Hi,
I am sorry for not updatin the blog i will soon updat the blog to the current evnts of Moto GP
Sender,
kartik saini (owner)
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Friday, June 8, 2007
The Blog Map
This will help u to move on the site
1.The Points
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/points.html
2.The Profiles of Races
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-moto-gp-racer-2007.html
3.About the Circuits
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/about-circuit-of-moto-gp-2007.htm
ThanKs For Visiting The Site
1.The Points
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/points.html
2.The Profiles of Races
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-moto-gp-racer-2007.html
3.About the Circuits
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/about-circuit-of-moto-gp-2007.htm
ThanKs For Visiting The Site
Thursday, June 7, 2007
The Profile of the Moto GP Racer 2007
The profile of the racer's of Moto GP 2007 is here any racer u can find here.Nothing u want e.g. birth,married or no, what they like,etc. You can also find the biography of the racer's.so check it out i think you will like it.ENJOY
1.Nicky Hayden(1)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-nicky-hayden.html
2.Alex Barros(4)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-alex-barros.html
3.Colin Edwords(5)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-colin-edwards5.html
4.Oliver Jacque(19)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-oliver-jacque19.html
5.John Hoppins(21)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-john-hopkins21.html
6.Toni Elias(24)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-toni-elias21.html
7.Dani pedrosa(26)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-dani-pedrosa26.html
8.Casey stoner(27)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-csey-stoner27.html
9.Valentino Rossi(46)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-valentino-rossi.html
10.Chris Vermeulen(71)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-chric-vermeulen71.html
11.Loris Capirossi(65)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-loris-capirossi.html
1.Nicky Hayden(1)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-nicky-hayden.html
2.Alex Barros(4)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-alex-barros.html
3.Colin Edwords(5)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-colin-edwards5.html
4.Oliver Jacque(19)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-oliver-jacque19.html
5.John Hoppins(21)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-john-hopkins21.html
6.Toni Elias(24)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-toni-elias21.html
7.Dani pedrosa(26)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-dani-pedrosa26.html
8.Casey stoner(27)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-csey-stoner27.html
9.Valentino Rossi(46)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-valentino-rossi.html
10.Chris Vermeulen(71)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-chric-vermeulen71.html
11.Loris Capirossi(65)
http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/profile-of-loris-capirossi.html
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
The Profile of Nicky Hayden(1)
Nicky Hayden - 2007 Rider Profile
Career highlights;
Introduction;
Date of birth: July 30th, 1981
Date of birth: July 30th, 1981
Place of birth: Owensboro, Kentucky, USA
First contest: 1986, Dirt Track. Five years of age First AMA National
podium: 1998, 600cc Supersport, Willow Springs, USA Total AMA National
podiums: 35, 5 in the 750cc Supersport Series,
7 in Formula Xtreme,
6 in 600cc Supersport and 17 in Superbikes AMA National Championship
titles: 2, 1 in 600 Supersport 1999 and 1 in Superbikes 2002.
Total MotoGP podium finishes: 20, 2 in 2003, 2 in 2004, 6 in 2005 and 10 n 2006 MotoGP victories: 3, 2005 USA GP, 2006 Dutch GP, 2006 USA GP.
Total Poles: 4
Fastest Race Laps: 4
Mother’s Name: Rose
Father’s Name: Earl
Names of brothers and sisters: Tommy, Nicky, Roger Lee Kathleen y Jenny
Career highlights;
1998: 4th AMA 750 Supersport Series, 4th AMA 600 Supersport Series
1999: AMA 600 Supersport Champion, 2nd AMA Formula Xtreme Series, Rookie of the Year AMA Dirt Track, Speedvision Professional Sportsmen of the Year
2000: 2nd AMA Superbikes, 4th AMA Pro Honda 600 Supersport Series
2001: 3rd AMA Superbikes
2002: AMA Superbike Champion
2003: 5th MotoGP World Championship
2004: 8th MotoGP World Championship
2005: 3rd MotoGP World Championship
2006: MotoGP World Champion
Biography;
The young North American Superbike champion, Nicky Hayden made his MotoGP World Championship debut in Suzuka at the Japanese Grand Prix. 22-year-old Hayden was born in Owensboro, Kentucky and is contesting the MotoGP class after having been crowned in his country as the youngest winner of the American Superbike Championship AMA, on a Honda SP-2.
2002 US Superbike champion Nicky Hayden is part of a new wave of American road racing talent to arrive in MotoGP. Throughout the eighties and early nineties GP racing's premier championship was mostly ruled by Americans - legends like Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Eddie Lawson, John Kocinski and Freddie Spencer.
Like those heroes before him, Hayden has been involved in motorcycles all his life. His father was a pro dirt tracker, famously using the number 69 because he wanted his bike to be identifiable "whether it was right way up or upside down", and both his mother and elder sister contested so-called 'powder-puff' ladies' events. Nowadays Hayden and both his brothers race, elder brother Tommy and younger brother Roger Lee currently competing at the highest level in America. Indeed his proudest moment so far is the family's remarkable one-two-three result at one of the Grand National dirt track events some years ago. The siblings monopolised the podium at Springfield, Tennessee - Nicky first, Tommy second and Roger Lee third - ahead of the nation's best dirt trackers, including Jay Springsteen and Chris Carr.
Soft-spoken, polite and quick with a smile, Hayden is a laidback youngster with a tough racetrack streak who chooses bike riding (he owns a full stable of Honda dirt bikes plus a CBR600 streetbike), driving his Hummer jeep, hanging out with friends and music - from rock to rap - for his off-track fun.
Hayden rode a motorcycle for the first time when he was just three years old. From then on the Hayden clan went to the racetrack like other families go to the park, Nicky commencing his racing career at the tender age of four. At first he raced dirt track, the discipline that honed the bike-control talents of Spencer, Rainey et al. These, after all, were the men who inspired Hayden - his whole family would crowd around the television to watch them racing GPs in Europe. He later graduated to Harley dirt trackers and much later to Honda dirt tools, some years after he'd quit full-time dirt track at the age of 13 to further his roadrace career. Hayden rode his first roadrace aged 11, again on minibikes, and realised that this was the way he wanted to go.
After turning pro at 16, he rode his first full AMA (American Motorcyclists Association) season in 1998, demonstrating his innate talent by taking fourth overall in the Supersport series. The following summer he became America's youngest-ever 600 Supersport champ, using a CBR600 to win a season-long brawl with his big brother. That year he also finished second to Erion Racing team-mate Kurtis Roberts in the Formula Xtreme series and still found the time to compete in 12 of 18 Grand National dirt track events, claiming the Dirt Track Rookie of the Year award. He also got his first go at Superbike, substituting for injured Honda factory RC45 rider Miguel Duhamel, and completed a sensational season with his first Superbike podium at Fountain, Colorado.
Signed to Honda America for 2000, Hayden quickly justified his new employer's faith by winning his first Superbike victory at June's Road Atlanta round, and he won again at Laguna and Willow Springs to end his debut big-bike season second overall, just five points behind the experienced Mat Mladin. And yet Hayden had a difficult start to 2002, when he was favourite to topple Mladin, rebounding a few months later to win the year's final four races on his SP-1.
Hayden clinched his first success in the prestigious Daytona 200. All in all he won nine of 2002's 16 rounds, securing America's biggest motorcycling championship at Virginia in August. At just 21 years and two weeks old he had become the youngest champ in the 27-year history of the US Superbike series. And his outstanding win rate - 17 victories in just two seasons - made him the country's third most successful Superbike rider, behind fellow Honda heroes Fred Merkel and Duhamel. Such statistics mark Hayden as an exceptional racing force, so it was no great surprise when the Honda Racing Corporation announced that the youngster would be joining the factory's MotoGP line up for the 2003 season.
Hayden, who includes weights, bicycles and dirt track in his training regime, thus raced his first season outside America in 2003. It wasn’t easy for the young North American rider, having to adapt to the highly contended MotoGP class. And although his times were far behind the top times during the preseason tests, Hayden started an impressive progression after only a few races that took him to clinch two podium finishes at the end of the season – Pacific and Australia – and to finish fifth overall ahead of much more experienced riders.
Nicky Hayden started the 2004 season knowing that his adaptation time had finished. However the young Kentucky rider suffered an additional pressure due to Honda’s lack of course and his best results were two third places in a row in Brazil and Germany. But there were several misfortunes: the replacement of his suspensions engineer, a whole in the radiator during the Catalan GP, a crash during the first part in Mugello... It was also a hard year due to injuries. After the Czech Grand Prix, and while practising Supermotard in Italy he fractured his collarbone and had to undergo surgery, in addition to injured knee ligaments. He wasn’t able to race the following GP, Portugal, and when he reappeared in Motegi, luck turned away from him once again and he was involved in a multiple crash right in the first corner. Physically and morally dampened, the 2003 rookie of the tear finished the championship in eighth position.
In 2005, the young 25-year-old rider consolidated his place among the elite of the premier class. After an average first part of the season, Hayden made good use of his chance when the Championship returned to his home-country, taking his first victory in the World Championship in Laguna Seca. After that success, the Kentucky born rider stepped again on the podium in Germany and fought several times for the victory during the final sprint of the Championship. Together with Marco Melandri, they were two of the few riders to stand up to the defending World Champion Valentino Rossi. In his battle against the two Italians, Hayden was back on the podium in the last four rounds: Qatar, Australia, Turkey and Valencia, and finished the season in a meritorious third place.
In 2006 Hayden faced the season with the difficult challenge of being the number 1 rider at Honda and responsible for the evolution of the machine with which the Japanese make would fight for the title. The aim for the 2006 season was clear: fighting for the victory in the MotoGP World Championship. Hayden started the season with four consecutive podium finishes and took the lead of the overall standings after finishing third in the Turkish Grand Prix, and he didn’t leave that position until the ill-fated Portuguese Grand Prix, after which Valentino Rossi took over the leadership with an advantage of 8 points in the overall standings. There were 25 points still at stake and in Valencia, rounding up a perfect weekend for both Nicky Hayden and the Repsol Honda Team, the North American rider became 2006 MotoGP World Champion after scoring two victories – Holland and the USA -, 8 podium finishes and a final advantage of 5 points over second classified rider Valentino Rossi.
The North American rider will face the 2007 season with the number 1 on his bike, a very special number one, because the number will be filled with little 69s, the number of his dad which he has always proudly shown in the front and the rear of his Honda. It is a number one that allows him to enter the new era of the MotoGP World Championship, the era of the 800cc, with the satisfaction of seeing his work materialised in the best possible way, and the responsibility of becoming a reference for all of his rivals and the challenge of defending and achieving his second world crown.
The young North American Superbike champion, Nicky Hayden made his MotoGP World Championship debut in Suzuka at the Japanese Grand Prix. 22-year-old Hayden was born in Owensboro, Kentucky and is contesting the MotoGP class after having been crowned in his country as the youngest winner of the American Superbike Championship AMA, on a Honda SP-2.
2002 US Superbike champion Nicky Hayden is part of a new wave of American road racing talent to arrive in MotoGP. Throughout the eighties and early nineties GP racing's premier championship was mostly ruled by Americans - legends like Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Eddie Lawson, John Kocinski and Freddie Spencer.
Like those heroes before him, Hayden has been involved in motorcycles all his life. His father was a pro dirt tracker, famously using the number 69 because he wanted his bike to be identifiable "whether it was right way up or upside down", and both his mother and elder sister contested so-called 'powder-puff' ladies' events. Nowadays Hayden and both his brothers race, elder brother Tommy and younger brother Roger Lee currently competing at the highest level in America. Indeed his proudest moment so far is the family's remarkable one-two-three result at one of the Grand National dirt track events some years ago. The siblings monopolised the podium at Springfield, Tennessee - Nicky first, Tommy second and Roger Lee third - ahead of the nation's best dirt trackers, including Jay Springsteen and Chris Carr.
Soft-spoken, polite and quick with a smile, Hayden is a laidback youngster with a tough racetrack streak who chooses bike riding (he owns a full stable of Honda dirt bikes plus a CBR600 streetbike), driving his Hummer jeep, hanging out with friends and music - from rock to rap - for his off-track fun.
Hayden rode a motorcycle for the first time when he was just three years old. From then on the Hayden clan went to the racetrack like other families go to the park, Nicky commencing his racing career at the tender age of four. At first he raced dirt track, the discipline that honed the bike-control talents of Spencer, Rainey et al. These, after all, were the men who inspired Hayden - his whole family would crowd around the television to watch them racing GPs in Europe. He later graduated to Harley dirt trackers and much later to Honda dirt tools, some years after he'd quit full-time dirt track at the age of 13 to further his roadrace career. Hayden rode his first roadrace aged 11, again on minibikes, and realised that this was the way he wanted to go.
After turning pro at 16, he rode his first full AMA (American Motorcyclists Association) season in 1998, demonstrating his innate talent by taking fourth overall in the Supersport series. The following summer he became America's youngest-ever 600 Supersport champ, using a CBR600 to win a season-long brawl with his big brother. That year he also finished second to Erion Racing team-mate Kurtis Roberts in the Formula Xtreme series and still found the time to compete in 12 of 18 Grand National dirt track events, claiming the Dirt Track Rookie of the Year award. He also got his first go at Superbike, substituting for injured Honda factory RC45 rider Miguel Duhamel, and completed a sensational season with his first Superbike podium at Fountain, Colorado.
Signed to Honda America for 2000, Hayden quickly justified his new employer's faith by winning his first Superbike victory at June's Road Atlanta round, and he won again at Laguna and Willow Springs to end his debut big-bike season second overall, just five points behind the experienced Mat Mladin. And yet Hayden had a difficult start to 2002, when he was favourite to topple Mladin, rebounding a few months later to win the year's final four races on his SP-1.
Hayden clinched his first success in the prestigious Daytona 200. All in all he won nine of 2002's 16 rounds, securing America's biggest motorcycling championship at Virginia in August. At just 21 years and two weeks old he had become the youngest champ in the 27-year history of the US Superbike series. And his outstanding win rate - 17 victories in just two seasons - made him the country's third most successful Superbike rider, behind fellow Honda heroes Fred Merkel and Duhamel. Such statistics mark Hayden as an exceptional racing force, so it was no great surprise when the Honda Racing Corporation announced that the youngster would be joining the factory's MotoGP line up for the 2003 season.
