MotoGP action back on at Estoril

Monday, 25 April 2011

After an extended break in the MotoGP calendar the premier class returns to action at the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal this weekend, and there is plenty to watch out for at Estoril in Round 3.

Almost four weeks after the Jerez round – the extended break being due to the postponement of the Japanese GP until October – the MotoGP World Championship returns to action at Estoril this weekend, where the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal hosts Round 3 of the 2011 season. This will be the 14th occasion that there has been a Portuguese GP.
There was no shortage of talking points following Round 2 in southern Spain, where defending World Champion Jorge Lorenzo took his first win of 2011 in the wet, and was followed onto the podium by a Dani Pedrosa struggling with his recovering left arm and Nicky Hayden. Casey Stoner’s inability to finish the race after being taken down in an incident involving Valentino Rossi, the latter of whom managed to remount his bike and finish fifth, merely added to what was a highly eventful race at Jerez.
Yamaha Factory Racing rider Lorenzo has a formidable recent record at the Estoril track, having won for the past three consecutive seasons from pole position. The Spaniard has now finished inside the top four for 22 straight races, and leads the early Championship standings by nine points ahead of rival Dani Pedrosa. The Repsol Honda man arrives in Portugal hopeful that surgery immediately after Jerez will have eased the discomfort caused in his left arm, and despite that he secured a 90th GP podium in the last round making him only the tenth rider to reach the milestone in the World Championship’s 63-year history.
Stoner will be eager to put the DNF from Jerez firmly behind him and regain the momentum he has established in the early stages of the season. The Repsol Honda rider has twice stood on the Estoril podium in the premier class but is yet to win there in MotoGP (he has a 250cc victory to his name), and will view such a result as the perfect response. Nicky Hayden is the highest placed Ducati rider in the standings after two rounds, with factory team-mate Rossi close behind. The Italian has only once finished off the podium at the circuit in the premier class, and counts five victories amongst his haul of rostrum results there.

Bautista on course for Estoril return

Tuesday, 26 April 2011

The Rizla Suzuki rider plans to take to the track at the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal for the opening practice session – pending a medical review at the circuit on Thursday – having been given the all-clear by Doctor Villamor in Madrid on Tuesday.

Rizla Suzuki rider Álvaro Bautista hopes to be able to make his return to MotoGP action at Estoril this weekend, just 42 days after breaking his left femur.
On Tuesday the Spaniard received the go ahead from Doctor Ángel Villamor of the Hospital USP San José in Madrid after undergoing a medical review of his condition, and will now be subject to a medical check by the circuit doctor at Estoril on Thursday.
Bautista plans to take to the track on Friday morning for the first practice session of the weekend, and has been undergoing intensive physiotherapy to ensure his fitness is at its highest possible level. If he is unable to ride at a competitive level, Rizla Suzuki will have Factory test rider Nobuatsu Aoki on standby to take over if Bautista has to withdraw from the event.
“I have been working very hard to be back in time for Estoril and I believe I will be able to take part in the race,” said a highly motivated Bautista. “I know it will be difficult, but I think the sooner I can get on the bike the more it will aid my total recovery and help my way to full fitness. I have travelled over 4.5km with many journeys to the hyperbaric chamber in Madrid to assist with my healing. I have now finished the rehabilitation phase and started on the physical preparation; this involves a lot of swimming, cycling and other fitness programmes to build up the strength so I can ride again.”
Bautista is under no illusion as to the task which awaits him, and added: “It is going to be really tough, but I am totally focused on being on the GSV-R in Portugal, it’s all I can think about at the moment and that is my first goal. After that we’ll see what happens and take everything one step at a time.”
Also in place this weekend will be a new logo on Rizla Suzuki's GSV-R – ‘Change and Challenge’ – which is used by Suzuki in the Asian regions to promote its new range of motorcycle products in these markets.

Crutchlow and Edwards back in action

Tuesday, 26 April 2011

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow return to action after a long break this weekend when the 2011 MotoGP World Championship resumes at the Estoril track in Portugal.

