The Repsol Honda Team starts the countdown for the season´s ending in Valencia
Repsol riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa united with one common target at the Ricardo Tormo circuit
Valencia will set this weekend the full stop to a season that will probably be remembered for a long time given the levelness until the last round. With the 250cc and MotoGP titles yet to be decided, the Ricardo Tormo circuit announced already weeks ago that it was sold out and that there were no more tickets left. It was many years since the title had not been decided already before the last race in the MotoGP class and that has obviously attracted the interest of all fans. After the fateful race in Estoril, the Repsol Honda Team riders arrive in Valencia closer than ever with one common target in mind, which is no other than clinching the World Championship title with Nicky Hayden. The Repsol Honda Team depends on itself to achieve this aim: if both riders finish the race in the top two positions – Hayden first and Pedrosa second – Hayden will be champion. Starting from there, there are many possible combinations that would give the title to the Repsol rider, who will have to recover in Valencia the 8 points advantage of Valentino Rossi. Excitement is assured and the MotoGP on Sunday will be the topping of an exciting season filled with action .In the 250cc, David De Gea will have this weekend the chance to race in front of the Spanish fans on a bike he already knows much better after his experiences in Japan and Portugal. In a circuit he declares to like very much, the rider born in the city of Murcia hopes to have a good weekend and to be able to make use of his experience to achieve a great result in front of his people. For team mate Shuhei Aoyama, the round in Valencia will not be his first time at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit, since the Japanese rider was already there during test sessions in the preseason.And in the minor class, Bradley Smith already knows what it means to win a race in the Valencia circuit under the rain…in the 125cc Spanish Championship. After winning the round of the Spanish series last year and going to the Valencia circuit for the Grand Prix as a spectator, Smith is back at the track to race the last race of his first season in the Motorcycle World Championship.The venue of the GP: Ricardo Tormo circuitThe Comunidad de Valencia circuit was completed in 1999 and hosted its first Grand Prix as well as the first rounds of the Spanish Motorcycle Championship in the same year. Named Circuito Ricardo Tormo in 2002, after the former world champion born in Valencia, this track is characterised by its twisty corners giving priority to the bikes’ power. The Comunitat Valenciana Grand Prix is held on a 4 km track comprising eight right-hand and ten left-hand corners, and a 876 metre straight, all of them especially designed in order to let the riders have as much compensation as possible during the race. The layout runs anticlockwise as opposed to most of the other circuits of the championship calendar. The main building comprises forty-eight garages and the large stadium style grandstand can seat up to 150,000 spectators. Jorge Martínez, Aspar, former World Champion and one of the fathers of this circuit, collaborated in the design of Spain’s only left-handed circuit, with a unique atmosphere enjoyed by riders and the especially enthusiastic Valencian fans alike.Official website: www.circuitvalencia.comRider´s commentsNicky Hayden: ‘When I think about the last race I still feel pretty sick but the truth is I’ve got to get over it because whinnying or talking about it any more won’t change that doughnut in the points column. My shoulder is feeling a little better, the clutch is finally better and my boy Elias did me a huge favour at Estoril and gave me hope! Valencia is a track I really like and the atmosphere there is unreal – it’s as good as it gets as far as a crowd to race in front of. So I go there with nothing to lose – I need to win and hope that Rossi has a bad weekend. I know that’s a long shot but we won’t surrender until the chequered flag on Sunday. I know my team is in my corner and I have lots of fans – especially back home – still riding with me. Also it’s the last race for MotoGP as we know it so I am sure this one will be another classic!’.Dani Pedrosa: ‘It’s been quite a difficult time since the race at Estoril, for obvious reasons. It’s hard to just forget such an incident, especially when it was so important for Nicky and the team, but that is what I must do now. I have to put it behind me and to focus on getting the best possible result this weekend. I’ll do everything I can to help Nicky – we have a big challenge ahead but we can make it. Valencia is a small circuit, but it’s a good test of the bikes. On a MotoGP machine it’s going to feel very tight and the key will be to get a good balance from the bike in the many medium and slow corners. It’s very flat and it’s very good for fans because they can follow the whole lap of a rider from almost every spot. And since it’s the last race of the championship and in Spain, the atmosphere is going to very intense. I’ve been on pole position and won the race here three times before so I really hope the weather stays fine and I’m able to put in a strong performance this weekend and get the right result for the team.’.Shuhei Aoyama: ‘I know the circuit in Valencia because I’ve already been testing at the beginning of the season and I like it. This is going to be the last race of the season so I hope to be able to close the season with a podium finish. I’m already looking forward to it.’David De Gea: ‘Valencia is one of the few circuits, which has a larger amount of left-hand corners, which are circuits I’m quite well at. It’s a circuit you could call Spanish-style, very technical and with slow corners, which adapts better to my riding style, rather than fast corners. I’m really looking forward to getting there because every time I’ve been to Valencia, no matter in which class, I’ve had good results. So I hope to give the team something to be happy about as well as to all the people who have trusted in me, to show them that I can be there.’Bradley Smith: ‘It’s the last race of the season, so it should be really good with all the people coming out to watch. I remember last year; I went there and saw everyone though I was only looking. But it will be nice to race again on a track I know, Donington is a track I know and I had a good result there so hopefully I can take the performance of the last few races, put it all together and hopefully make a good race in Valencia. Actually, the last time I raced there was with the Spanish Championship. It was a wet race and I won, so I’m looking forward to racing there again’.