Hayden, who includes weights, bicycles and dirt track in his training regime, thus raced his first season outside America in 2003. It wasn’t easy for the young North American rider, having to adapt to the highly contended MotoGP class. And although his times were far behind the top times during the preseason tests, Hayden started an impressive progression after only a few races that took him to clinch two podium finishes at the end of the season – Pacific and Australia – and to finish fifth overall ahead of much more experienced riders.
Nicky Hayden started the 2004 season knowing that his adaptation time had finished. However the young Kentucky rider suffered an additional pressure due to Honda’s lack of course and his best results were two third places in a row in Brazil and Germany. But there were several misfortunes: the replacement of his suspensions engineer, a whole in the radiator during the Catalan GP, a crash during the first part in Mugello... It was also a hard year due to injuries. After the Czech Grand Prix, and while practising Supermotard in Italy he fractured his collarbone and had to undergo surgery, in addition to injured knee ligaments. He wasn’t able to race the following GP, Portugal, and when he reappeared in Motegi, luck turned away from him once again and he was involved in a multiple crash right in the first corner. Physically and morally dampened, the 2003 rookie of the tear finished the championship in eighth position.
In 2005, the young 25-year-old rider consolidated his place among the elite of the premier class. After an average first part of the season, Hayden made good use of his chance when the Championship returned to his home-country, taking his first victory in the World Championship in Laguna Seca. After that success, the Kentucky born rider stepped again on the podium in Germany and fought several times for the victory during the final sprint of the Championship. Together with Marco Melandri, they were two of the few riders to stand up to the defending World Champion Valentino Rossi. In his battle against the two Italians, Hayden was back on the podium in the last four rounds: Qatar, Australia, Turkey and Valencia, and finished the season in a meritorious third place.
In 2006 Hayden faced the season with the difficult challenge of being the number 1 rider at Honda and responsible for the evolution of the machine with which the Japanese make would fight for the title. The aim for the 2006 season was clear: fighting for the victory in the MotoGP World Championship. Hayden started the season with four consecutive podium finishes and took the lead of the overall standings after finishing third in the Turkish Grand Prix, and he didn’t leave that position until the ill-fated Portuguese Grand Prix, after which Valentino Rossi took over the leadership with an advantage of 8 points in the overall standings. There were 25 points still at stake and in Valencia, rounding up a perfect weekend for both Nicky Hayden and the Repsol Honda Team, the North American rider became 2006 MotoGP World Champion after scoring two victories – Holland and the USA -, 8 podium finishes and a final advantage of 5 points over second classified rider Valentino Rossi.
The North American rider will face the 2007 season with the number 1 on his bike, a very special number one, because the number will be filled with little 69s, the number of his dad which he has always proudly shown in the front and the rear of his Honda. It is a number one that allows him to enter the new era of the MotoGP World Championship, the era of the 800cc, with the satisfaction of seeing his work materialised in the best possible way, and the responsibility of becoming a reference for all of his rivals and the challenge of defending and achieving his second world crown.
The profile of Alex Barros
Alex Barros - 2007 Rider Profile
Profile;
Date of birth: 18.10.1970
Age: 36 Place of birth: San Paolo, Brazil
Nationality: Brazilian
Civil status: divorced
Weight: 70kg
Height: 174 cm
Number: 4
Career Stats;
Victories: 7 2nd
Positions: 11 3rd
Positions: 13
Podiums: 31
Poles: 5
Race fastest lap: 14 1978 - First race in Interlagos
1979 - Brazilian moped Champion
1980 - Brazilian moped Champion
1981 - 50cc Brazilian Champion
1982 - 125 Brazilian Championship – 4th
1983 - 125 Brazilian Championship – 2nd
1984 - 250 Brazilian Championship – 4th
1985 - 250 Brazilian Champion
1986 - World Championship 80cc – 16th
1987 - World Championship 80cc – 17th
1988 - World Championship 250cc (one race)
1989 - World Championship 250cc – 18th
1990 - World Championship 500cc – 12th
1991 - World Championship 500cc – 13th
1992 - World Championship 500cc – 13th
1993 - World Championship 500cc – 6th
1994 - World Championship 500cc – 8th
1995 - World Championship 500cc – 7th
1996 - World Championship 500cc – 4th
1997 - World Championship 500cc - 9th
1998 - World Championship 500cc – 5th
1999 - World Championship 500cc – 9th
2000 - World Championship 500cc– 4th
2001 - World Championship 500cc – 4th
2002 - MotoGP World Championship – 4th
2003 - MotoGP World Championship – 9th
2004 - MotoGP World Championship – 4th
2005 - MotoGP World Championship – 8th
2006 - World Superbike Championship – 6th
Alex Barros is the most experienced rider in MotoGP after 15 years in the top class of the motorcycle racing. Born in San Paolo, Brasil, began his apprenticeship racing in the 50cc mopeds. He won the Brazilian 250cc Championship and when he was only 15 year old, debuted in Spain in the 80cc World Championship. In 1988 he returned to Brasil to contest the 250cc Championship and the following season he moved back to the World Championship. After one year in 250cc he was recruited for the 500cc. In 1993 he took the first of four GP wins in 1993 with Suzuki. From 1995 to 2002 he rode with Honda. In 2003 accepted the factory Yamaha but unfortunately was affected by injury at the first GP. In 2004 he returned to Honda and in 2006 was in World Superbike. The 2007 is the return to the premier class for Alex Barros in the Team PRAMAC D’ANTIN MotoGP with the Ducati GP7 800cc bike equipped with Bridgestone tYres.
The Profile of Colin Edwards(5)
Colin Edwards - 2007 Rider Profile
Profile;
Date of Birth; 27/02/1974
Place of Birth; Houston, USA
Nationality; American Residence; Texas, USA
Height; 179 cm
Weight; 66 kg
Marital Status; Married with two children
Hobbies; Snowboarding, golf, motocross
Total Races; 65 x MotoGP
Victories; 0
Pole Positions: 0
Podiums; 6
Wins; 2
World Superbike First; Race 1990
First; Grand Prix 2003 First;
Pole NA First; Championship Japan, 2003 (MotoGP)
Career Highlights;
2006: 7th, MotoGP World Championship
2005: 4th, MotoGP World Championship
2004: 5th, MotoGP World Championship
2003: 13th, MotoGP World Championship
2002: SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPION
2001: 2nd, Superbike World Championship
2000: SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPION
1999: 2nd, Superbike World Championship
1998: 5th, Superbike World Championship
1997: 12th, Superbike World Championship
1996: 5th, Superbike World Championship
1995: 11th, Superbike World Championship
1994: 6th, AMA Superbike Championship
1993: 6th, AMA Superbike Championship
1992: National 250cc Champion
1991: Amateur racing in 600cc, 750cc and 250cc classes
Colin Edwards enters his third season with Yamaha's Factory Team looking to consistently produce the race-winning form that he has shown in flashes since signing up as wingman to serial title winner Valentino Rossi in 2005. In his debut season with the team, only his third in the MotoGP class, he finished fourth in the championship with three podium finishes and was the only rider to take points at all 17 races, helping Yamaha to take the Manufacturers' and Teams' titles. A series of technical problems hit the Texan in 2006, although he did produce one of the best rides of the season at the Dutch TT, where he only missed out on a dramatic first victory when he crashed in the final corner after a breathtaking battle with Nicky Hayden. The former World Superbike Champion will hope the switch from 990cc to 800cc can help him to finally make his mark on the elite stage.
Colin was born in Houston, Texas on February 27th, 1974. He rode his first bike at the age of three, entered his first race a year later and was quickly winning Motocross trophies. His Australian-born father, Colin Edwards Sr, also raced motorcycles and played a big role in Colin's early career. Colin was a top US amateur through his early Motocross career, before making the switch to road racing at the age of 16 and continuing a successful amateur career. Turning pro just before the 1992 season, he raced for South West Motorsports in the National 250cc series, winning five races and beating Kenny Roberts Jr. to the title.
In 1993, aged 19, Colin moved into the AMA National Superbike series and spent two years developing his talents on a Yamaha Superbike, finishing 6th in the championship in his first year and 5th in 1994. Yamaha then moved him into the international field, and in 1995 he contested his first World Superbike Championship with the newly formed Yamaha Factory Team. Davide Brivio, now the Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director, was the World Superbike Team Director then, and the team was based at the same Italian headquarters that the MotoGP team uses today. After spending 1995 learning the new tracks, he achieved his first podium position in 1996. In the same year he teamed up with Noriyuki Haga for the Suzuka Eight-Hour, the pair becoming the youngest duo to win the race in its history. He missed most of 1997 sidelined through injury, then joined Honda in 1998, pulling off a double win at Monza and finishing 5th overall in the Championship.
In 1999 he finished second, but 2000 saw him victorious; he won eight races and the World Superbike Championship title. He lost his crown in 2001, but recaptured it the following year, taking 11 race wins before leaving the World Superbike Championship on a high note to join Aprilia's MotoGP outfit for 2003. His rookie year in the World Championship saw him finish 13th overall, but he fared better in 2004, riding a Honda alongside Sete Gibernau. Achieving two podium positions, he finished the Championship in fifth place before making the move back to Yamaha for the 2005 season alongside Rossi.
Colin and his wife Alyssia live in Conroe, Texas, where Colin was born. They have a four-year-old daughter, Gracie Kayte, and a one-year-old son, Hayes, who was born in December 2005. Colin enjoys golf, snowboarding and Motocross in his spare time.
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Colin was born in Houston, Texas on February 27th, 1974. He rode his first bike at the age of three, entered his first race a year later and was quickly winning Motocross trophies. His Australian-born father, Colin Edwards Sr, also raced motorcycles and played a big role in Colin's early career. Colin was a top US amateur through his early Motocross career, before making the switch to road racing at the age of 16 and continuing a successful amateur career. Turning pro just before the 1992 season, he raced for South West Motorsports in the National 250cc series, winning five races and beating Kenny Roberts Jr. to the title.
In 1993, aged 19, Colin moved into the AMA National Superbike series and spent two years developing his talents on a Yamaha Superbike, finishing 6th in the championship in his first year and 5th in 1994. Yamaha then moved him into the international field, and in 1995 he contested his first World Superbike Championship with the newly formed Yamaha Factory Team. Davide Brivio, now the Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director, was the World Superbike Team Director then, and the team was based at the same Italian headquarters that the MotoGP team uses today. After spending 1995 learning the new tracks, he achieved his first podium position in 1996. In the same year he teamed up with Noriyuki Haga for the Suzuka Eight-Hour, the pair becoming the youngest duo to win the race in its history. He missed most of 1997 sidelined through injury, then joined Honda in 1998, pulling off a double win at Monza and finishing 5th overall in the Championship.
In 1999 he finished second, but 2000 saw him victorious; he won eight races and the World Superbike Championship title. He lost his crown in 2001, but recaptured it the following year, taking 11 race wins before leaving the World Superbike Championship on a high note to join Aprilia's MotoGP outfit for 2003. His rookie year in the World Championship saw him finish 13th overall, but he fared better in 2004, riding a Honda alongside Sete Gibernau. Achieving two podium positions, he finished the Championship in fifth place before making the move back to Yamaha for the 2005 season alongside Rossi.
Colin and his wife Alyssia live in Conroe, Texas, where Colin was born. They have a four-year-old daughter, Gracie Kayte, and a one-year-old son, Hayes, who was born in December 2005. Colin enjoys golf, snowboarding and Motocross in his spare time.
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The Profile of Oliver Jacque(19)
Oliver Jacque - 2007 Rider Profile
Profile;
Born: 29th August 1973 - Villerupt, France
Nationality: French
Marital Status: Married
Residence: London, England
Height: 172cm / 5'8"
Weight: 59kg / 130bs
First Grand Prix: 1995 - Australia Grand Prix Race Wins: 7 - 250cc World Championship Grand Prix
Podiums: 35 - 1 x MotoGP 34 x 250cc World Championship Grand Prix
Pole Positions: 17 - 1 x MotoGP 16 x 250cc World Championship
GGP Championship Titles: 1 - 250cc World Championship
Career Summary;
2007: Kawasaki Racing Team, MotoGP
2006: Kawasaki Racing Team, Development Rider
2005: Kawasaki Racing Team, MotoGP
2004: 24th, MotoGP World Championship - 2 starts
2003: 12th, MotoGP World Championship
2002: 10th, MotoGP World Championship
2001: 15th, MotoGP World Championship
2000: 250cc World Champion
1999: 7th, 250cc World Championship
1998: 5th, 250cc World Championship
1997: 4th, 250cc World Championship
1996: 3rd, 250cc World Championship
1995: 10th, 250cc World Championship - Rookie of the Year
1994: 2nd, European 250cc Championship 4th, French 250cc Championship
1993: 20th, European 250cc Championship 5th, French 250cc Championship
1992: 7th, French 125cc Championship 1991: Champion, 50cc Championship of Lorraine
1990: 50cc Championship debut
The Profile of John Hopkins(21)
John Hopkins -
2007 Rider Profile
The Facts;
Place of Birth: Ramona, California
Date of Birth: May 22 1983
Nationality: Anglo-American
Home Town: Ramona in California, USA and Leicestershire in England
Marital Status: Single
Eyes: Hazel
Car: BMW M3 Motorcycle: Suzuki RM-Z450, Suzuki GSV-R
Favourite Food: Spaghetti Carbonara
Favourite Drink: Redbull
Favourite Film: The Anchorman
Favourite Band: Kottonmouth Kings
Favourite Circuit: Jerez Hobbies: Cycling, Snowboarding, Training, Motocross
Ideal Holiday: At home
First Race: 1986,
Motocross Career Highlights;
2004: MotoGP World Championship - 16th . Four top 10 finishes. Qualified 2nd at Motegi Japan.
2003: MotoGP World Championship - 17th .Best result 7th Spain.
2002: MotoGP debut - 15th.
2001: US Formula Xtreme Champion.
1999: Full Road Racing debut - 250cc Cup Champion.
1986: Tarmac debut. First race win minibikes.
From his earliest road-racing days, John Hopkins was earmarked as a kid with a big future. In 2003, his first year with the Suzuki team, he took another step forward in a promising career.
Although, as with his teammate, good results were hard to find in a difficult race-development year, John earned the undying loyalty of his pit crew. With Hopper in the saddle, no matter what the circumstances, they knew he would always give his utmost.
Joining Suzuki in 2003 was like coming home. His meteoric career in US road-racing had been on big-capacity Suzuki four-strokes; now he was back on the fastest of them all. His best result of the year - another seventh - was also the team's best of the season.
