Having been crowned as the 2010 MotoGP World Champion just four days ago at Sepang, it was a visibly more relaxed Jorge Lorenzo who attended the pre-event press conference at Phillip Island this afternoon. Clinching the title in Malaysia hasn’t, however, dampened Lorenzo’s determination to win the remaining three races in this year’s championship, starting this weekend with the Iveco Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island. “The situation now is completely different, there is no pressure as I don’t need points for the championship,” declared Lorenzo. “I want to end the season by winning races, so I will be pushing to the maximum this weekend.” Valentino Rossi took the win last time out in Malaysia, returning to the top step of the podium for the first time since the opening race of the season in Qatar and ending the longest victory drought of his MotoGP career. Rossi, who lost his World Championship crown to his Fiat Yamaha teammate at Sepang, arrives in Australia still undecided about the timing of essential surgery on his injured shoulder, but hopeful that it won’t prove to be a hindrance as he tries to deny Casey Stoner his fourth successive win at Phillip Island this weekend. “I hope I can race at 100 percent here in Australia,” said Rossi. “On paper it looks good for my shoulder because although there are many fast changes of direction there isn’t so much heavy braking here. We will see.” “The Phillip Island track is great; something different compared to other tracks. It’s so fast and it’s important to find the right line. Here it is difficult to find the right balance between the fast and slow corners, but it always makes for great racing, especially in MotoGP.” After crashing out of the Malaysian Grand Prix on the opening lap, Casey Stoner is looking to make amends in his home race, at a track on which he has dominated in recent years. The Ducati rider led every single lap bar one on his way to three consecutive race victories at Phillip Island, a performance he is keen to repeat this weekend as he looks to overhaul Rossi – who he trails by a single point – in the championship standings. “Three races ago this race wasn’t looking good for us because the bike wasn’t working in the areas that you need it to work at Phillip Island. But, during the last three races we have made improvements, so we come into this weekend looking pretty good. It’s good sometimes to race in the cooler conditions we get at Phillip Island, but the best thing about this track is definitely the fast corners!” Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso has found a rich vein of form of late, finishing second to Stoner in Japan and taking second again in Malaysia, this time behind Rossi. Currently lying fifth in the championship standings, his recent form has seen the Italian close to within one point of Stoner in fourth and two points of Rossi in third. Dovizioso is confident that he and the Honda RC212V are a competitive package and that his elusive first win of the season is not so far away. “Our target is to win,” declared Dovizioso. “We did a good job at the last two races and were able to fight for victory; it was really close. It’s going to be hard to get the win here because Casey is so strong at Phillip Island, as is Lorenzo, and Vale is now competitive again, but I will definitely try.” Toni Elias joined the MotoGP riders at today’s pre-event press conference, after wrapping up the very first Moto2 World Championship title in Malaysia. The Spaniard, still the only rider to have taken victory in 125cc, 250cc, MotoGP and Moto2 categories, took the title with third place at Sepang after Julian Simon crashed out of the race just before the halfway stage. “For the first time I know what it feels like to be a World Champion; it’s been very nice,” said Elias about this World Championship win. “It’s also been a lot of work, especially the press, but I have found time to celebrate with the team and my family. Phillip Island is not one of my favourite tracks, as I suffered here in MotoGP, but I will be out there fighting for the win in Moto2 on Sunday.” When asked what the future held in store for him, Elias replied, “My motivation is to go to MotoGP and we will see next week if this is possible.” Earlier today British riders, Scott Redding and Danny Webb, joined Aleix Espargaro and brother Pol at the local wildlife park. The riders got to feed a whole host of wildlife native to Australia, including koala bears, dingoes, kangaroos and wombats. After posing for photos with the animals, most of which had Danny Webb looking distinctly worried, the riders then interviewed each other about their expectations for the weekend ahead. This afternoon players from the championship winning Collingwood team gave Jorge Lorenzo, Marco Simoncelli, Andrea Dovizioso, Nicky Hayden and Toni Elias an introduction to Aussie Rules Football. All five of the riders got the chance to practice short passes with the Collingwood players, before then attempting to kick a goal. Elias was the closest but Lorenzo and Hayden’s attempts repeatedly fell short. Having had the rules explained to him, more than once, Simoncelli declared that Aussie Rules Football was a difficult sport for Europeans to understand! More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: The third from last round in the 2010 season heads to the Phillip Island track for the Australian GP. A fascinating circuit that in the past has gifted the public with epic and emotional races, but also one of the most demanding to riders thanks to its wideness , speed, elevation changes and the stress on the skill of the rider with the throttle in his hand! JiR Team’s riders approach the final appointment of the three-in-a-row Far East, long-haul trip with a renewed enthusiasm after Sepang’s performance and highly concentrated on the job that is still to be done. Although the Championship has already been awarded, the places from second to fifth are still to be defined, with our Simone Corsi actually in 5th position and still in time for a good end to the season. Also Alex De Angelis is ready for the Australian challenge, happy for the podium place he received in Malaysia and conscious that he has the potential to fight for the highest step of the podium. Simone Corsi “I’ve almost forgotten the chance I missed in Malaysia, but I have very clear in my mind the mistake I did and I will use it as a stimulus for me not to repeat it. Phillip Island is very demanding, fast and technical where the machine’s control is paramount and I’m pretty comfortable with this because the set-up work we did on my MotoBI is at a good point and I’m happy with the bike. The season is about to end so we need to give our best to capitalize the efforts we’ve made so far.” Alex De Angelis “Sepang’s podium was satisfying. I finally managed to get back to the positions that count and this comes from the good job we’ve made so far. We’re going to Phillip Island, which is one of my best tracks, because it is the altar of long and fast corners that I like very much. My MotoBI has always been very good in terms of high speed and it is well balanced, so I’ll give all my best to exploit my advantage of these two points. We still have three races to achieve the objective of the podium and I’ll be concentrating on that.” More, from a press release issued by FTR MOTO: FTR MOTO TARGET LANDMARK RESULT FTR MOTO goes in search of a tenth podium finish of the year in Sunday’s 15th round of the Moto2 World Championship at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia. The firm’s M210 machine has taken three wins in 2010 and its leading rider of the four permanent FTR entries, Andrea Iannone, is just five points behind Spanish rider Julian Simon in the battle for second place in the inaugural World Championship. Iannone, on the FIMMCO Speed Up Team’s M210, took third place in last Sunday’s Malaysian round and with three rounds remaining will be looking to add to his hat-trick of race wins and secure the World Championship runner-up position. Iannone’s FIMMCO Speed Up team-mate Gabor Talmacsi currently sits in seventh place in the Championship and the Hungarian is looking to improve on a season-best third place in the Aragon round four weeks ago. Alex Debon returned to form in Malaysia on the Aeroport de Castello-Ajo Team M210 with fifth place the kind of form which took the determined Spaniard to a podium finish with second place in the opening round in Qatar in April. After a career-best finish of third in Japan two weeks ago, Karel Abraham fought through to a solid sixth place in Malaysia last Sunday and will be hoping to continue that form at Phillip Island. Abraham, on the Cardion AB Motoracing Team M210, also qualified in seventh place in Malaysia another career-best performance from the Czech Republic rider. “We’ve achieved a lot more than we expected in out debut year,” said FTR’s Steve Bones. “But the successes from our four regular riders and their respective teams have just left us wanting more and more success. “Work on the 2011 machine is well under way but we’re still learning about the challenges each circuit offers and Phillip Island is certainly unique with its coastal position and changing temperatures and weather conditions. This weekend offers a fascinating insight once more into the performance of the M210 on a new circuit.” More, from a press release issued by Blusens-STX Team: THE BLUSENS-STX TEAM PRESENTS FOUR RIDERS AT THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX. WILD CAR ALEXANDER CUDLIN JOINS IN MOTO2 CATEGORY OUR RIDERS TITO RABAT, YONNY HERNÁNDEZ AND MASHEL AL NAIMI Phillip Island, 14th October 2010. The Asian Motorcycle World Championship Tour will conclude this weekend with the competition at Phillip Island circuit in the Grand Prix of Australia. This is the fifteenth World Championship edition held in the fastest circuit and probably under extreme weather conditions as it might be freezing cold and rainy. Despite that, Tito Rabat looks forward to start competing in this circuit as he loves it among all the other circuits in this Championship where he has done nice performances although some of them lack of good results. In fact, he has only crossed ones the finishing line in 2007 in the fifth place and had withdrawn at only two laps to the end in 2006, 2008 and 2009. Last season, a piece of the engine broke when he was riding with the best ones. The Blusens-STX Moto2 team will compete with three riders, Yonny Hernández, Mashel Al Naimi and the Australian wild card