This weekend there is the final sprint for the riders in the World Motorcycling Championship. For the riders in 125cc and 250cc the German GP will bring an end to the first half of the season and their well-deserved summer holiday. A break that will be very useful to rest and recharge their batteries after an intense programme of races over the last few months. For the MotoGP riders the race in Germany is the start of the final double weekend before their hard-earned summer rest.
As Dani Pedrosa has mentioned in the last few months it is at this point in the season when the riders challenging for the world title can be seen clearly, with just a glance at the standings. The MotoGP riders will travel to the USA on the Monday after this weekend`s race for the GP at the Circuit of Laguna Seca the following weekend. After this race they will get a deserved rest too, then they will return to action on 17th August at the Czech Republic GP.
The Repsol Honda Team rider Dani Pedrosa goes to this weekend`s race in Germany as leader of the World MotoGP Championship. A place where he won last year, and so Pedrosa will be racing at the Sachsenring out to repeat this result and extend his lead in the overall classification. At the moment he has a four point lead over the second placed rider, the Italian Valentino Rossi.
His teammate Nicky Hayden, after staying in the Netherlands after what could have been the Repsol Honda Team`s first one-two in 2008, is confident that the HRC engineers have been able to find the technical improvements necessary to avoid a repetition of the fuel problem on the engine with pneumatic valves that snatched his first podium finish of the season away from him at the last gasp. This is a season that is turning out to be very complicated for him.
For the young Repsol riders in 125cc and 250cc, the last race in the calendar before the summer break will motivate them to get a good result, one that allows them to go off on holiday with a pleasant taste in their mouths. Last year the KTM 250cc bikes got a one-two at this circuit, and so Julián Simón will hope to get the best performance possible out of his motorbike this weekend, and so be up with the race leaders. This weekend the youngest Repsol riders will have another opportunity to be seen alongside the race leaders too. Esteve Rabat hopes to get the result that has been tantalisingly close in the last few races, two weeks ago at Assen he was leading the race on the final lap. Marc Márquez, after his brilliant podium finish in the British GP, almost caused another upset in the Dutch GP, although in the end it was not to be. In Germany he is aware that he will start from zero again and he will have to learn all about the twisty German track very quickly.
Dani Pedrosa
“We are working very hard at the moment, trying to improve our performance. We will do our best to repeat my 2007 German GP win but we know it won’t be easy. Sachsenring is quite a slow track, most of the corners aren’t so fast. My favourite section is the final, faster part: the fast, downhill right-hander near the end of the lap and then the uphill run into the final corner. There is always a good atmosphere at this race with a lot of fans and overflowing grandstands. The track was resurfaced for last year’s race which made it a lot better because before it was very bumpy. Set-up is always difficult at Sachsenring because it’s a long race, so you need a harder-than-normal compound on the left side of the tyres. You use quite a static riding style here, riding more gently and making fewer movements than usual on the bike”.
Nicky Hayden
“The bike is working good, the engine is running plenty good, but we just had that little issue at the end of Assen which stopped me getting third. I’m sure the guys at HRC will have the electronics all fixed for this race because I quite like the Sachsenring and I’ve always gone pretty well there. It’s a short little lap and some people complain it’s too tight and twisty but I like fast left-hand corners and it’s got a lot of them. I’m a dirt tracker so I like going left! The first bit is quite technical, then you’ve got that fifth-gear drop-off round the back which is really good, definitely one of the best. The key for going down that hill is getting the bike so you’re confident in the front. The next right-hander (Turn 12) is a big one, it’s blind and it’s downhill, so you can’t go tip-toeing through there if you want a good lap, you’ve got to be committed and charge it. Last year the track had a new surface because tyre wear had been a big issue there”.
Julián Simón
“The Circuit of Sachsenring is a very special one for KTM. There last year Kallio and Aoyama were first and second. It is a circuit, where I think because of the way the KTM works, that can help us a lot. It is a short track, and I think for our motorbike it will give us a little push regarding results, since I am convinced that we can do well there, and I am dying to get on the bike. I have rested well the last few days and my arm has recovered a little more. We will be working to set up the bike quickly and so be in a position to have a good race and do a good weekend`s work”.
Esteve Rabat
“This is a circuit that I like a lot; it has a lot of ups and downs, and it is great fun. And there the engine is not so important; this is a circuit where the rider is more important, so we will have more of a chance. I am dying to start and I am really motivated, this is my last chance to have a good race before the summer break, and so go on holiday with a pleasant taste in my mouth. That is why it will be important to have some good practice sessions, taking things step by step, improving each time we go out on the track. At Donington we made progress, at Assen too, and here we will try to make more. The objective will be to be up with the leaders, but the most important thing will be to carry on making progress, and so always be up with the leaders. I am very confident because the bike and the team are helping a lot, and we are all improving bit by bit”.
Marc Márquez
“I have been warned about the type of track to expect, the Circuit of the Sachsenring is like a circuit for karting: very twisty but bigger. There you have to take things calmly and to ride very gently. As it is twisty, if you go out from the off trying to attack and set a good time that is when things do not work out.You have to ride calmly and very gently. We hope that the engines responds the best it can, and when we are there we will see exactly what it does and how I manage to adapt. The circuit is not very fast, but it requires quite a lot of acceleration. We will try to adapt to it the best we can. From the first lap we will be lowering the lap times, something normal at a new circuit, and we will get the bike set up so that we can set really fast times”.