Still aged 20 at the first race of the 2004 season, Hopkins has amassed two years of varied GP experience. His first season was on a 500cc two-stroke and Dunlop Tires … learning the tracks at the same time as fighting the more powerful new four-strokes. He made a big impression, scoring not only consistently but well, with a best of seventh place.
For his second year with Suzuki and his third in the top class, John has his sights set on the highest prize. "I always dreamed of winning the World Championship. That's my goal"
Hopkins believes you keep on learning, "right up until the last race of your career." But he has already crammed an intensive road-racing education into the last five years, building on a lifetime of motorcycling experience.
Born in Ramona in southern California, John counts himself as more than just part British and races with a Union Jack flag on his helmet and his motorcycle's fairing. His parents were both from Acton in West London, emigrating shortly before he was born. He still has many family connections in England.
His father was a keen motorcyclist and former Isle of Man TT road-racer. When John was barely walking, he was taking rides on the tank of his father's machines. He grew up riding dirt bikes in the desert every weekend, and first raced at the age of five, in a motocross event.
When John was only 12, he was a seasoned dirt-track racer, and Hopkins Senior had also given him a first taste of road-racing. Then his father passed away, and it seemed that side of John's life was over. But his fascination with the sport was not to be denied, and he went back to road-racing … only to be thwarted by a string of mechanical problems.
That might have been the end of road-racing, for in frustration he had switched back to his original discipline, motocross. Then US Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki team owner John Ulrich (who discovered 1993 World Champion Kevin Schwantz for Suzuki) invited him to test a Suzuki GSX-R600 racer. Hopkins's promise was immediately obvious, and he was signed up for the 1999 season.
From that point he was on an express train to the top. He won the Aprilia RS250 Cup in 1999 as well as progressing from 600cc four-strokes to 750cc and then 1000cc, giving the physically small teenager a valuable lesson for his future on powerful 990cc MotoGP machines. He learned it well, winning the AMA Formula Xtreme title on the big Suzuki GSX-R1000 in 2001.
Hopkins manager, Douglas Gonda arranged for to join the Red Bull Yamaha GP team for 2002, racing a two-stroke in a new environment, against the faster new MotoGP prototype four-strokes. He not only consistently finished in the points - but also demonstrated the powerful determination that has become a trademark.
For 2003 the departure of Red Bull as a sponsor in MotoGP resulted in Hopkins looking for and finding a new team. Gonda went to work and negotiated a deal for Hopkins to join the factory Suzuki squad. Hopkins matched his best result while also making a huge contribution to development of the radical new GSV-R. Sadly, when the technical solutions he helped to find made it to the track for pre-season tests, Hopkins was recovering from a double ankle fracture sustained in a Supercross race in California. "
"Suzuki have done a lot to the bike, and I know there's more coming; and I already work well with my crew. They've all given me my chance, and I'm really thankful. I'll be in there fighting," he said.
Although, as with his teammate, good results were hard to find in a difficult race-development year, John earned the undying loyalty of his pit crew. With Hopper in the saddle, no matter what the circumstances, they knew he would always give his utmost.
Joining Suzuki in 2003 was like coming home. His meteoric career in US road-racing had been on big-capacity Suzuki four-strokes; now he was back on the fastest of them all. His best result of the year - another seventh - was also the team's best of the season.
Still aged 20 at the first race of the 2004 season, Hopkins has amassed two years of varied GP experience. His first season was on a 500cc two-stroke and Dunlop Tires … learning the tracks at the same time as fighting the more powerful new four-strokes. He made a big impression, scoring not only consistently but well, with a best of seventh place.
For his second year with Suzuki and his third in the top class, John has his sights set on the highest prize. "I always dreamed of winning the World Championship. That's my goal"
Hopkins believes you keep on learning, "right up until the last race of your career." But he has already crammed an intensive road-racing education into the last five years, building on a lifetime of motorcycling experience.
Born in Ramona in southern California, John counts himself as more than just part British and races with a Union Jack flag on his helmet and his motorcycle's fairing. His parents were both from Acton in West London, emigrating shortly before he was born. He still has many family connections in England.
His father was a keen motorcyclist and former Isle of Man TT road-racer. When John was barely walking, he was taking rides on the tank of his father's machines. He grew up riding dirt bikes in the desert every weekend, and first raced at the age of five, in a motocross event.
When John was only 12, he was a seasoned dirt-track racer, and Hopkins Senior had also given him a first taste of road-racing. Then his father passed away, and it seemed that side of John's life was over. But his fascination with the sport was not to be denied, and he went back to road-racing … only to be thwarted by a string of mechanical problems.
That might have been the end of road-racing, for in frustration he had switched back to his original discipline, motocross. Then US Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki team owner John Ulrich (who discovered 1993 World Champion Kevin Schwantz for Suzuki) invited him to test a Suzuki GSX-R600 racer. Hopkins's promise was immediately obvious, and he was signed up for the 1999 season.
From that point he was on an express train to the top. He won the Aprilia RS250 Cup in 1999 as well as progressing from 600cc four-strokes to 750cc and then 1000cc, giving the physically small teenager a valuable lesson for his future on powerful 990cc MotoGP machines. He learned it well, winning the AMA Formula Xtreme title on the big Suzuki GSX-R1000 in 2001.
Hopkins manager, Douglas Gonda arranged for to join the Red Bull Yamaha GP team for 2002, racing a two-stroke in a new environment, against the faster new MotoGP prototype four-strokes. He not only consistently finished in the points - but also demonstrated the powerful determination that has become a trademark.
For 2003 the departure of Red Bull as a sponsor in MotoGP resulted in Hopkins looking for and finding a new team. Gonda went to work and negotiated a deal for Hopkins to join the factory Suzuki squad. Hopkins matched his best result while also making a huge contribution to development of the radical new GSV-R. Sadly, when the technical solutions he helped to find made it to the track for pre-season tests, Hopkins was recovering from a double ankle fracture sustained in a Supercross race in California. "
"Suzuki have done a lot to the bike, and I know there's more coming; and I already work well with my crew. They've all given me my chance, and I'm really thankful. I'll be in there fighting," he said.
The Profile of Toni Elias(21)
Toni Elias - 2007
Rider Profile
Date of Birth: 26/03/1983
Place of Birth: Manresa, Spain
Nationality: Spanish
Height: 1.63m
Weight: 54kg
Marital Status: Single
Race Number: 24
Career Highlights;
2006: MotoGP World Championship (4th)
2005: MotoGP World Championship (12th)
2004: 250cc World Championship (4th) 2003:
250cc World Championship (3rd)
2002: 250cc World Championship (4th)
2001: 125cc World Championship (3rd)
2000: 125cc World Championship (20th)
1999: 125cc Spanish Championship (3rd),
125cc World Championship (33rd)
1998: 125cc Spanish Championship (23rd)
1995: Open RACC 50 Championship with a Yamaha TZR
1994: Pocket Bikes Chapionship of Catalunya (2nd)
1993: Pocket Bikes Chapionship of Catalunya (3rd)
The Profile of Dani Pedrosa(26)
Dani Pedrosa - 2007 Rider Profile
Career highlights and biography;
Date of birth: September 29th, 1985
Date of birth: September 29th, 1985
Place of birth: Castellar del Vallés (Barcelona)
First race: 1996 Spanish Minibike Championship
First Grand Prix: 2001 Japanese Grand Prix (125cc)
First pole position: 2002 Japanese Grand Prix (125cc)
First fastest lap: 2002 Pacific Grand Prix (125cc)
First podium finish: 2001 Comunitat Valenciana Grand Prix (125cc)
First victory: 2002 Dutch Grand Prix (125cc)
Total Grand Prix: 76 (46 in 125cc and 30 in 250cc)
Fastest laps: 18 (5 in 125cc and 13 in 250cc)
Pole positions: 17 (9 in 125cc and 8 in 250cc)
Podium finishes: 39 (17 in 125cc and 22 in 250cc)
Victories: 24 (8 in 125cc, 14 in 250cc and 2 in MotoGP)
Recent career higlights;
1997: 3rd Spanish Minibike Championship
1997: 3rd Spanish Minibike Championship
1998: Spanish Minibike Champion
1999: 8th Movistar Activa Joven Cup Trophy (Honda RS 125)
2000: 4th Spanish 125 GP Championship (Honda RS 125)
2001: 8th 125 GP World Championship (Honda RS 125)
2002: 3rd 125 GP World Championship (Honda RS 125)
2003: 125cc World Champion (Honda RS 125)
2004: 250cc World Champion (Honda RSW 250)
2005: 250cc World Champion (Honda RSW 250)
2006: 5th MotoGP World Championship (Honda RC211V)
Biography;
The first time Daniel Pedrosa got on a motorbike was at the age of four and his machine, a motocross Italjet 50, had side-wheels. At the age of six, Dani began racing on minibikes. His first pocket bike was a miniature copy of a street Kawasaki. Other bikes followed, circuits and races with friends, always for fun and not even imagining what was yet to come.
It was in 1996 when the ten-year-old Dani entered the Spanish Minibike Championship. Dani began to race on kart circuits all over Spain, always joined by his parents and with the bike in the car trunk. They were also joined by Dani’s little brother, Eric, 5 years younger than Dani, who is taking his first steps in motorbike riding as well. That same year, Dani finished his first race in sixth position, due to a problem with the exhaust pipe of his bike. With the second race came his first podium finish. He liked the experience and decided to enter the same Championship the next year, after finishing second overall in his first season.
But he had bad luck and a few days before the 1997 season Dani got chicken pox. The result was that he wasn’t even able to put on the helmet. It was the beginning of the season and given the problem, Pedrosa finished that season eight points behind the leader, in the third overall position.
Although Pedrosa managed to get the title in 1998 he still enjoyed racing as a mere hobby. The Aprilia 50 Cup and the Open RACC were popular promotion cups in those days and Pedrosa considered the possibility to enter one of them. But due to the lack of means and support and despite his good results, Dani decided to leave motorbikes aside and to change over to mountain bikes. When he was just about to get the licence to start racing on bicycles, the family heard from a friend that the Movistar Activa Cup, a promotion cup with competition bikes, was being organised. The change from minibikes to racing bikes was huge and Dani was still young, but in early 1999 they decided to send an entry form to take part in the trials that would be held at the Jarama circuit in Madrid. The weekend before the trials Pedrosa learned to ride a bike with a gearbox on an industrial area nearby his home with a borrowed bike. It was his first time on a circuit and he was not only nervous; the bike was so high that his feet didn’t reach the floor. Despite everything, the 13-year-old passed the trials and took part in the Movistar Activa Cup that year finishing in a meritorious eighth position. Of the twenty-five riders taking part in the Cup that year, only three were able to become part of Alberto Puig’s team, who, given Pedrosa's huge potential, included him among the chosen, with Joan Olivé and Raúl Jara.
In 2000, Dani took part in the Spanish Championship with the Movistar Junior Team. He finished four of the six races, but took four poles, finishing fourth overall, behind Joan Olivé, Raúl Jara and Toni Elias. It was then when Alberto Puig told him that he was going to take part in the 125cc Motorcycle World Championship. Pedrosa, who was already 14 couldn’t believe it; his dream was coming true. In the first race held in Suzuka, he was among the last riders of the grid and he had never seen so many riders racing together and especially in such a competitive class. He still remembers that he got scared in the first corner, something that never happened again.
2001 was a learning year for Dani Pedrosa, but even though he managed to take two podiums finishes, a third place in Valencia and another in Motegi. He took the start among the leading riders in several races, and despite having little experience; he rode side by side with well-known riders such as Toni Elias, Manuel Poggiali or Youichi Ui. He finished eighth overall in the Championship. His final third position in the 2002 World Championship, where he had been a title candidate together with Manuel Poggiali or Arnaud Vincent, was the evidence of his tremendous potential. This fact was confirmed by the nine podium finishes and six pole positions he took that year, as well as by his three victories in Assen, Motegi and Valencia. Although he had to settle for the third place, he was considered the most spectacular and combative rider of the class.
Dani Pedrosa faced his third season in the 125cc World Championship with serenity, determination and with the aim of clinching the title. During the season, he showed a maturity that would rather be normal for a veteran rider but not for an 18-year-old and he got the reputation of one of the most talented young riders of the sport. He became 125cc World Champion in Malaysia, with two GPS left for the end of the season, after a total of five victories and six podium finishes. Only one week later, misfortune hit the young rider who suffered a hair-rising accident during the practice session of the Australian GP, where he broke both ankles.
In 2004, after a hard recovery period and under the protection of Alberto Puig, his mentor and right-hand man, the young rider decided to make the jump to the 250cc class. From the beginning, he considered the season as a season of learning and adapting to the class and not with the aim of fighting for the title. But he surprised everybody right from the first tests of the season. Hard work and dedication, both from the rider himself and the whole team, soon bore fruit. He took the victory of the first race in South Africa after a spectacular fight with De Puniet. He took the class leadership after the Brazilian Grand Prix and he stayed there until the end of the season. He became 250cc World Champion in Australia, in his rookie season in the class, at the age of 19, the youngest in history, fifteen years after Sito Pons. In addition to the seven victories, it was his incredible regularity throughout the year that made him worth the title. The only races he didn’t finish on the podium were Jerez, after crashing under heavy rain and in Estoril and Phillip Island where he finished fourth.
With more experience and maturity, Dani Pedrosa faced his second season in the 250cc as the big favourite. The considerable competition he had to face, the adverse weather conditions at the beginning of the season and the shoulder injury he suffered during the practice sessions of the Japanese Grand Prix, turned 2005 into a difficult year for the Repsol rider. Eventually, 51 points were enough to let Alberto Puig’s pupil win his third sceptre on the Australian circuit of Phillip Island, two races before the end of the 2005 season.
In the first Grand Prix of the season, staged in Jerez, the reigning World Champion played his role and took his first victory on the Andalusian track. Not a real friend of wet races, Pedrosa had to overcome his fears in 2005, because the weather conditions were bad on several occasions. In Donington and under an intense rain shower, he took a meritorious fourth place, his best result so far on a wet track. The young Repsol rider led the overall standings almost from start to end, and he only left the top spot on the sheets during one Grand Prix, after the flood in Shanghai. Bit by bit, Dani went on increasing his advantage, first over Dovizioso and then over Stoner, having a maximum advantage of 63 points before the Japanese Grand Prix.