Alexander Cudlin who will hold the number 49. Hernández is almost recovered from his injured arm and although has not been able to do any exercise he feels very positive towards the race held on Sunday where he intends to score and to classify among the top ten, if possible.Al Naimi is totally recovered from his old injuries and he thinks that this speedy circuit will adapt to his riding skills and he hopes to do a better race than in previous GGPP where he got good results but he was not happy with his performance. Owing to the time difference with Australia, trainings and races will held again at dawn. On Friday, free practice sessions for 125cc will be shown at 03:40h and at 06:10h for Moto2, both broadcasted live by Teledeporte. On Saturday the second free session for 125cc will be shown at 00:00h and at 02:10 for Moto2, both broadcasted by Teledeporte. The official time-trial will be at 04:00h for 125cc (on TVE1 and Teledeporte broadcast live) and at 06:10h for Moto2 (on Teledeporte). On Sunday, the 125cc race will start at 04:00h and Moto2 at 05:15h. Both broadcasted live by TVE1 and Teledeporte. 12 TITO RABAT: “Phillip Island is my favourite circuit of the Championship. It is a very fast circuit and I am eager to perform a good race here because I am not pleased with the last two or three races although my times have improved. We have here a good fine-tuning base from last year and we should take the most of it. I have done good races in this circuit but I could only finish in 2007 in the fifth position and at less than one second from the winner. The last two seasons, I had to withdrawn when I was two laps away to the end and competing for the top ten. I do look forward to start this Grand Prix and ride with or without rain.” 68 YONNY HERNÁNDEZ: “Phillip Island circuit is new for me and I walked all along to get a better knowledge. It is a very fast circuit, with long straights and wide curves, great for speeding which is good news for us. Although some nuisance in my leg I feel fine and very positive. These days I have been resting as I couldn’t exercise and I have done a bit of tourism. We had good fun when we went to visit the kangaroos in the zoo. It is bitter cold and the perfect remedy is to go flat out.” 95 MASHEL AL NAIMI: “The circuit is completely new for me but I had a walk and I can tell now that is a very fast circuit. I think I will be ok on it because does not have obtuse angles with sharp braking which I am not yet very good at. The forecasted extreme weather conditions of disperse rain and that here is freezing cold, give us an extra challenge. My target is to overcome my result in Malaysia because I am not too pleased with my performance there and I hope to give my best at the three GGPP left. I don’t have any physical nuisance anymore.” More, from a press release issued by TwoThree Public Relations: Australia’s Wayne Maxwell ready for first taste of Moto2 action at Phillip Island on Friday Australian Superbike Championship regular Wayne Maxwell will experience the high-paced action of world championship competition tomorrow when Phillip Island’s Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix gets underway on Friday, 15 October. The Victorian-based 27-year-old has scored a one-off ride with the Italian-owned Matteoni Racing team for this weekend’s Moto2 World Championship round at the scenic 4.445-kilometre ocean-side Phillip Island Circuit. Maxwell will get his first taste of the purpose-built Moto2 machine during Friday afternoon’s hour-long practice session that commences at 3:10pm, and he is excited for the weekend ahead after meeting with the team at Phillip Island on Thursday. “The guys from Matteoni have been awesome so far and have made me feel at home,” Maxwell said in the team’s pit area this afternoon. “It’s going to be interesting and I feel comfortable just sitting on the bike in the pits, so I can’t wait to get on track with the world class riders tomorrow.” Maxwell used a production-spec Honda CBR600RR to prepare for the event in a practice day at Phillip Island last week, returning to the smaller capacity bike after recently winning the Australian Superbike Championship round at Phillip Island aboard his Demolition Plus GAS Honda Racing CBR1000RR that he has been competing on fulltime this season. “I’m glad that I went back and had some practice on the 600cc Supersport machine and I think that it will really help this weekend considering we won’t have that much time on the bike before race day,” Maxwell admitted. Once practice kicks off tomorrow, Maxwell is aware that he’ll take time to settle into the Moto2 race bike, which features a Moriwaki chassis and Honda’s 600cc control engine the same package that new world champion Toni Elias used to clinch the 2010 title last weekend in Malaysia. “Tomorrow we’ll ease into it, make sure the bike is comfortable for me on the race track, and then once I’m comfortable we’ll hopefully be able to put it in the top 10 tomorrow and move forward from there,” Maxwell explained. “To make my world championship debut at my home track is a dream come true I’m absolutely stoked.” Maxwell’s Moto2 endeavour is proudly supported by Honda Australia, Milspec, Construct Concrete Services, ASF Printing, Longlife Roofing and Caprice.