The 2006 World Championship heads to Qatar this weekend
After the two-three podium finish in Jerez for the Repsol Honda Team MotoGP, Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden will be facing this new challenge on the hot Losail track with decision.
The 2006 World Championship gets back into action this weekend with the echoes of the exciting Spanish Grand Prix staged only two weeks ago in Jerez. After the two-three podium finish of the Repsol Honda Team riders, with Dani Pedrosa second and y Nicky Hayden third, joining the winner Loris Capirossi on the podium, it is time for the Qatar Grand Prix, second scoring round of the 2006 World Championship. The race will be held, unlike most of the Grand Prix races, on Saturday.
Going back to 2005, at the second Grand Prix staged in Qatar so far, we see Nicky Hayden third in the overall MotoGP race results and Dani Pedrosa fourth in the 250cc. Hayden was involved in a nice duel for the victory in Qatar, fighting against Marco Melandri and Valentino Rossi, although he finally had to settle for the third final position. As regards Pedrosa, the Repsol rider had to deal with Dovizioso and Porto, in an intense duel for the third place, which finally went to Italian rider Dovizioso. For Pedrosa, Qatar was as excellent result considering that Dani arrived in Qatar with the injuries after the crashes in Japan and Malaysia. This result allowed him to reach his next destination, Australia, with an advantage in the overall standings which was large enough to take the 250cc World Champion title in Phillip Island.
The 250cc and 125cc Repsol riders will also be facing a new challenge in Qatar. Two of them, Aoyama and Smith, haven’t ever been there, so they have a bunch of work to do this weekend. And Sebastián Porto, who had been here last week finishing fifth, will have to face Losail circuit in a crucial moment, where he will have to try to redirect his bad start of the season in Jerez.
The venue of the GP:
Losail circuit (www.qatargp.net)
Located 20 km north from Doha, the Losail circuit set a milestone in the 2004 season, hosting the first Motorcycling World Championship Grand Prix in the Middle East. The first stone was laid in December 2003 and the track was built in record time. It cost 58 million dollars and its infrastructures fulfil the highest quality and safety standards, meeting the homologation requirements of the FIM. The first rider to lap on the Qatar layout was Randy Mamola, who made an exhibition on a Ducati at the official inauguration of the circuit in July 2004.
The 5,380 metres long circuit is made up by a series of linked, high-speed corners. On its 1.068 km straight, the bikes reach speeds of 330 km/h. Its 16 corners 10 right-handers and 6 left-handers, make it very important to get a good set-up of the bike’s front end. Although it was designed and built to become a fluid, technical and safe track, the Losail circuit is located in the middle of the desert, implying lots of sand. In order to fight-off the sand on the track, the designers built a perimeter of artificial grass to stop the sand from being blown onto the asphalt. The fact of being completely new asphalt, dirty, without any rubber on the surface and the inevitable sand, the lack of grip played one of the leading roles in the 2004 event, together with the high temperatures, around 40 degrees Celsius, and the high humidity level. Fortunately, since no single-seater races are staged in Losail, it doesn’t have the typical bumps created by them; although it has large run-off areas, which were with no doubt designed looking forward to staging Formula 1 races in the future
Rider´s comments:
MotoGP. Dani Pedrosa:
‘It will be a tough race I think because at the first race in Jerez many of the top riders had problems and they will not accept the situation so I think they will be pushing hard to get back to their position from the end of the season last year. And for sure they won’t like that I’m already in front so they will be trying even harder to make sure that doesn’t happen again. This will make the race faster. This season we’re going to Qatar much earlier in the year and we will see how the conditions are because last year was very, very hot. It will be more difficult for me because I have to learn the track with this machine and find the set-up in a much shorter time than here in Jerez where we had a three-day test two weeks before the race.’
MotoGP. Nicky Hayden:
‘I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen there. With pre-season testing and then the race we were at Jerez for quite a while, so I’m really looking forward to getting on a new track and hopefully we’ve got a good package for the circuit. I quite like the layout of the circuit – it’s got some fun stuff. It’s got a couple of banked corners that are fun and there are some long, long right handers which are pretty cool. I’d say my favourite part is the combination of Turn One, Turn Two and Turn Three – two banked corners followed by a fast right-hander. It’s going to be a different atmosphere compared to Jerez where it’s a packed house because this place there is pretty thin on the crowd. Some of the teams were testing here earlier in the year while we were at a different track. Nonetheless we’re ready.’
250. Shuhei Aoyama:
‘I hope to be able to make a good race in Qatar after my mistake in Jerez. I want to make up for the hard work of my team. Qatar is a circuit which is completely new to me and this time I won’t have the advantage of the previous test days we had in Jerez at the end of the preseason, so I know that we are going to have a hard Grand Prix this weekend. But I’m positive and hope to be competitive there. I’d be happy if I finish among the top three.’
250. Sebastián Porto:
‘After the difficult weekend in Jerez, I only hope for a better situation in Qatar, just to be competitive again. We haven’t managed to make me feel comfortable on the new bike so far, to be able to ride with confidence, but I’m really thankful for the huge effort of my team trying to help me getting out of this situation. Qatar is a very peculiar circuit due to the intense heat and the state of the track, quite dirty and slippery due to the desert sand. Last year I finished fifth there, fighting against Dovizioso and Pedrosa, and although it is not one of my favourite tracks, I hope it to be the point of inflection to start my recovery.’
125. Bradley Smith:
‘I think that the next race in Qatar will be very interesting for us. I have never ridden there, I’ve only made several laps with the GP4 game of the Playstation and that’s obviously not the same. The heat will be a key element. But I was very happy after the race in Jerez so I feel optimistic as regards this weekend.’