Motegi was a point of inflection for Dani Pedrosa. Three crashes during the practice sessions undermined both his physical and moral condition. Despite hurting his right shoulder and starting the race with hardly any time to set-up his Honda, his skill and conviction took him to cross the finish line behind the winner of the race, his team-mate Aoyama. He arrived in Malaysia with hardly any time to recover, but he warned his rivals already during the practice. He took the second place on the starting grid but crashed in the second lap after loosing the front end of his bike. First no-score for Dani, something that Stoner, winner of the Malaysian Grand Prix made good use of to close the gap in the overall standings. Still convalescent, Pedrosa worked hard in Qatar and managed to take the fourth place, despite suffering evident problems with his engine. Australia meant the first match ball for Dani, and the Repsol rider didn’t want to loose his first chance. After a good start, Dani knew how to read the race perfectly well. While Stoner crashed in the fourth lap, Pedrosa put himself behind Porto, escaping together with the Argentinean rider on his way to the seventh victory of the season. Nothing but the victory was good to become world champion and Dani overtook the Argentinean rider on the finish line, scoring the 25 points he needed to take his second World Championship title in the 250cc class with two races left for the end of the championship.
With the third world championship title in his pocket, the moment had arrived in 2006 to make the decisive jump to the Motorcycle World Championship. It was time to make the debut in the premier class and to get on a MotoGP bike. And which would be the best way to do it, but hand in hand with the best team of the last decade, the Repsol Honda Team? Once again, with the constant help of Alberto Puig, the change of class was planned with all the necessary prudence in the face of such a major challenge, focussing the whole work on learning and adapting to the big difference of a MotoGP bike with more than 240 HP and 150 kilos in weight, compared to a 250cc with some 90 HP and 100 kilos. The hard physical preparation carried out during the winter an a consistent progression during the preseason tests were the prelude to the extraordinary debut in the class, becoming Rookie of the Year thanks to his two victories, six podium finishes and the fifth overall place in the championship.
At the first Grand Prix of the year, staged in Jerez, the first glances of Pedrosa’s talent began to dazzle all and sundry. In his first race in the class and at age of only 20 years, he managed to finish in a splendid second position, only a few tenths behind veteran winner Loris Capirossi. After that first race, he continued shining with more or less luck in the following rounds. Despite crashing in the last lap of the Turkish race while fighting for the victory against Melandri and Stoner, he managed to take his first victory in the premier class only fifteen days later. It was at the Grand Prix of China, where he achieved a historical victory, joined on the podium by teammate Nicky Hayden, thus confirming once again, the enormous potential of the Repsol Honda team that would eventually become Teams' World Champion at the end of the season.
Race after race, Pedrosa showed the touches of the great future that is expecting him in the class, with passionate duels with Valentino Rossi and Marco Melandri in Germany and the Czech Republic. The season was not even exempt of some doses of drama, such as at the penultimate round of the championship, when Nicky Hayden was racing for a good part of his chances to take the overall title. Having the circuit of Estoril as venue, Dani Pedrosa made a mistake in the fifth lap of the Grand Prix, which ended up with both riders on the tarmac, thus taking the excitement of the championship to the last race in Valencia. At the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Cheste, a great team work of both riders allowed Nicky Hayden to become MotoGP World Champion, the Repsol Honda team to become Teams’ World Champion and Dani Pedrosa to become Rookie of the Year. The perfect highlight for a splendid year.
A new challenge is now waiting for Dani Pedrosa in 2007: a change in the MotoGP class that forces constructors to limit the engines to 800cc. After a whole year of experience surrounded by the best riders of the world and with the direct support of the most powerful factory, Dani Pedrosa will face this new season with a motorbike that adapts even better to his riding style and with the clear aim of improving is already brilliant sports career.
Dani Pedrosa is now residing in London. Among his hobbies are bicycle riding, something he still enjoys a lot, as well as supermotard, motocross or trial. Outside the world of sports he enjoys going to the movies or spending time with friends. Sometimes he joins them at the disco, but he prefers to amuse himself playing computer games, because, as Dani says those with motorbikes and cars are very realistic, the behaviour of the bike is very similar to that of a real one. A curious fact: Dani learned the circuits on which he races now by heart watching videotapes of 500cc races with Rainey or Lawson. However, his favourite rider has always been Mick Doohan.
The first time Daniel Pedrosa got on a motorbike was at the age of four and his machine, a motocross Italjet 50, had side-wheels. At the age of six, Dani began racing on minibikes. His first pocket bike was a miniature copy of a street Kawasaki. Other bikes followed, circuits and races with friends, always for fun and not even imagining what was yet to come.
It was in 1996 when the ten-year-old Dani entered the Spanish Minibike Championship. Dani began to race on kart circuits all over Spain, always joined by his parents and with the bike in the car trunk. They were also joined by Dani’s little brother, Eric, 5 years younger than Dani, who is taking his first steps in motorbike riding as well. That same year, Dani finished his first race in sixth position, due to a problem with the exhaust pipe of his bike. With the second race came his first podium finish. He liked the experience and decided to enter the same Championship the next year, after finishing second overall in his first season.
But he had bad luck and a few days before the 1997 season Dani got chicken pox. The result was that he wasn’t even able to put on the helmet. It was the beginning of the season and given the problem, Pedrosa finished that season eight points behind the leader, in the third overall position.
Although Pedrosa managed to get the title in 1998 he still enjoyed racing as a mere hobby. The Aprilia 50 Cup and the Open RACC were popular promotion cups in those days and Pedrosa considered the possibility to enter one of them. But due to the lack of means and support and despite his good results, Dani decided to leave motorbikes aside and to change over to mountain bikes. When he was just about to get the licence to start racing on bicycles, the family heard from a friend that the Movistar Activa Cup, a promotion cup with competition bikes, was being organised. The change from minibikes to racing bikes was huge and Dani was still young, but in early 1999 they decided to send an entry form to take part in the trials that would be held at the Jarama circuit in Madrid. The weekend before the trials Pedrosa learned to ride a bike with a gearbox on an industrial area nearby his home with a borrowed bike. It was his first time on a circuit and he was not only nervous; the bike was so high that his feet didn’t reach the floor. Despite everything, the 13-year-old passed the trials and took part in the Movistar Activa Cup that year finishing in a meritorious eighth position. Of the twenty-five riders taking part in the Cup that year, only three were able to become part of Alberto Puig’s team, who, given Pedrosa's huge potential, included him among the chosen, with Joan Olivé and Raúl Jara.
In 2000, Dani took part in the Spanish Championship with the Movistar Junior Team. He finished four of the six races, but took four poles, finishing fourth overall, behind Joan Olivé, Raúl Jara and Toni Elias. It was then when Alberto Puig told him that he was going to take part in the 125cc Motorcycle World Championship. Pedrosa, who was already 14 couldn’t believe it; his dream was coming true. In the first race held in Suzuka, he was among the last riders of the grid and he had never seen so many riders racing together and especially in such a competitive class. He still remembers that he got scared in the first corner, something that never happened again.
2001 was a learning year for Dani Pedrosa, but even though he managed to take two podiums finishes, a third place in Valencia and another in Motegi. He took the start among the leading riders in several races, and despite having little experience; he rode side by side with well-known riders such as Toni Elias, Manuel Poggiali or Youichi Ui. He finished eighth overall in the Championship. His final third position in the 2002 World Championship, where he had been a title candidate together with Manuel Poggiali or Arnaud Vincent, was the evidence of his tremendous potential. This fact was confirmed by the nine podium finishes and six pole positions he took that year, as well as by his three victories in Assen, Motegi and Valencia. Although he had to settle for the third place, he was considered the most spectacular and combative rider of the class.
Dani Pedrosa faced his third season in the 125cc World Championship with serenity, determination and with the aim of clinching the title. During the season, he showed a maturity that would rather be normal for a veteran rider but not for an 18-year-old and he got the reputation of one of the most talented young riders of the sport. He became 125cc World Champion in Malaysia, with two GPS left for the end of the season, after a total of five victories and six podium finishes. Only one week later, misfortune hit the young rider who suffered a hair-rising accident during the practice session of the Australian GP, where he broke both ankles.
In 2004, after a hard recovery period and under the protection of Alberto Puig, his mentor and right-hand man, the young rider decided to make the jump to the 250cc class. From the beginning, he considered the season as a season of learning and adapting to the class and not with the aim of fighting for the title. But he surprised everybody right from the first tests of the season. Hard work and dedication, both from the rider himself and the whole team, soon bore fruit. He took the victory of the first race in South Africa after a spectacular fight with De Puniet. He took the class leadership after the Brazilian Grand Prix and he stayed there until the end of the season. He became 250cc World Champion in Australia, in his rookie season in the class, at the age of 19, the youngest in history, fifteen years after Sito Pons. In addition to the seven victories, it was his incredible regularity throughout the year that made him worth the title. The only races he didn’t finish on the podium were Jerez, after crashing under heavy rain and in Estoril and Phillip Island where he finished fourth.
With more experience and maturity, Dani Pedrosa faced his second season in the 250cc as the big favourite. The considerable competition he had to face, the adverse weather conditions at the beginning of the season and the shoulder injury he suffered during the practice sessions of the Japanese Grand Prix, turned 2005 into a difficult year for the Repsol rider. Eventually, 51 points were enough to let Alberto Puig’s pupil win his third sceptre on the Australian circuit of Phillip Island, two races before the end of the 2005 season.
In the first Grand Prix of the season, staged in Jerez, the reigning World Champion played his role and took his first victory on the Andalusian track. Not a real friend of wet races, Pedrosa had to overcome his fears in 2005, because the weather conditions were bad on several occasions. In Donington and under an intense rain shower, he took a meritorious fourth place, his best result so far on a wet track. The young Repsol rider led the overall standings almost from start to end, and he only left the top spot on the sheets during one Grand Prix, after the flood in Shanghai. Bit by bit, Dani went on increasing his advantage, first over Dovizioso and then over Stoner, having a maximum advantage of 63 points before the Japanese Grand Prix.
Motegi was a point of inflection for Dani Pedrosa. Three crashes during the practice sessions undermined both his physical and moral condition. Despite hurting his right shoulder and starting the race with hardly any time to set-up his Honda, his skill and conviction took him to cross the finish line behind the winner of the race, his team-mate Aoyama. He arrived in Malaysia with hardly any time to recover, but he warned his rivals already during the practice. He took the second place on the starting grid but crashed in the second lap after loosing the front end of his bike. First no-score for Dani, something that Stoner, winner of the Malaysian Grand Prix made good use of to close the gap in the overall standings. Still convalescent, Pedrosa worked hard in Qatar and managed to take the fourth place, despite suffering evident problems with his engine. Australia meant the first match ball for Dani, and the Repsol rider didn’t want to loose his first chance. After a good start, Dani knew how to read the race perfectly well. While Stoner crashed in the fourth lap, Pedrosa put himself behind Porto, escaping together with the Argentinean rider on his way to the seventh victory of the season. Nothing but the victory was good to become world champion and Dani overtook the Argentinean rider on the finish line, scoring the 25 points he needed to take his second World Championship title in the 250cc class with two races left for the end of the championship.
With the third world championship title in his pocket, the moment had arrived in 2006 to make the decisive jump to the Motorcycle World Championship. It was time to make the debut in the premier class and to get on a MotoGP bike. And which would be the best way to do it, but hand in hand with the best team of the last decade, the Repsol Honda Team? Once again, with the constant help of Alberto Puig, the change of class was planned with all the necessary prudence in the face of such a major challenge, focussing the whole work on learning and adapting to the big difference of a MotoGP bike with more than 240 HP and 150 kilos in weight, compared to a 250cc with some 90 HP and 100 kilos. The hard physical preparation carried out during the winter an a consistent progression during the preseason tests were the prelude to the extraordinary debut in the class, becoming Rookie of the Year thanks to his two victories, six podium finishes and the fifth overall place in the championship.
At the first Grand Prix of the year, staged in Jerez, the first glances of Pedrosa’s talent began to dazzle all and sundry. In his first race in the class and at age of only 20 years, he managed to finish in a splendid second position, only a few tenths behind veteran winner Loris Capirossi. After that first race, he continued shining with more or less luck in the following rounds. Despite crashing in the last lap of the Turkish race while fighting for the victory against Melandri and Stoner, he managed to take his first victory in the premier class only fifteen days later. It was at the Grand Prix of China, where he achieved a historical victory, joined on the podium by teammate Nicky Hayden, thus confirming once again, the enormous potential of the Repsol Honda team that would eventually become Teams' World Champion at the end of the season.
Race after race, Pedrosa showed the touches of the great future that is expecting him in the class, with passionate duels with Valentino Rossi and Marco Melandri in Germany and the Czech Republic. The season was not even exempt of some doses of drama, such as at the penultimate round of the championship, when Nicky Hayden was racing for a good part of his chances to take the overall title. Having the circuit of Estoril as venue, Dani Pedrosa made a mistake in the fifth lap of the Grand Prix, which ended up with both riders on the tarmac, thus taking the excitement of the championship to the last race in Valencia. At the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Cheste, a great team work of both riders allowed Nicky Hayden to become MotoGP World Champion, the Repsol Honda team to become Teams’ World Champion and Dani Pedrosa to become Rookie of the Year. The perfect highlight for a splendid year.
A new challenge is now waiting for Dani Pedrosa in 2007: a change in the MotoGP class that forces constructors to limit the engines to 800cc. After a whole year of experience surrounded by the best riders of the world and with the direct support of the most powerful factory, Dani Pedrosa will face this new season with a motorbike that adapts even better to his riding style and with the clear aim of improving is already brilliant sports career.
Dani Pedrosa is now residing in London. Among his hobbies are bicycle riding, something he still enjoys a lot, as well as supermotard, motocross or trial. Outside the world of sports he enjoys going to the movies or spending time with friends. Sometimes he joins them at the disco, but he prefers to amuse himself playing computer games, because, as Dani says those with motorbikes and cars are very realistic, the behaviour of the bike is very similar to that of a real one. A curious fact: Dani learned the circuits on which he races now by heart watching videotapes of 500cc races with Rainey or Lawson. However, his favourite rider has always been Mick Doohan.
