The entire Repsol Honda Team landed in Spain for the first time in 2011 for its spectacular launch. The Repsol industrial complex in Puertollano (Ciudad Real) was the setting of the most powerful MotoGP Team launch, which includes Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso and Casey Stoner. One day before travelling to the Spanish Grand Prix, that takes place this weekend at the Jerez Circuit, Repsol riders of the premier class received the support of the other champions: Marc Márquez, who competes this year in Moto2; the Trial riders Toni Bou, Laia Sanz and Takahisa Fujinami; and Nani Roma, winner of the 2004 Dakar in the motorbikes category.
After their fantastic start in the MotoGP Championship, Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso and Casey Stoner will aim for victory in every race of the season. This weekend they will have their first opportunity to confirm their good level at the Jerez Circuit, where the second round of the year will be held. For Pedrosa, the Andalusian track is an extra motivation, while Dovizioso will arrive with the objective to get on the podium and Stoner is confident after his success in Losail. In Moto2, Marc Márquez faces a race full of hope and with the aim to gather more experience in the intermediate class and ride with the same consistency he showed in the preseason tests in this very same track.
Beyond the Motorcycling World Championship, Repsol counts on Toni Bou, who has been the reference in Trial for many years; on Laia Sanz, who has won everything in that same discipline and on Takahisa Fujinami, who is a synonym of good show in all his performances.
Repsol arranged for a day full of excitement as part of the support of the company to Puertollano as Sport European City 2011. In Repsol’s industrial complex, one of the five the company has in Spain, are made some of the materials used as components of their bikes and equipment: the padding of the seats, the grips of the handlebars, the polyurethane foam used inside the helmets, the numerous polyethylene couplings, the methyl methacrylate windshield, the polypropylene and fibreglass mudguards… From these facilities are also sent the competition fuels and lubricants to the Repsol Technology Centre located in Móstoles (Madrid).
After attending to the media, the riders were received at the Former Puertollano City Council Plenary Hall, today a Municipal Museum, where they signed in the City Hall Guestbook. Afterwards they visited an exhibition of 30 large format competition photographs by the Repsol photographers of the MotoGP World Championship, Jaime Olivares and Friedeman Kirn; and a motorcycles exhibition, where they saw legendary bikes such as the Honda NSR 500 used by Mick Doohan to achieve the 500cc World Championship Title in 1997 and the Honda RC212V witch which Repsol celebrated its 40 anniversary in the competition and that took the track in the Valencia Grand Prix in 2008.
The day, that included a lecture-conference from Nani Roma to hundreds of Puertollano students, concluded with a Trial exhibition by Toni Bou, Laia Sanz and Takahisa Fujinami in front of more than 3.000 spectators.
Dani Pedrosa
“This is the second time I am in Puertollano and it is very interesting to see how they manufacture elements such as fuel, lubricants or plastics you use afterwards in the races and in your everyday life away from the circuits. About this weekend, Jerez is always a very special race, where the support of the fans gives you an extra motivation that allows you to be even faster. I like the circuit and it has always been good for me, although last season I had a technical problem that prevented me from winning. We need to focus from the start, work as hard as we can on the bike’s set-up and the tyre choice and then we will see where we are. This week I had some more checks done to my shoulder and tomorrow we will have the results of the doctors’ evaluation and their recommendations”.
Andrea Dovizioso
“I think it’s very interesting to have come here to Puertollano, as only experts such as the ones that work here are able to explain how they make the different fuels or which materials are used for the tarmac. They are very technical questions I had not thought about before. Tonight we will go to Jerez, to a race I will face with a lot of motivation after seeing the good performance of the package we have this season. It’s not an easy layout for me, but I am confident I will be able to do a good job together with my team when we take the track on Friday”.
Casey Stoner
“I was surprised at the size of the Puertollano complex. I didn’t think a refinery would be so impressive. It was a nice experience before starting the second round of the World Championship. In the last few years, I haven’t had very good results in the Spanish Grand Prix, as I was able to be fast but in the race things didn’t always go my way. After the good start of this season, we have the chance to complete a positive weekend. The Championship has just started and we have a lot of work to do”.
Marc Márquez
“Days like today allow you to see that behind the stickers you have in your bike there is a lot more. It was interesting to visit a complex such as this to learn from where materials as fuel, rubber or plastics come from. My mind is already in Jerez and after the experience gathered in the Qatar Grand Prix I learnt that the most important thing is to finish the race and don’t let your enthusiasm lead you astray. To run in front of the Spanish fans is always a motivation, but you need to learn to channel it. I hope to do a good job and enjoy my second race in Moto2”.