This weekend's race presents American Edwards with a chance to bounce back from the disappointment of missing out on a podium finish in an enthralling Spanish Grand Prix at the Jerez circuit earlier this month. Poised to secure his first rostrum since 2009, Edwards was cruelly denied by a small technical failure on the final lap of a dramatic rain-hit race, but the 36 year-old is determined to impress again on Yamaha's YZR-M1 machine in Estoril. Edwards has twice finished fourth at the Estoril circuit in 2006 and 2008 and only once in his nine-year MotoGP career has he failed to finish inside the top ten.
The Portuguese Grand Prix will provide impressive rookie Crutchlow with another steep learning curve. The British rider has never raced on the 2.599 mile circuit before but he has already demonstrated his ability to learn new tracks quickly by challenging for a podium with an inspired performance on his debut at the Jerez track recently.
The three-week break between rounds gave Crutchlow the chance to undergo surgery on his right arm to solve a persistent numbness issue and he is confident he will be at 100 per cent fitness for Sunday's 28-lap race.
Cal Crutchlow:
"I am looking forward to Portugal. This is a new circuit for me and it will be difficult once again as the others know this track already and have a lot more experience on it than me. I hope I can learn this circuit as fast as Jerez where I was quickly up to speed and I qualified inside the top ten. My arm is getting better and better after the surgery that was done to get rid of the numbness I felt during Qatar and Jerez. The stitches are out already, but I haven't tried to ride a bike yet, so I'll understand more on Friday when practice starts."
Colin Edwards:
“A few years ago I was in the group fighting for the win and I like the Estoril track. I always seem to do pretty well there and it will be good to get back on the bike after a long break. The track seems to suit my riding style and with the extra performance we've got with the 2011 Yamaha YZR-M1, I'm confident we can have a strong weekend. The Yamaha has always worked well in Estoril and had a good balance there, so there is no reason why I can't go there and think about challenging for at least a top six."

Red Bull Rookies up for Estoril

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

The third and fourth races of the 2011 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup will take place at this weekend’s bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal.

The bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal this weekend sees the third and fourth races of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup take place at the Estoril circuit, and the participants will head to the track confident in the circuit knowledge they gained in a three-day pre-season test back in March.
Bad luck has struck for two of the Rookies however, who must sit out the Estoril races. Cup points leader Philipp Oettl will be absent due to a broken collarbone, which the youngster sustained testing his German championship bike on April 9th. Frenchman Florian Alt will also not be present, as he continues to recover from a finger injury picked up at the opening weekend in Jerez. Xavier Pinsach and Javier Orellana, who both injured shoulders at Jerez, are due to be fit for Estoril.
In Oettl’s absence Arthur Sissis, Aaron Espana and Brad Binder, who trail him in the table, will aim to cut down the German’s advantage. Sissis won race two at Jerez and was fastest at the Portugal test in both wet and dry conditions, and currently trails Oettl by ten points.
With 44 TV broadcasters around the world showing the race action there is ample opportunity to follow the young heroes and for those not covered by the spread of live TV the live race feed can always be seen on www.redbullrookiescup.com, where the latest news and information can also be found.
There will be three practice sessions for the Rookies on Friday, with first race scheduled for Saturday at 16.30 CET and race two for Sunday at 16.00 CET.

Estoril racing numbers

Thursday, 28 April 2011

A selection of facts and stats ahead of the bwin Grande Prémio bwin de Portugal…

150 –At the Portuguese Grand Prix, Mika Kallio will be making his 150th Grand Prix start; the first Finnish rider ever to reach this milestone.
90 –Dani Pedrosa’s second place finish at Jerez was the 90th time he has stood on the podium in Grand Prix racing. He is only the tenth rider to reach this milestone in the 63-year history of the world championship series.
50% –With his victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, Jorge Lorenzo has now won ten of the twenty MotoGP races since the start of 2010. The other winners in this period are: four wins each for Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa and two wins for Valentino Rossi.
49 –At Jerez, Dani Pedrosa finished on the podium for the 49th time in the MotoGP class. His next top three finish will make him just the 11th rider to reach the milestone of 50 podium finishes in the premier-class.
19.339 sec –Jorge Lorenzo won the MotoGP race at Jerez by 19.339 seconds, which is the largest winning margin in MotoGP since Valentino Rossi won the wet Portuguese Grand Prix in 2002 by 22.2 seconds.
15–Jorge Lorenzo’s victory in Spain was the 15th time he has stood on the top step of a MotoGP podium. This is the same number of wins in the premier-class as Alex Criville, who was previously the Spanish rider with most premierclass Grand Prix victories.
14 –This is the 14th occasion that there has been a Portuguese Grand Prix. The first two Portuguese Grands Prix were actually held in Spain: the first in 1987 was at the Jarama circuit, with the 1988 event held at Jerez. Following an eleven year break the Portuguese Grand Prix was hosted at Estoril for the first time in 2000, where it has been held every year since.
13th –At the Spanish Grand Prix, Marcel Schrotter finished 13th to give the new Mahindra team their first world championship points.

Ducati Team duo hoping for sunshine in Portugal

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

Following a three week break brought about by the postponement of the Motegi GP, the Ducati Team of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden are prepared for this weekend’s bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal and are ready for changeable weather conditions.

MotoGP series returns to action at a track that is very demanding and full of contrasts. Despite it having the lowest average speed of the tracks on the calendar, the Estoril circuit also includes very fast sections, including one of the longest straightaways of the year.

Valentino Rossi has won five times in his eleven premier-class visits to the track, and he has finished on the podium on five other occasions, whilst the best result of his team-mate Nicky Hayden is a fourth place in 2007. The American will be looking to build on his rostrum finish last time out in Jerez.