The Profile of Csey Stoner(27)
Casey Stoner - 2007 Rider Profile
Personal Stats;
Born: 16 October 1985 in Kurri-Kurri (Australia)
Born: 16 October 1985 in Kurri-Kurri (Australia)
Marital Status:
Married with Adriana
Height: 1.70 m
Weight: 58 kg Career Stats;
2006: 8th - MotoGP World Championship (Honda)
2005: 2nd - 250 World Championship (Aprilia)
2004: 5th - 125 World Championship (KTM)
2003: 8th - 125 World Championship (Aprilia)
2002: 12th - 250 World Championship (Aprilia)
2001: 2nd - 125 UK Championship (Honda) 2nd - 125 Spanish Championship (Honda)
2000: Aprilia Challenge UK Champion (Aprilia)
1989-99: winner of 41 titles of dirt track and long track in Australia
The Profile of Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi - 2007
Rider Profile Profile;
Date of Birth; 16/02/1979
Date of Birth; 16/02/1979
Place of Birth; Urbino, Italy
Nationality; Italian Residence; London, UK
Height; 182 cm
Weight; 59 kg
Marital Status; Single
Hobbies; Soccer, radio-controlled toys
Total Races, GP starts: 174 (114 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
Victories; 84 (57 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
Pole Positions: 45
Podiums; 127
Wins; 7
Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP)
First Race; 1991 First Grand Prix; Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)
First Pole; 1996 Career Highlights;
2006: 2nd, MotoGP World Championship
2006: 2nd, MotoGP World Championship
2005: MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPION
2004: MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPION
2003: MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPION
2002: MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPION
2001: 500 MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPION
2000: 2nd, 500 MotoGP World Championship
1999: 250 GP WORLD CHAMPION
1998: 2nd, 250 MotoGP World Championship
1997: 125 GP WORLD CHAMPION
1996: 9th, 125 MotoGP World Championship
1995: 125cc Italian Champion
1994: 125cc Italian Sports Production Champion
1993: 3rd - 125cc Italian Sports Production Championship
1992: Regional Minimoto Champion
1991: 4th - Italian Junior Go-Kart Championship
1990: Regional Go-Kart Championship - 9 wins
1989: First Go-Kart Race
Valentino Rossi starts his fourth campaign as a Yamaha Factory Team rider in
2007 with the clear target of recapturing the MotoGP World Championship title after being dethroned by Nicky Hayden last year. After winning two consecutive World Championships with Yamaha in 2004 and 2005, following on from three previous back-to-back title successes, Rossi finished runner-up to the American despite scoring ten podiums and winning five races - more than any other rider. Now the record-breaking Italian, widely regarded as the finest motorcycle racer of his generation, starts the season without the crown to defend for the first time in five years.
Rossi’s five wins in 2006 took his premier-class career tally to 58, leaving him within striking distance of the legendary Giacomo Agostini’s all-time record of 68 – another enticing target for the 2007 season. For the third consecutive campaign Valentino will be ably assisted by his trusted team-mate and great friend Colin Edwards, as the pair apply their highly effective development partnership to Yamaha’s all-new 800cc machine and attempt to regain the Manufacturers' and Teams' titles they won together in 2005.
Rossi's World Championship debut came at the Malaysian Grand Prix in 1996 and he finished his first international season in 9th place with one race win. The following year he became the youngest ever rider to win the 125cc World Championship, winning eleven races along the way with Aprilia. The pattern continued when he moved into the 250cc class, taking second place in his first year before becoming World Champion in 1999, once again with Aprilia. In 2000 he entered a new phase of his career when he joined forces with Honda in the 500cc class. He proved his worth once again by finishing second, before becoming the last ever 500cc World Champion in 2001. Rossi held onto his crown four the next four consecutive seasons, taking the MotoGP World title in 2002 and 2003, before moving to Yamaha and winning again in 2004 and 2005.
Rossi made history by moving to Yamaha in 2004 and winning the season-opening Grand Prix in South Africa, becoming the first rider in the history of the sport to win back-to-back premier class races for different manufacturers. He went on to win nine out of 16 races, finally clinching the World Championship title, Yamaha's first for 12 years, with victory at the penultimate Grand Prix in Phillip Island. A final win at the Valencia Grand Prix also ensured that the Yamaha Factory Team won the team title. Rossi followed up that triumph with a season of unprecedented success in 2005, when he successfully defended the title once again with a total of eleven race wins and five pole positions - only finishing off the podium once.
Rossi turned 28 in February 2007 and remains the youngest rider to have won World Championships in all three classes. He continues to have the support of his long-standing Crew Chief, Jeremy Burgess, who moved from Honda to work with him at Yamaha Factory Racing.
One of the most popular members of the paddock, 'The Doctor' has a wide fan base all over the world. A keen football fan and an accomplished rally driver, he is based in London between races.
Rossi’s five wins in 2006 took his premier-class career tally to 58, leaving him within striking distance of the legendary Giacomo Agostini’s all-time record of 68 – another enticing target for the 2007 season. For the third consecutive campaign Valentino will be ably assisted by his trusted team-mate and great friend Colin Edwards, as the pair apply their highly effective development partnership to Yamaha’s all-new 800cc machine and attempt to regain the Manufacturers' and Teams' titles they won together in 2005.
Rossi's World Championship debut came at the Malaysian Grand Prix in 1996 and he finished his first international season in 9th place with one race win. The following year he became the youngest ever rider to win the 125cc World Championship, winning eleven races along the way with Aprilia. The pattern continued when he moved into the 250cc class, taking second place in his first year before becoming World Champion in 1999, once again with Aprilia. In 2000 he entered a new phase of his career when he joined forces with Honda in the 500cc class. He proved his worth once again by finishing second, before becoming the last ever 500cc World Champion in 2001. Rossi held onto his crown four the next four consecutive seasons, taking the MotoGP World title in 2002 and 2003, before moving to Yamaha and winning again in 2004 and 2005.
Rossi made history by moving to Yamaha in 2004 and winning the season-opening Grand Prix in South Africa, becoming the first rider in the history of the sport to win back-to-back premier class races for different manufacturers. He went on to win nine out of 16 races, finally clinching the World Championship title, Yamaha's first for 12 years, with victory at the penultimate Grand Prix in Phillip Island. A final win at the Valencia Grand Prix also ensured that the Yamaha Factory Team won the team title. Rossi followed up that triumph with a season of unprecedented success in 2005, when he successfully defended the title once again with a total of eleven race wins and five pole positions - only finishing off the podium once.
Rossi turned 28 in February 2007 and remains the youngest rider to have won World Championships in all three classes. He continues to have the support of his long-standing Crew Chief, Jeremy Burgess, who moved from Honda to work with him at Yamaha Factory Racing.
One of the most popular members of the paddock, 'The Doctor' has a wide fan base all over the world. A keen football fan and an accomplished rally driver, he is based in London between races.
The Profile of chric vermeulen(71)
Chris Vermeulen - 2007
Rider Profile
The Facts;
Place of Birth: Brisbane, Australia
The Facts;
Place of Birth: Brisbane, Australia
Date of Birth: June 19th 1982
Nationality: Australian
Home Town: Yandina, Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Marital Status: Single
Eyes: Hazel
Car: 1954 Ford F150 Hot Rod & 1933 Ford Coupe Hot Rod Motorcycle: Suzuki GSV-R Favourite Food: Italian, Pizza and Pasta
Favourite Drink: Ice Break Iced Coffee
Favourite Film: American Grafiti
Favourite Music: Hot Rod Lincoln by Comander Cody, Metallica, Rammstein
Ideal Holiday: Sunshine Coast Australia Home
First Race: 1988,
Motocross Racing hero: Wayne Rainey and Mick Doohan
Favourite Sports: Motorsports, Training & Surfing Career Highlights;2005:
First MotoGP race at Phillip Island, Australia.
World Superbike Championship runner-up - six victories.
2004: World Superbike Championship - fourth place. Four victories.
2003: World Supersport Champion. Four victories, four runners-up places, three pole-positions. Youngest ever WSS Champion.
2002: World Supersport Championship - seventh. Two pole-positions, two podium finishes. 2001: World Supersport Championship. 17th place. Three top 10 finishes.
2000: World Supersport debut - best finish sixth. European Superstock debut - one win. British Supersport and Superstock Championships. First Supersport win. Five Superstock race wins. 1999: Australian Superbike Championship - Privateer Champion.
1998: Began Road racing. Two race wins on 250cc GP machine.
1993-1997: Dirt Track racing. 10 State titles. National runner-up three times
The Profile of Loris Capirossi
Loris Capirossi - 2007 Rider Profile
Personal Stats;
Born: 4 April 1973 in Castel San Pietro (Italy)
Marital Status: Married to Ingrid
Height: 1.65 m / 5'5"
Weight: 59 kg / 130 lbs
Career Stats;
2007: MotoGP World Championship (Ducati Desmosedici)
2006: 3rd - MotoGP World Championship (Ducati Desmosedici)
2005: 6th - MotoGP World Championship (Ducati Desmosedici)
2004: 9th - MotoGP World Championship (Ducati Desmosedici)
2003: 4th - MotoGP World Championship (Ducati Desmosedici)
2002: 8th - MotoGP World Championship (Honda)
2001: 3rd - 500 World Championship (Honda)
2000: 7th - 500 World Championship (Honda)
1999: 3rd - 250 World Championship (Honda)
1998: 1st - 250 World Championship (Aprilia)
1997: 6th - 250 World Championship (Aprilia)
1996: 10th - 500 World Championship (Yamaha)
1995: 6th - 500 World Championship (Honda)
1994: 3rd - 250 World Championship (Honda)
1993: 2nd - 250 World Championship (Honda)
1992: 12th - 250 World Championship (Honda)
1991: 1st - 125 World Championship (Honda)
1990: 1st - 125 World Championship (Honda)
1989: 4th 125 European Championship (Honda)
1988: 9th 125 European Championship (Mancini)
1987: 125 Italian Production Championship (Honda)
1986: First motocross events
Biography;
Like most modern-day racers, Capirossi commenced his love affair with motorcycles at a very early age. Born just a couple of hours’ drive from Ducati’s home city Bologna, he started riding a friend’s dirt bike when he was five, quickly learning the art of throttle control, so vital with today’s extraordinarily powerful race machines. But it was roadracing that really interested him and he contested his first tarmac season at the age of 14, riding a Honda NS125 road bike to sixth in the Italian Production Championship. A year later he was ninth in the 125 Italian Championship aboard a Mancini, and in 1989 he showed real promise aboard a Honda in the 125 Euro series. He took fourth overall, winning four rounds as he readied himself for promotion to the World Championship scene.
Capirossi’s first world crown was a truly remarkable accomplishment. Aged just 16 at the start of the 1990 season, he made his GP debut as number two rider to team-mate and ex-World Champion Fausto Gresini, now a successful MotoGP team manager. He approached the season as an apprenticeship and yet showed no fear for the experienced opposition, scoring his first podium at Misano in May, his first win at Donington Park in August and securing the title with a hard-fought third victory in the Australian season finale. With the number one plate on his Honda RS125 in 1991, Capirossi was the man everyone wanted to beat, but he admirably shrugged off the pressure, winning a further five victories for his second title.
For 1992 Capirossi graduated to 250s. His Honda RS250 production bike wasn’t as rapid as the factory machines ridden by many of his rivals, but it proved a perfect introduction to the ultra-competitive class. Once again Capirossi proved a quick learner, up with the leaders in only the third GP of the year. For 1993 he was equipped with full-factory NSR250s and immediately fulfilled the previous season’s promise. He won his first 250 GP at Assen and took two more victories to lead the series into the final race, when an incorrect tyre choice lost him the crown. Capirossi could have been forgiven a tantrum following his misfortune but was as dignified in defeat as he is in victory. His 1994 season began with wins in Austria, Germany, France and Britain but he succumbed to Max Biaggi’s super-fast Aprilia later in the campaign, finishing third overall.
Some experts questioned the diminutive star’s decision to quit 250s and join the premier 500 class with Team Pileri Honda in 1995. But the ever-determined youngster proved them wrong by qualifying on the front row at only his second 500 GP. He scored four more front-row starts but struggled with machine set-up over race distance. Nevertheless, he crowned the season with a thrilling third-place finish at Catalunya.
Capirossi changed teams for the first time in 1996, joining Yamaha Team Rainey. This was an up-and-down year, brightened by his first 500 GP victory at Eastern Creek, Australia, but in the long term he benefited hugely from the wisdom of team boss Wayne Rainey, a former three-time 500 king. For 1997 Capirossi accepted an offer from Aprilia to return to the 250 class – he had unfinished business there. This first season with the Italian manufacturer brought no wins, but he got to grips with the V-twins the following summer, taking the crown following a controversial last-race collision with team-mate and title-rival Tetsuya Harada. In 1999 he returned to NSR250 power, ending up third overall.
Capirossi changed classes once more in 2000, returning to the premier class with Sito Pons’ Honda team. He won the Italian GP and finished on the podium a further three times. As ever, he showed remarkable courage in the face of injury – after scoring his first 500 pole at the Dutch GP he fell in morning warm-up, breaking his left hand. And yet he raced, with the aid of painkillers, to a remarkable third-place finish. Capirossi put together a more consistent 2001, taking his year-old Honda to podium finishes in nine races. In 2002 he was once again on year-old machinery, riding an out-classed 500cc two-stroke against the new breed of 990cc four-strokes.
In 2003 Capirossi was given the envious task of spearheading Ducati’s first premier-class effort in more than three decades. He had a remarkable year on the all-new V4 that shocked the established Japanese teams with its astonishing speed. During June he beat champ Valentino Rossi to take a hugely emotional victory at Catalunya after earlier scoring the bike’s first pole position at Jerez. He achieved a total of five podium finishes and three poles to end the year fourth.
The 2004 season proved to be more difficult, Capirossi focusing on bike development before returning to the limelight in 2005. He took podium finishes in Italy and the Czech Republic, back-to-back wins in the Japanese and Malaysian GPs and a hat trick of poles, thanks to crucial machine improvements and Ducati’s new association with Japanese tyre maker Bridgestone. He may even have finished the year second overall but for a big crash during practice for the Australian GP.
