:30 local time on Sunday. VALENTINO ROSSI: HOME FROM HOME As well as being his favourite venue on the calendar, Donington Park is also the closest circuit to Valentino Rossi’s home city of London. The flamboyant Italian moved to the English capital in 2000 as he looked to avoid the constant glare of the media and fans in his own country and is aiming to use his local familiarity to bounce back to the top step of the rostrum after taking third place on his first visit to Laguna Seca in the last round. “I was very happy to finish on the podium at Laguna Seca because it was my first time at the track and we knew it would be hard to battle with the Americans there,” said Rossi, who will be addressing the British press at a special event in an Italian restaurant on Park Lane, London, on Wednesday. “We didn’t have time to learn everything about the track and find the perfect setting for the bike, but I was close to the winner and that is important because now we go to Donington Park, a track I know well. “I always look forward to riding at Donington because it is close to my house and now it is like a second home Grand Prix for me. It has been one of my favourite tracks ever since I rode the 125 and I have a lot of good memories especially my first win with the 500 in 2001. “Last year also was a good race with the Yamaha. It was an important time of the season, just before the summer, and we were making a lot of progress with the bike so I was able to win. Anyway, Colin was very strong in that race and I know he will be strong again this weekend. Marco Melandri is fast at Donington and also Nicky Hayden is in a very good moment, so I think it will be a big battle.” COLIN EDWARDS: THREE, TWO, ONE? For Colin Edwards there is only one target this weekend as he sets his sights firmly on a first MotoGP victory to go with third and second place finishes respectively in the last two rounds. The American has plenty of experience at the British circuit, thanks to his regular appearances there in the World Superbike series, and he will also be looking to make local knowledge count in the same way he did at Laguna Seca. “I had a good result last year, ending up second, and at the time I was riding a bike I wasn’t completely comfortable with,” recalls Edwards. “Now I’m going there on the back of a third, a second”¦ I’m guessing it must be time for a first! I like Donington, I always get along with it and it’s been one of my favourite tracks for a long time, so we’re rolling up there looking to win.” Edwards is currently in his best run of form since joining the MotoGP series two and a half seasons ago and, with just 14 points separating the three riders in front of him, the Texan says he is keen to keep the ball rolling as the team define their objectives for the rest of the season. “With everything going on around Laguna, all the hype and concerns about the track and everything else, I think it just became one of those pivotal weekends. Barros and Melandri crashed out of the race and the points have scrunched up a lot. As far as the title race is concerned”¦ I’m not saying it’s over yet but basically Valentino is gone! So our target is to finish second in the championship, to get a one-two for Yamaha, and we’re approaching the rest of the season with that attitude.” DAVIDE BRIVIO: BACK TO EUROPE Gauloises Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio is looking forward to every Grand Prix at the moment, with both his riders in excellent form and the 2005 YZR-M1 machine consistently showing improved levels of consistency and performance over previous models. The Italian returned straight home from Laguna Seca to lead operations as the Team prepares for two European rounds in consecutive weekends at Donington Park and Sachsenring. “This is a very positive moment for us Laguna Seca was the third time we have had both riders on the podium this season and the second in a row so we are all feeling confident,” says Brivio. “It was great to see both yellow, white and black bikes on the podium in America for Yamaha’s 50th Anniversary but now we are back to our standard colours to continue the job in Europe. “Valentino wants to confirm his leadership in the championship again and he likes the track very much, as does Colin, who has a lot of experience at Donington Park. Last year both our riders were on the top two steps of the podium so our target is to repeat that, whichever way around they are! It won’t be easy because our competitors are strong at the moment; it’s going to be another tough race! “Donington is a special track because it combines a section of very fast and flowing corners with a slow section full of chicanes, so you need to have a bike that is good in all conditions. Last year Valentino ran the race on his own so we know the M1 works there and in theory it should be better this year because so far this season the 2005 bike has been much easier to set-up. That is the theory but we’ll see what happens when we get there!” BLAST FROM THE PAST: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF YAMAHA GLORY For many fans and journalists in Britain, the arrival of the MotoGP World Championship conjures up memories of one of the most exciting motorcycle races of all time. The 1979 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was the first to be screened live on national television and became one of the most talked about races in history, after a thrilling clash between national hero Barry Sheene and his American Yamaha nemesis Kenny Roberts, who had wrestled the title from the Londoner the previous season. The pair went head-to-head in a breathtaking battle over 28 laps, famously exchanging gestures and hand signals throughout the race before a final corner dash to the line which saw the Yamaha rider take the flag by just 0.3 seconds. “There are two races from my career that people will come up to me and say: ‘I was at the race’, and I instantly know what they mean” says Roberts, who won a hat-trick of 500cc World Championship titles for Yamaha from 1978-80. “In America they mean the Indy mile that I won on the two-stroke Yamaha in 1975 and in Britain they mean Silverstone 1979. It’s just one of those races that sticks in people’s minds. “It was a race where every lap or two we changed positions. Barry would get in front and slow me down and then I’d get in front and pick the pace up and we’d leave the other three guys behind. Then he’d get in front again and I’d be saying: ‘Hey! Get going!’ I knew I couldn’t outrun him but I didn’t want him slowing us down and letting everybody else catch up. So initially I was just telling him to get a move on, but Barry took it the wrong way. “They got the classic picture when he gave me a sign behind his back! We both knew it was going to come down to the last lap because I couldn’t outrun him and he couldn’t outrun me. Sure enough, it ended up last lap, last corner and I was just able to pull it off. “Of course Barry was one of my biggest rivals and at the time our relationship wasn’t the best, but we respected each other and we since became close friends he was one of the sport’s greats and he is missed by everybody. We were close on the track but Silverstone was one of the circuits that was very fast and it just suited my style. There were other races where I had to ride harder or be more clever, but the one everybody remembers is the British Grand Prix in 1979.” TECHNICALLY SPEAKING Donington Park is a track of two halves. One section is slow and less interesting for the riders and spectators alike, the other is faster and more flowing. Machine set-up is also therefore something of a compromise, with strong front fork springs and sharp steering the ideal solutions for hard braking and swift flick-in at the chicane and last two hairpins, while the rest of the undulating fast and medium corners require suppleness from the front suspension and a high degree of stability mid corner, and a firmer set-up on the rear to help with corner exit traction. Horsepower is less of a factor at Donington than some circuits, but clean engine response and exact gearing choices are essential to handle such a variety of corners, as the track runs downhill from the start to the Old Hairpin, then back uphill to the flat section behind the pits. Working conditions at the ageing Donington track are far from ideal but the track layout is the type that provokes either love or hate, such is its individuality. The prevalent off-camber nature of Donington is one of the main factors at play during any British GP weekend, with a large tendency for the front tyre to push, making the right, left, right flick down the Craner Curve section something of a high tension rollercoaster ride. A dramatic viewing experience, Donington sits inside an amphitheatre style setting, with the spectator bankings ringing around the outside. VALENTINO ROSSI: INFORMATION Age: 26 Lives: London, UK Bike: Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1 GP victories: 74 (35 X MotoGP, 13 X 500cc, 14 X 250cc, 12 X 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 148 (56 x MotoGP, 32 x 500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 39 World Championships 6 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 3 x MotoGP) Donington 2005 Results (Yamaha): Grid 1st, Race 1st COLIN EDWARDS: INFORMATION Age: 31 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 40 (MotoGP) World Championships – 2 World Superbike Donington 2005 Results (Honda): Grid 5th, Race 2nd Donington MotoGP lap record: Colin Edwards (Honda), 1m 29.973s – 2004; Circuit best lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1m 28.720s 2004.