Nieto, Elías, Pedrosa and Olivé comments

Nieto: ‘I think we’ll arrive in Japan with a good base’.
Fonsi Nieto: ‘We’ve been working really hard on the set-ups for the new Aprilia during the preseason and I’ve been riding faster than I thought. I think we’ll arrive in Japan with a good base regarding the set-ups, although I’m sure that it can be improved. The Suzuka circuit is one of the most complicated but also one of my favourites. Last year I made good practice sessions but had bad luck during the race, ending up eleventh due to a mechanical problem. I’m really looking forward to the championship. I want to measure myself against my rivals and see if the whole work of the last months has the results we’re all hoping for’.Toni Elías: ‘It’s been a very intense preseason, just what I needed after this change of category. The practice sessions during the preseason have been very useful but I still need to gather much more experience with my new bike. I’ll take the first races very easy in order not to make mistakes and finish. That’s my main objective. I’ll try to learn and improve day by day as much as I can. Suzuka is one of my favourite circuits, but I actually don’t think that it’s the best scenery for my debut in this category, since it’s a very technical and complicated track. But despite everything I’ll try to do my best in my 250cc debut’.Daniel Pedrosa: ‘This preseason has been very intense, we have been working hard with Alberto Puig in all aspects; physical training, nutrition, cross-country motorbike riding, etc… The main advantage this year will be that we’re not going to arrive every weekend to a track we don’t know. We already have references from last season and therefore we’ll be able to concentrate on the set-ups from the first moment on. This years’ approach will be similar to last years’: to work step by step without pressure, always being conscious that our main goal is to learn and get better race by race’.Joan Olivé: ‘This time we’ll arrive in Suzuka more relaxed than last year, where we were about to start our first race in the World Championship in a place so far away like Japan. Suzuka is a very complicated circuit, maybe one of the most difficult of the Championship, and especially demanding with regard to the bike’s set-up, for the riders and the mechanics. The preseason has been good but it’s in Suzuka, in the first Grand Prix, where we’ll be able to see where we are compared to our rivals. The Honda will not be starting as the fastest and most powerful bike of the category but it is a bike we already know well, a fact that will make things a bit easier when trying to find the best set-up for each circuit’.