Personal Stats;
Born: 4 April 1973 in Castel San Pietro (Italy)
Marital Status: Married to Ingrid
Height: 1.65 m / 5'5"
Weight: 59 kg / 130 lbs
Career Stats;
2007: MotoGP World Championship (Ducati Desmosedici)
2006: 3rd - MotoGP World Championship (Ducati Desmosedici)
2005: 6th - MotoGP World Championship (Ducati Desmosedici)
2004: 9th - MotoGP World Championship (Ducati Desmosedici)
2003: 4th - MotoGP World Championship (Ducati Desmosedici)
2002: 8th - MotoGP World Championship (Honda)
2001: 3rd - 500 World Championship (Honda)
2000: 7th - 500 World Championship (Honda)
1999: 3rd - 250 World Championship (Honda)
1998: 1st - 250 World Championship (Aprilia)
1997: 6th - 250 World Championship (Aprilia)
1996: 10th - 500 World Championship (Yamaha)
1995: 6th - 500 World Championship (Honda)
1994: 3rd - 250 World Championship (Honda)
1993: 2nd - 250 World Championship (Honda)
1992: 12th - 250 World Championship (Honda)
1991: 1st - 125 World Championship (Honda)
1990: 1st - 125 World Championship (Honda)
1989: 4th 125 European Championship (Honda)
1988: 9th 125 European Championship (Mancini)
1987: 125 Italian Production Championship (Honda)
1986: First motocross events
Biography;
Like most modern-day racers, Capirossi commenced his love affair with motorcycles at a very early age. Born just a couple of hours’ drive from Ducati’s home city Bologna, he started riding a friend’s dirt bike when he was five, quickly learning the art of throttle control, so vital with today’s extraordinarily powerful race machines. But it was roadracing that really interested him and he contested his first tarmac season at the age of 14, riding a Honda NS125 road bike to sixth in the Italian Production Championship. A year later he was ninth in the 125 Italian Championship aboard a Mancini, and in 1989 he showed real promise aboard a Honda in the 125 Euro series. He took fourth overall, winning four rounds as he readied himself for promotion to the World Championship scene.
Capirossi’s first world crown was a truly remarkable accomplishment. Aged just 16 at the start of the 1990 season, he made his GP debut as number two rider to team-mate and ex-World Champion Fausto Gresini, now a successful MotoGP team manager. He approached the season as an apprenticeship and yet showed no fear for the experienced opposition, scoring his first podium at Misano in May, his first win at Donington Park in August and securing the title with a hard-fought third victory in the Australian season finale. With the number one plate on his Honda RS125 in 1991, Capirossi was the man everyone wanted to beat, but he admirably shrugged off the pressure, winning a further five victories for his second title.
For 1992 Capirossi graduated to 250s. His Honda RS250 production bike wasn’t as rapid as the factory machines ridden by many of his rivals, but it proved a perfect introduction to the ultra-competitive class. Once again Capirossi proved a quick learner, up with the leaders in only the third GP of the year. For 1993 he was equipped with full-factory NSR250s and immediately fulfilled the previous season’s promise. He won his first 250 GP at Assen and took two more victories to lead the series into the final race, when an incorrect tyre choice lost him the crown. Capirossi could have been forgiven a tantrum following his misfortune but was as dignified in defeat as he is in victory. His 1994 season began with wins in Austria, Germany, France and Britain but he succumbed to Max Biaggi’s super-fast Aprilia later in the campaign, finishing third overall.
Some experts questioned the diminutive star’s decision to quit 250s and join the premier 500 class with Team Pileri Honda in 1995. But the ever-determined youngster proved them wrong by qualifying on the front row at only his second 500 GP. He scored four more front-row starts but struggled with machine set-up over race distance. Nevertheless, he crowned the season with a thrilling third-place finish at Catalunya.
Capirossi changed teams for the first time in 1996, joining Yamaha Team Rainey. This was an up-and-down year, brightened by his first 500 GP victory at Eastern Creek, Australia, but in the long term he benefited hugely from the wisdom of team boss Wayne Rainey, a former three-time 500 king. For 1997 Capirossi accepted an offer from Aprilia to return to the 250 class – he had unfinished business there. This first season with the Italian manufacturer brought no wins, but he got to grips with the V-twins the following summer, taking the crown following a controversial last-race collision with team-mate and title-rival Tetsuya Harada. In 1999 he returned to NSR250 power, ending up third overall.
Capirossi changed classes once more in 2000, returning to the premier class with Sito Pons’ Honda team. He won the Italian GP and finished on the podium a further three times. As ever, he showed remarkable courage in the face of injury – after scoring his first 500 pole at the Dutch GP he fell in morning warm-up, breaking his left hand. And yet he raced, with the aid of painkillers, to a remarkable third-place finish. Capirossi put together a more consistent 2001, taking his year-old Honda to podium finishes in nine races. In 2002 he was once again on year-old machinery, riding an out-classed 500cc two-stroke against the new breed of 990cc four-strokes.
In 2003 Capirossi was given the envious task of spearheading Ducati’s first premier-class effort in more than three decades. He had a remarkable year on the all-new V4 that shocked the established Japanese teams with its astonishing speed. During June he beat champ Valentino Rossi to take a hugely emotional victory at Catalunya after earlier scoring the bike’s first pole position at Jerez. He achieved a total of five podium finishes and three poles to end the year fourth.
The 2004 season proved to be more difficult, Capirossi focusing on bike development before returning to the limelight in 2005. He took podium finishes in Italy and the Czech Republic, back-to-back wins in the Japanese and Malaysian GPs and a hat trick of poles, thanks to crucial machine improvements and Ducati’s new association with Japanese tyre maker Bridgestone. He may even have finished the year second overall but for a big crash during practice for the Australian GP.
About The Circuit of Moto GP 2007
It is a long circuit line up in 2007 for Moto GP.The Moto GP cantain about 18 circuits this yrs.
To know about the circuits of moto gp 2007 just click on them.....
To know about the circuits of moto gp 2007 just click on them.....
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-qatar.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-espant.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-turkey.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-chain.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-france.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-mugello-opened-1976-location.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-catalunya.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-england.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-aassen-opened-2006-location.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-deutschland.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-us.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-czen.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-riminimisano.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-portugal.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-japan.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-australia.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-malaysian.html
- http://themotogp.blogspot.com/2007/06/circuit-of-valenciana_05.html
The Circuit of Qatar
Circuit-Losail
Opened-2004
Location-Doha
Modified-2004
Pole position-Left
Width-12m
Length-5380m
Longest straight-1068m
Left turns-6
Right turn-10
Biult in-2004
Qatar was awarded the race in November 2003, and in December they started construction of the circuit and all its facilities.
Frankly, in 2004 we were worried... But they set our minds at ease and the facility, while not 100% complete, was in great shape for a super opening race in Oct 2004. 2005/6 were flawless, and we are looking forward to an even more exciting event this year! However, the VIP Package is about 'no need to worry' as we will have everything in hand when you arrive!
The circuit is 5.4km, making it the third longest in the GP tournament. The longest straight is 1.068km, which should have the racers hitting 330kph! The seventh turn (of a total of 16 curves) - a long sweeper - will allow speeds of up to 250kph, so should be pretty spectacular.
It now hosts WSB as well as several other local events.
Frankly, in 2004 we were worried... But they set our minds at ease and the facility, while not 100% complete, was in great shape for a super opening race in Oct 2004. 2005/6 were flawless, and we are looking forward to an even more exciting event this year! However, the VIP Package is about 'no need to worry' as we will have everything in hand when you arrive!
The circuit is 5.4km, making it the third longest in the GP tournament. The longest straight is 1.068km, which should have the racers hitting 330kph! The seventh turn (of a total of 16 curves) - a long sweeper - will allow speeds of up to 250kph, so should be pretty spectacular.
It now hosts WSB as well as several other local events.
The Circuit of Espant
Circuit-Jerez
Opened-1986
Location-Jerez de La Frontera
Modified-2002
Pole position-Left
Width-11m
Length-4423m
Longest straight-1068m
Left turns-5
Right turn-8
Biult in-1986
JEREZ, SPAIN - GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA, CIRCUIT PERMANENTE DE JEREZ
IntroductionBuilt in 1986 and hosting its first Grand Prix one year later, the circuit of Jerez is now one of the most popular MotoGP venues and the focal point for a city fanatical about sport. Set in a slight valley in the south of Spain, Jerez is blessed with consistently good weather and beautiful scenery, it´s numerous grandstands providing the perfect viewing facilities for up to 250,000 spectators.
With two alternative road circuits (4,423m and 4,428m), which have been resurfaced during the off-season, Jerez is a popular venue used by many race teams for testing throughout the year, whilst it´s recently updated corporate and media facilities have proven to be a popular addition to the complex. Other facilities such as the control tower and pit boxes have also been vastly improved
HistoryThe 4.423 km Jerez circuit may have lost the crown of the most popular testing venue on the calendar but its location and perennial appearance of the MotoGP line-up still makes it a favourite in pre-season.
Extensive ‘primary' safety work, in the form of improved run-off, has been a direct result of the increased power and speed of the current breed of MotoGP machines and is the latest in a string of revamps at the Andalusian circuit.
The Jerez circuit features five left and eight right hand corners, a surprising degree of elevation and to some extent camber changes on what, to the casual observer is a largely flat track layout.
Exactness of line makes precise and repeatable chassis set-up a must, and to make the most of the squirts between corners a clean and predictable throttle response is needed throughout the rev-range. With only a 600m main straight, Jerez is not a long-legged track in the classic mould, but was in the vanguard of more safety-conscious arena-style tracks. Thus absolute horsepower comes into play relatively infrequently, the most important factor being set-up for predictable performance through frequent changes of direction.
Some heavy braking points around the track make that aspect of performance vital to a good race result, while the surface is neither the slickest nor most abrasive on the calendar.
With Jerez a well-known quantity, even from previous seasons, the set-up of the bike is expected to be tuned in relatively quickly, with the fight for pole position expected to be another particularly close one. The pressure to do well in qualifying has been redoubled this season, as MotoGP now features a three-rider grid row, down from the previous four. This qualifying for the front row is a more difficult task by far.
One of the truly great Motorsport venues in the World which creates the most electric atmosphere of the season. The 4.423 kms circuit has often been called the Cathedral of Grand Prix Motorcycle racing as massive crowds flock from all over Europe to pack Jerez and the surrounding Andalusian towns for a massive festival of racing and partying.
A weekend crowd around 200,000 is expected to witness the traditional first European race of the season around a circuit which is well suited to the demands of modern day MotoGP machinery. The track was built in 1986 and eight years later modified to it's present day 4.423 kms configuration. A new infrastructure was completed last year including a massive viewing bridge over the start and finish straight.
The track, which has also hosted Formula One grands prix, provides both riders and engineers with a real mixture of short straights and both fast and slow corners. This combination has hosted some very close races which have often been decided on the tight first gear left hand bend coming into the start and finish straight after a series of fast and spectacular right hand bends.
IntroductionBuilt in 1986 and hosting its first Grand Prix one year later, the circuit of Jerez is now one of the most popular MotoGP venues and the focal point for a city fanatical about sport. Set in a slight valley in the south of Spain, Jerez is blessed with consistently good weather and beautiful scenery, it´s numerous grandstands providing the perfect viewing facilities for up to 250,000 spectators.
With two alternative road circuits (4,423m and 4,428m), which have been resurfaced during the off-season, Jerez is a popular venue used by many race teams for testing throughout the year, whilst it´s recently updated corporate and media facilities have proven to be a popular addition to the complex. Other facilities such as the control tower and pit boxes have also been vastly improved
HistoryThe 4.423 km Jerez circuit may have lost the crown of the most popular testing venue on the calendar but its location and perennial appearance of the MotoGP line-up still makes it a favourite in pre-season.
Extensive ‘primary' safety work, in the form of improved run-off, has been a direct result of the increased power and speed of the current breed of MotoGP machines and is the latest in a string of revamps at the Andalusian circuit.
The Jerez circuit features five left and eight right hand corners, a surprising degree of elevation and to some extent camber changes on what, to the casual observer is a largely flat track layout.
Exactness of line makes precise and repeatable chassis set-up a must, and to make the most of the squirts between corners a clean and predictable throttle response is needed throughout the rev-range. With only a 600m main straight, Jerez is not a long-legged track in the classic mould, but was in the vanguard of more safety-conscious arena-style tracks. Thus absolute horsepower comes into play relatively infrequently, the most important factor being set-up for predictable performance through frequent changes of direction.
Some heavy braking points around the track make that aspect of performance vital to a good race result, while the surface is neither the slickest nor most abrasive on the calendar.
With Jerez a well-known quantity, even from previous seasons, the set-up of the bike is expected to be tuned in relatively quickly, with the fight for pole position expected to be another particularly close one. The pressure to do well in qualifying has been redoubled this season, as MotoGP now features a three-rider grid row, down from the previous four. This qualifying for the front row is a more difficult task by far.
One of the truly great Motorsport venues in the World which creates the most electric atmosphere of the season. The 4.423 kms circuit has often been called the Cathedral of Grand Prix Motorcycle racing as massive crowds flock from all over Europe to pack Jerez and the surrounding Andalusian towns for a massive festival of racing and partying.
A weekend crowd around 200,000 is expected to witness the traditional first European race of the season around a circuit which is well suited to the demands of modern day MotoGP machinery. The track was built in 1986 and eight years later modified to it's present day 4.423 kms configuration. A new infrastructure was completed last year including a massive viewing bridge over the start and finish straight.
The track, which has also hosted Formula One grands prix, provides both riders and engineers with a real mixture of short straights and both fast and slow corners. This combination has hosted some very close races which have often been decided on the tight first gear left hand bend coming into the start and finish straight after a series of fast and spectacular right hand bends.
The Circuit of Turkey
Circuit-Istambul park
Opened-2005
Location-Istambul
Modified-2005
Pole position-Right
Width-21m
Length-5340m
Longest straight-720m
Left turns-8
Right turn-6
Biult in-
The Circuit of Chain
Circuit-Shanghai
Opened-2004
Location-Shanghai
Modified-2004
Pole position-Left
Width-14m
Length-5281m
Longest straight-1202m
Left turns-7
Right turn-7
Biult in-
Shanghai INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT - TECHNICAL DATA Opened : 2004 Modified 2004 Width: 14 m Pole position: left Right Corners: 7 Left corners: 7 Longest Straight: 1202 m MotoGP Race: 22 laps, 116,182 kms Track Record: new track Pole position: new track
The Championship debuts on the very modern, science fictional track of Shanghai, built just one year ago to hold the Formula 1 GP. This track can boast a record cost; the Chinese authorities in fact spent over 250 million dollars to build the track and its infrastructures. It is a spectacular sight that left our F1 colleagues speechless cause of the amazing architectural work undergone such as the two wings that cover the starting straight.
From a technical point of view the track – designed with the greatest technological expressions - is complete and presents a various mix of situations by alternating slow and quick stints where the power and velocity of these bikes can be used to their potential.
The peculiarity of this track is the two long straights. The starting straight measures 1202 meters in length, the longest of the entire championship, even longer than that of the Mugello track which is 1141 meters long and Barcelona’s which is 1047 met! ers.
The track is also characterized by two nearly 360º corners which will put the tyres to the test.
Like the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, the Shanghai circuit is very large, designed for Formula 1, and presents many places where overtaking is possible.
