Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Márquez already have their minds set on the next race, this weekend at the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini Grand Prix
Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa’s 1-2 in MotoGP and Marc Márquez’s crushing victory in Moto2 are the best background for the next Motorcycling World Championship round that will take place this weekend at the Misano Circuit. Together with the good race by Andrea Dovizioso, who rides at home this weekend, the Repsol riders reach the San Marino race with the greatest motivation for a new challenge that arrives with almost no time to rest.
The level shown at the United States places the Repsol riders as the main candidates to victory in their respective classes. Casey Stoner, solid leader of the MotoGP Championship, has seven wins in his pocket this season and oozes confidence, which sets him as a reference for the rest of the grid. The Australian has been on the podium in all the races he has finished this season and is on a winning streak of three consecutive victories that he will try to extend in Misano.
Nevertheless, with Dani Pedrosa in full form, the Spaniard will undoubtedly be another contender for victory. After his wins in Portugal and Germany and a year ago in this very same track of Misano, Pedrosa arrives with the aim to improve the second place he had in Indianapolis and to work towards changing that second step of the podium for the first. A podium where Andrea Dovizioso definitely wants to get on again, the Italian showed a great pace in the second part of last Sunday’s race and this week will ride in a track just 60 kilometres away from his home.
In the intermediate class, Marc Márquez has become, race after race, the referent of the Moto2 category. The Repsol rider already has more wins than any other this season in a class where, despite the great technical equality that levels the chances of all riders and being one of the rookies, he has managed to shine once he came to grips with his new bike. The current 125cc World Champion already knows the taste of victory at the Misano circuit, a track where he will once again look for a good result with patience and hard work in order to keep reducing distances in the World Championship standings.
Dani Pedrosa
“After the good race we had at Indy, we arrive at Misano in a very positive mood. The circuit is so different compared to Indy, but last year we had a very good race there and we will try to repeat this. We must be a little stronger on Saturday and prepare for the race the best we can.
Misano is a track where you need good acceleration and hard braking, so this will be our priority to start working on with the bike setting. After the success in America, it’s good to head directly to Misano. I hope we can continue working well with the team and take another step forward”.
Andrea Dovizioso
“We arrive in Misano after a disappointing result in Indianapolis but we are determined to turn the page and return on the podium. The conditions in Indianapolis were very demanding but we managed to record our fastest time on the very last lap. This shows that we are fast and therefore we arrive in Misano stronger and with an extra motivation. We are third in the Championship and this is the important point. We will continue fighting and we will give our best every race weekend, because we believe that second position in the World Championship is not impossible. Last year in Misano I finished fourth behind Valentino [Rossi]. This year we want to take the next step and get the podium spot. I’m sure that with the experience gained this year, we can be strong at Misano. I don’t live far from Misano and after the podium finish in Mugello I would love to have another good result in front of the Italian crowd”.
Casey Stoner
“I’m looking forward to going to San Marino and seeing how competitive we can be. In 2007 and 2008 we were fast there, then I missed 2009 and last year we struggled a little so we’ve had a mixed bag of results. It’s a nice track, I like the two corners off the end of the back straight, they’re a lot of fun and very fast. I know Dani [Pedrosa] and Jorge [Lorenzo] will be very fast there, but I’m coming off the back of three wins and in a strong position in the Championship so we’ll see what we can do and I’m confident we can get a good result”.
Marc Márquez
“Last year with the 125cc I had a good result in Misano. We will see there how riders such as Iannone, Pasini or De Angelis —all the Italians, in general— will be fast, so we will have to be on our guard. The whole team is very motivated after the great job at Indianapolis. We were able to adapt ourselves to the track while the conditions kept changing and that is what we will try to do again. We will keep the same line, to adapt ourselves quickly to a track that is new and different for me, where we have to start from scratch and keep the concentration, because we know that the level in this class is very close and the other riders can outperform you very fast”.