The IRTA, the association of teams and riders, tried to organize a winter testing session on this circuit, but failed to do so because of the difficult bureaucratic situation in this country. The track is new for everyone; there are no previous references for the bikes.
The Motorcycle world arrives in China with a lot of curiosity and high expectations, as this is a country that allows for important commercial and economical opportunities for the various motorcycle manufacturers who are present in the championship.
CURIOSITIES OF THE Shanghai TRACK: Time difference: + 7 compared to Italy Location: the track is situated 20 miles of Shanghai! , north east of Anting Town next to the Shanghai International Automobile City. You need to allow for at least an hour and a half from the centre of town to the track. Remember: In China you cannot rent cars, the team will need to use a shuttle service provided by the hotels. Spectators: Last year 150.000 spectators gathered to watch the F1 GP.
The Circuit of France
Circuit-Le Mans
Opened-2002
Location-Le Mans
Modified-2006
Pole position-Left
Width-13m
Length-4180m
Longest straight-450m
Left turns-4
Right turn-9
Biult in-1965
The first race was held on May 26 and 27 1923 and has since been run annually in June, with exceptions occurring in 1956, when the race was held in July, and 1968, when it was held in September, due to nationwide political turmoils in spring of that year (see May 1968). The race has been cancelled twice: once in the year 1936 (Great Depression) and from 1940 to 1948 (World War II and its aftermath).
The 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans were once widely considered to be the triple crown of sports car racing; driver Ken Miles would have been the only driver to win all three in the same year but for an error in the team orders of the Ford GT40 team at Le Mans, in 1966, which took the win from him, although he finished first.
The race is run on a semi-permanent track which, in its current configuration, is 13.650 km (8.482 mi) long, utilizing mostly country roads that remain open to the public for the majority of the year. Over the years, several purpose-built sections have replaced the normal roads, especially the Porsche Curves section, which bypasses the dangerous former Maison Blanche section, between buildings. The permanent Bugatti Circuit surrounds the facilities at the start/finish.
Usually, around 50 cars race simultaneously, in a number of different categories and classes. Current classes are LMP1 and LMP2, for "Le Mans prototypes" and LMGT1 and LMGT2, for Gran Turismo or "GT" classes. The overall winner is the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours of continuous racing. This rule appears obvious but the 1966 race saw a surprise winner, among the three Ford GT40s that were leading. Ford ordered the leading #1 car to slow down to let the #2 and the #5 cars catch up, in order to create a photo opportunity[1] with all three GT40s crossing the line 1, 2, 3, in a staged finish, only a few meters apart. Yet the #2 car that had covered the same number of laps (360) was pronounced the winner, as it had started further behind on the grid and thus covered a slightly bigger distance in the same time.
To be classified, a car must cross the finish line after 24 hours. This leads to dramatic scenes where damaged cars wait in the pits or on the edge of the track close to the finish line for hours, then restart their engines and crawl across the line to be listed with a finishing distance, rather than dismissed with DNF (Did Not Finish).
In recent years, each car has a team of three drivers. Before 1970 only two drivers per car were allowed and even solo driving was permitted, in the early decades. Until the early 1980s, most of the cars were raced with a two-driver team. In 1952, Frenchman Pierre Levegh competed alone and looked like the winner but made a shifting mistake in the final hour which handed victory to a Mercedes-Benz 300SL. Luigi Chinetti won in 1949 with a 23.5 hour stint behind the wheel. In 1950, Louis Rosier won the race with his son Jean-Louis Rosier, who drove the car during only two turns.
The 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans were once widely considered to be the triple crown of sports car racing; driver Ken Miles would have been the only driver to win all three in the same year but for an error in the team orders of the Ford GT40 team at Le Mans, in 1966, which took the win from him, although he finished first.
The race is run on a semi-permanent track which, in its current configuration, is 13.650 km (8.482 mi) long, utilizing mostly country roads that remain open to the public for the majority of the year. Over the years, several purpose-built sections have replaced the normal roads, especially the Porsche Curves section, which bypasses the dangerous former Maison Blanche section, between buildings. The permanent Bugatti Circuit surrounds the facilities at the start/finish.
Usually, around 50 cars race simultaneously, in a number of different categories and classes. Current classes are LMP1 and LMP2, for "Le Mans prototypes" and LMGT1 and LMGT2, for Gran Turismo or "GT" classes. The overall winner is the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours of continuous racing. This rule appears obvious but the 1966 race saw a surprise winner, among the three Ford GT40s that were leading. Ford ordered the leading #1 car to slow down to let the #2 and the #5 cars catch up, in order to create a photo opportunity[1] with all three GT40s crossing the line 1, 2, 3, in a staged finish, only a few meters apart. Yet the #2 car that had covered the same number of laps (360) was pronounced the winner, as it had started further behind on the grid and thus covered a slightly bigger distance in the same time.
To be classified, a car must cross the finish line after 24 hours. This leads to dramatic scenes where damaged cars wait in the pits or on the edge of the track close to the finish line for hours, then restart their engines and crawl across the line to be listed with a finishing distance, rather than dismissed with DNF (Did Not Finish).
In recent years, each car has a team of three drivers. Before 1970 only two drivers per car were allowed and even solo driving was permitted, in the early decades. Until the early 1980s, most of the cars were raced with a two-driver team. In 1952, Frenchman Pierre Levegh competed alone and looked like the winner but made a shifting mistake in the final hour which handed victory to a Mercedes-Benz 300SL. Luigi Chinetti won in 1949 with a 23.5 hour stint behind the wheel. In 1950, Louis Rosier won the race with his son Jean-Louis Rosier, who drove the car during only two turns.
The Circuit of Italia
Circuit-Mugello
Opened-1976
Location-Mugello
Modified-1991
Pole position-Right
Width-14m
Length-5245m
Longest straight-1141m
Left turns-6
Right turn-9
Biult in-
History of MugelloMoto GP CIRCUIT
"THE MUGELLO CIRCUIT, YESTERDAY AND NOWADAYS"
Originally the Mugello racetrack was of a different style: it was a road circuit.In 1914, the first motor race was held on this famous road circuit. Conceived at the beginning as a regularity race, the Mugello road race was interrupted at the outbreak of the World War I. The challenging and selective competition knew its golden years in the postwar period, when best drivers challenged one another on the 66 km. Dusty track, which went from Scarperia uphill to Firenzuola, and then through the Futa Pass downhill San Piero and Scarperia. The legendary names linked to this historical race still echo today: Campari, Brilli Peri, Enzo Ferrari (who won in 1921 on an Alfa Romeo class 4.500), Ascari, Borzacchini and perhaps, most importantly, Emilio Materassi, the local idol.
The prestige of the "Mille Miglia" dimmed the Mugello road race after its 1929 event and even the competitions held after 1955 on the reduced 19 km. Track were not favorable. In 1960' s due to the disappearance of the "Mille Miglia" and the increasing popularity of road races, sportfriendly managers, such as Pasquale Borracci and Amos Pampaloni, were convinced to repropose the Mugello competition on the classical track of 66 km. The new events were quite successful even though they suffer from the absence of the most prestigious Italian mark, the Cavallino, which officially took part only in the competion of 1967. It was destiny that the histories of the Mugello racetrack and Ferrari would meet again, but it was necessary to wait over twenty years.
The seven events held in the '60 drew hundreds of thousands of spectators in the green valley of Mugello. They were attracted by the performance of the sport and touring cars in battle for the supremacy and their hearts beat for the drivers of these cars so near to the production model, like the little modified Abarth. The track allowed spectacular driving performances, which drivers such as Enrico Pinto, Nanni Galli, Ignazio Giunti, Mauro Nesti and Arturo Merzario exploited to create their lasting and well deserved reputation.
The enthusiasm of the Tuscan spectators was devoted to the most spectacular drivers. The 'dragon' Sandro Munari, was particularly favored in his exhibitions on the difficult and challenging rounds of the Apennines with the Fulvia Barchetta, designed by Fiorio and Maglioli.
On the last events, the most exiting was in 1968, when the Alfa Romeo car, driven by Luciano Bianchi, Galli and Nino Vaccarella, won after an incredible recovery over the Porsche, driven by Rico Steinemann and the Swiss Jo Siffert.
As in the story of the ugly duckling, where the protagonist becomes a beautiful swan, the Mugello road circuit of 1920's becomes a modern racetrack. Nowadays "the Mugello" represents a step forward in the conception of circuits where safety, technology and facilities combine to satisfy the requirements of car and motorbikes races.
Designed and realized according to the devices developed by the sciences of road racing, the International Mugello Circuit guarantees the maximum safety for drivers and spectators alike, thanks to its wide run-off areas in the most demanding corners of the track ant its service road for the rescue all along the 5.245 m. Track. Thanks to its positioning characterized by a total variance in altitude of 41,19 m., the Mugello circuit is an ideal place for the most rigorous test.
Designed in 70's and later greatly remodeled by Ferrari, "the Mugello" is one of the most scenic, modern and safe racing facilities in the world. Fully operational year round, the Mugello circuit is the regular test centre of Ferrari F1, the most important manufacturer of MotoGP and World Superbike, other prestigious manufacturer cars italian and international.
To date the Mugello racetrack has hosted the Formula 5.000 Championship (which baptized the renovated circuit on June 23rd, 1974), the Formula 3.000, the Formula 2, the Fia-Gt and has been the only circuit in Italy to host the ITC.
The track runs over 5.000 m through the forests and green areas. The elevated areas along the track permit the spectators to take part fully in the race: to experience strong emotions ad protagonists.
The facilities have been built with leading technology and the office building is fully equipped with multifunctional facilities.
"THE MUGELLO CIRCUIT, YESTERDAY AND NOWADAYS"
Originally the Mugello racetrack was of a different style: it was a road circuit.In 1914, the first motor race was held on this famous road circuit. Conceived at the beginning as a regularity race, the Mugello road race was interrupted at the outbreak of the World War I. The challenging and selective competition knew its golden years in the postwar period, when best drivers challenged one another on the 66 km. Dusty track, which went from Scarperia uphill to Firenzuola, and then through the Futa Pass downhill San Piero and Scarperia. The legendary names linked to this historical race still echo today: Campari, Brilli Peri, Enzo Ferrari (who won in 1921 on an Alfa Romeo class 4.500), Ascari, Borzacchini and perhaps, most importantly, Emilio Materassi, the local idol.
The prestige of the "Mille Miglia" dimmed the Mugello road race after its 1929 event and even the competitions held after 1955 on the reduced 19 km. Track were not favorable. In 1960' s due to the disappearance of the "Mille Miglia" and the increasing popularity of road races, sportfriendly managers, such as Pasquale Borracci and Amos Pampaloni, were convinced to repropose the Mugello competition on the classical track of 66 km. The new events were quite successful even though they suffer from the absence of the most prestigious Italian mark, the Cavallino, which officially took part only in the competion of 1967. It was destiny that the histories of the Mugello racetrack and Ferrari would meet again, but it was necessary to wait over twenty years.
The seven events held in the '60 drew hundreds of thousands of spectators in the green valley of Mugello. They were attracted by the performance of the sport and touring cars in battle for the supremacy and their hearts beat for the drivers of these cars so near to the production model, like the little modified Abarth. The track allowed spectacular driving performances, which drivers such as Enrico Pinto, Nanni Galli, Ignazio Giunti, Mauro Nesti and Arturo Merzario exploited to create their lasting and well deserved reputation.
The enthusiasm of the Tuscan spectators was devoted to the most spectacular drivers. The 'dragon' Sandro Munari, was particularly favored in his exhibitions on the difficult and challenging rounds of the Apennines with the Fulvia Barchetta, designed by Fiorio and Maglioli.
On the last events, the most exiting was in 1968, when the Alfa Romeo car, driven by Luciano Bianchi, Galli and Nino Vaccarella, won after an incredible recovery over the Porsche, driven by Rico Steinemann and the Swiss Jo Siffert.
As in the story of the ugly duckling, where the protagonist becomes a beautiful swan, the Mugello road circuit of 1920's becomes a modern racetrack. Nowadays "the Mugello" represents a step forward in the conception of circuits where safety, technology and facilities combine to satisfy the requirements of car and motorbikes races.
Designed and realized according to the devices developed by the sciences of road racing, the International Mugello Circuit guarantees the maximum safety for drivers and spectators alike, thanks to its wide run-off areas in the most demanding corners of the track ant its service road for the rescue all along the 5.245 m. Track. Thanks to its positioning characterized by a total variance in altitude of 41,19 m., the Mugello circuit is an ideal place for the most rigorous test.
Designed in 70's and later greatly remodeled by Ferrari, "the Mugello" is one of the most scenic, modern and safe racing facilities in the world. Fully operational year round, the Mugello circuit is the regular test centre of Ferrari F1, the most important manufacturer of MotoGP and World Superbike, other prestigious manufacturer cars italian and international.
To date the Mugello racetrack has hosted the Formula 5.000 Championship (which baptized the renovated circuit on June 23rd, 1974), the Formula 3.000, the Formula 2, the Fia-Gt and has been the only circuit in Italy to host the ITC.
The track runs over 5.000 m through the forests and green areas. The elevated areas along the track permit the spectators to take part fully in the race: to experience strong emotions ad protagonists.
The facilities have been built with leading technology and the office building is fully equipped with multifunctional facilities.
The Circuit of Catalunya
Circuit-Circuit de Catalunya
Opened-
Location-Barcelona
Modified-1995
Pole position-Left
Width-12m
Length-4727m
Longest straight-1047m
Left turns-5
Right turn-8
Biult in-1989
The Circuit de Catalunya was built in 1991 and is often referred to as 'Barcelona' in the racing community, despite the fact that it is located in Montmeló. The Circuit de Catalunya should not be confused with the Montjuïc circuit, which hosted the Spanish Grand Prix four times between 1969 and 1975 and, unlike the Circuit de Catalunya, is actually located within the city of Barcelona.
Due to the fact that so much testing is done at this circuit, Formula One drivers and mechanics are extremely familiar with it. This has led to criticism that drivers and mechanics are too familiar with Catalunya, reducing the amount of on-track action.
Overtaking can be difficult, as cars are unable to follow each other through the fast final corner due to turbulence created by the leading car. This makes it difficult for a car to get close enough to the car in front of it to attempt a pass at the first turn, which is the only obvious overtaking point on the circuit. The 2007 F1 Season saw the 1st of the 2 final sweepers replaced with a slow chicane to improve overtaking.
The wind direction at the circuit can change drastically during the day, a significant factor given the importance of aerodynamics to modern Formula One cars. It is then hard to find a good setup since cars can have massive aerodynamic drag and understeer on one part of the circuit in the morning, but suffer understeer at the same part of the circuit in the afternoon. A given tyre compound can work well when tested, but not so well a couple of months later. These changeable conditions can make for a unexpected performances from some teams during the race.
However, the circuit has been the site of some memorable moments. In the 1991 Spanish Grand Prix Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell went down the entire front straight side-by-side while duelling for second place, with Mansell eventually taking the position and eventually the race. In the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix Michael Schumacher managed to finish in second place despite driving over half the race with only fifth gear. Two years later, in the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix Schumacher took his first win as a member of the Ferrari team after a dominant performance during a rainstorm. In the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix Mika Häkkinen suffered a clutch failure while leading the race on the last lap, handing the win to Schumacher. At the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso became the first Spanish Formula One driver to win at his home country's track.
Due to the fact that so much testing is done at this circuit, Formula One drivers and mechanics are extremely familiar with it. This has led to criticism that drivers and mechanics are too familiar with Catalunya, reducing the amount of on-track action.
Overtaking can be difficult, as cars are unable to follow each other through the fast final corner due to turbulence created by the leading car. This makes it difficult for a car to get close enough to the car in front of it to attempt a pass at the first turn, which is the only obvious overtaking point on the circuit. The 2007 F1 Season saw the 1st of the 2 final sweepers replaced with a slow chicane to improve overtaking.
The wind direction at the circuit can change drastically during the day, a significant factor given the importance of aerodynamics to modern Formula One cars. It is then hard to find a good setup since cars can have massive aerodynamic drag and understeer on one part of the circuit in the morning, but suffer understeer at the same part of the circuit in the afternoon. A given tyre compound can work well when tested, but not so well a couple of months later. These changeable conditions can make for a unexpected performances from some teams during the race.
However, the circuit has been the site of some memorable moments. In the 1991 Spanish Grand Prix Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell went down the entire front straight side-by-side while duelling for second place, with Mansell eventually taking the position and eventually the race. In the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix Michael Schumacher managed to finish in second place despite driving over half the race with only fifth gear. Two years later, in the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix Schumacher took his first win as a member of the Ferrari team after a dominant performance during a rainstorm. In the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix Mika Häkkinen suffered a clutch failure while leading the race on the last lap, handing the win to Schumacher. At the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso became the first Spanish Formula One driver to win at his home country's track.
The Circuit of England
Circuit-Donington park
Opened-1977
Location-Barcelona
Modified-1985
Pole position-Left
Width-10m
Length-4023m
Longest straight-564m
Left turns-4
Right turn-7
Biult in-1931
The original Donington track was opened in 1931, and initially used for motorcycle races. In 1935 it saw Richard Shuttleworth win the Donington Grand Prix in an Alfa Romeo P3, in the 1937 British Grand Prix and 1938 British Grand Prix, the race winners were respectively Bernd Rosemeyer and Tazio Nuvolari, both in Auto Union 'Silver Arrows'.
The circuit was closed in 1939 due to World War 2, when it became a military vehicle depot. In the early 1970s the circuit was bought by Tom Wheatcroft, who funded the rebuilding of the track, which was re-opened May 27th 1977. The first postwar race meeting was organised by the Nottingham Sports Car Club, but that nearly didn't happen, as the local ramblers tried to assert their rights to retain 'their' footpaths at the 11th hour. The meeting went ahead as a "Motor Trial", a legal loophole that curtailed the use of single seater racing cars for that opening meeting.
The NSCC continued to run race meetings at Donington until the Donington Racing Club was formed and a licence to run race meetings obtained.
In recent times it has held meetings of the British Touring Car Championship, British Superbikes and MotoGP as well as, most famously, the 1993 European Grand Prix. This race was won by the late Ayrton Senna, and was described by AtlasF1 as the 'Drive of the Decade' [1]. There is a memorial to Senna in the grounds of the racetrack, outside a shop selling motorsports memorabilia.
Other events taking place at the track include the World Series by Renault and the Great and British Motorsport Festival.
World Series by Renault at Donington Park's Melbourne Hairpin in 2005.In 2007 the track was sold to Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd.[1]
The track is also the location of a museum, the Donington Grand Prix Collection. This opened in 1973, and is the largest collection of Grand Prix cars anywhere in the world.
The circuit was closed in 1939 due to World War 2, when it became a military vehicle depot. In the early 1970s the circuit was bought by Tom Wheatcroft, who funded the rebuilding of the track, which was re-opened May 27th 1977. The first postwar race meeting was organised by the Nottingham Sports Car Club, but that nearly didn't happen, as the local ramblers tried to assert their rights to retain 'their' footpaths at the 11th hour. The meeting went ahead as a "Motor Trial", a legal loophole that curtailed the use of single seater racing cars for that opening meeting.
The NSCC continued to run race meetings at Donington until the Donington Racing Club was formed and a licence to run race meetings obtained.
In recent times it has held meetings of the British Touring Car Championship, British Superbikes and MotoGP as well as, most famously, the 1993 European Grand Prix. This race was won by the late Ayrton Senna, and was described by AtlasF1 as the 'Drive of the Decade' [1]. There is a memorial to Senna in the grounds of the racetrack, outside a shop selling motorsports memorabilia.
Other events taking place at the track include the World Series by Renault and the Great and British Motorsport Festival.
World Series by Renault at Donington Park's Melbourne Hairpin in 2005.In 2007 the track was sold to Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd.[1]
The track is also the location of a museum, the Donington Grand Prix Collection. This opened in 1973, and is the largest collection of Grand Prix cars anywhere in the world.
Circuit-Aassen
Opened-2006
Location-Assen
Modified-2005
Pole position-Left
Width-14m
Length-4555m
Longest straight-560m
Left turns-6
Right turn-11
Biult in-1954
The first Assen track was firstly used for the 1925 Dutch TT race, held on country side roads through the villages of Borger, Schoonloo and Grolloo, and organized by the Motorclub Assen en Omstreken. The brick-paved track had a length of 17.75mi/28.4 km. The winner was Piet van Wijngaarden on a 500 cc Norton with an average speed of 91.4 km/h.
The years afterwards the Dutch TT was held on a road circuit through de Haar, Barteldbocht (near Assen), Oude Tol, Hooghalen, Laaghalen and Laaghalerveen.
In 1951 the Italian Umberto Masetti took the record on a 500 cc Gilera with an average speed of 100.88mph/161.4 km/h. In 1954, Geoff Duke of Great Britain reached 106.06mph/169.7 km/h. The circuit remained unchanged until 1955, when a whole new circuit was built close to the site of the original, but less than a third of the length - and much more like a modern road racing circuit.
The circuit was fundamentaly redesigned again in 2006 - the so called A-Style Assen TT Circuit.
The years afterwards the Dutch TT was held on a road circuit through de Haar, Barteldbocht (near Assen), Oude Tol, Hooghalen, Laaghalen and Laaghalerveen.
In 1951 the Italian Umberto Masetti took the record on a 500 cc Gilera with an average speed of 100.88mph/161.4 km/h. In 1954, Geoff Duke of Great Britain reached 106.06mph/169.7 km/h. The circuit remained unchanged until 1955, when a whole new circuit was built close to the site of the original, but less than a third of the length - and much more like a modern road racing circuit.
The circuit was fundamentaly redesigned again in 2006 - the so called A-Style Assen TT Circuit.
The Circuit of deutschland
Circuit-Sacsenring
Opened-2003
Location-Sansenring
Modified-2003
Pole position-Left
Width-10m
Length-3671m
Longest straight-780m
Left turns-10
Right turn-4
Biult in-1996
HistoryThe first race was held on 26 May 1927 on a 8.7km layout on public roads, running also through the village of Hohenstein-Ernstthal itself. It was dubbed "Sachsenring" in 1937.
The East German motorcycle Grand Prix was held there from 1962 to 1971. The local two stroke MZ bikes of Zschopau were competitive during this time. The quickest lap was achieved by 15 time WC Giacomo Agostini on a MV Agusta with a 180 km/h average. After West German Dieter Braun won in 1971 and the East German fans sang the West German National Anthem in celebration (as is the case in sport, the winner's National Anthem is played after the event), the event was limited to East European entrants for political reasons.
In 1990, with faster Western machinery now available, racing through the village became too dangerous with some fatalities (this can be compared with the Isle of Man TT).
To accelerate redevelopment of eastern Germany in the new unified Germany, a 2.9 km (1.8 mile) short track at the westernmost Queckenberg corner was built in the 1990s to bring international motorsport to the newly freed eastern part of Germany. In 1995, IDM motorcycle racing and the ADAC Super Tourenwagen Cup resumed racing here. The DTM raced here in 2000, with Klaus Ludwig winning at age 51, but the DTM did not return, preferring international venues.
Since 1998, the German motorcycle Grand Prix moved to the Sachsenring from Nürburgring. In recent years, the track has been made faster and longer again, with the length now being 3670m.
The East German motorcycle Grand Prix was held there from 1962 to 1971. The local two stroke MZ bikes of Zschopau were competitive during this time. The quickest lap was achieved by 15 time WC Giacomo Agostini on a MV Agusta with a 180 km/h average. After West German Dieter Braun won in 1971 and the East German fans sang the West German National Anthem in celebration (as is the case in sport, the winner's National Anthem is played after the event), the event was limited to East European entrants for political reasons.
In 1990, with faster Western machinery now available, racing through the village became too dangerous with some fatalities (this can be compared with the Isle of Man TT).
To accelerate redevelopment of eastern Germany in the new unified Germany, a 2.9 km (1.8 mile) short track at the westernmost Queckenberg corner was built in the 1990s to bring international motorsport to the newly freed eastern part of Germany. In 1995, IDM motorcycle racing and the ADAC Super Tourenwagen Cup resumed racing here. The DTM raced here in 2000, with Klaus Ludwig winning at age 51, but the DTM did not return, preferring international venues.
Since 1998, the German motorcycle Grand Prix moved to the Sachsenring from Nürburgring. In recent years, the track has been made faster and longer again, with the length now being 3670m.
The Circuit of czen
Circuit-Automotodrom Brno
Opened-
Location-Brno
Modified-1996
Pole position-Left
Width-15m
Length-5403m
Longest straight-636m
Left turns-6
Right turn-8
Biult in-1980's
The automobile sport first enters Brno in 1904 when the city was a checkpoint in the Vienna - Wroclaw race. This was only 10 years after the first official automobile race between Paris and Rouen. In the 20‘s the interest of people focused on hillclimb race Brno – Sobesice. International trends however aimed at circuits. Sunday 28th September 1930 was the day when the Masaryk Circuit then 29,1 km long experienced the thrilling atmosphere of car races. Before the first race the roads in Brno suburbs were reconstructed in amazingly short time. The winner in the first races was the German von Morgan on Bugatti. The same car brought victory twice to the legendary French Chiron who completed his Brno victories at the wheel of Alfa Romeo in 1933. The remaining pre-war period was dominated by the German riders von Stuck, Rosenmeyer and Caracciola with newly designed Auto Union and Mercedes Benz cars, which put an end to Nuvolari’s heroic attempts. The last victory on the Masaryk Circuit before the war belonged to Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) in 1937. After the war the comeback of motor-sport occurred in 1949. The track was shortened to 17,8 km. Automobile Grand Prix of Czechoslovakia hosted almost all top riders including the Italian Farina who became the first Formula 1 champion in history. Apart from the shortened track there was another change compared to the pre-war period: the riders started off on the circuit in the opposite direction. The crowd of 400.000 saw a thrilling race with serious accidents of highly admired Maseratti cars of Farina, Parnell and of the Siamese Prince Bira at the beginning of the race. Though Chiron, the audience favourite, set the fastest lap the victory was not his. His Maseratti did not stand the hot conditions and Chiron had to retire from the lead. The victory took the British Whitehead with Ferrari. A curve on the old Masaryk Circuit spontaneously called by the spectators Farina corner reminds the Grand Prix of Czechoslovakia of 1949. The political development in the country did not enable car championships be held in Brno. A new tradition started in 1950: motorcycle racing. In 1956-1964, after the modest beginnings , Brno attracted star riders in spite of the fact that Brno was not among the places of the World Championship. It hosted riders like Cambell, Baltisberger, Kassner, Klinger, Hocking, Dale, Kavangh, the Hinton brothers, Redman, Brown, Degner, Fügner, Phillis, Hampleman, Vills, Schneider and Thalhammer who along with the Czechs Stastny, Havel, Bartos, Parus, Kostir, Malina, Luksik, Slavicek, Cada and Srna provided Brno fans with unforgottable experience.Renowned experience along with newly reconstructed track shortened to 13,9 km was taken into consideration when FIM was deciding about putting Brno as the place of Motorcycle World Championship in 1965. The circuit held its position for the next 17 years in which period there were exciting battles between Hailwood, Agostini, Read, Ivy, Saarinen, Stasa and Cecotto. In spite of all the attempts of the organisers and further shortening of the track to 10,9 km the circuit could not meet the constantly increasing demands of safety regulations. The old Masaryk Circuit hosted the European Championship in the following four seasons and in 1986 it caesed to exist. Automobile riders did not stay back an performed tight battles with Formula Junior in 1962, later with Formula 3 and other cars. Names of many future F1 champions such as Rindt and Lauda ranked among the competitors. In 1968-1986 the Masaryk Circuit hosted Touring Cars European Championship. These endurance races brought a number of excellent pilots who were known to the local public only from magazines: Quester, Visel, Hezemans, Giunti, Mass, Glemser, Bell, Schenken, Fitzpatrick, Hulm, Thackwell, Cecotto, Chanceval, Bellmondo, Surer, Winkelhock, Berger, Ravaglia, Pirr, Danners and Czech riders Horsák, Bobek, Zid, Michl, Vojtech, Enge, Bychl, Charouz, Senkyr…
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
The Circuit of Rimini(misano)
Circuit-Misano
Opened-2007
Location-Misano
Modified-2007
Pole position-Left
Width-14m
Length-4180m
Longest straight-565m
Left turns-5
Right turn-9
Biult in-1972
The Misano Circuit is a racetrack located next to the town of Misano on the Adriatic Sea in Italy. Originally designed in 1969 as a length of 3.488 km, it hosted its first event in 1972. In 1993, the track length was increased to 4,064 km.
As of 2007, it will host the San Marino Grand Prix as part of the MotoGP World Championship.
As of 2007, it will host the San Marino Grand Prix as part of the MotoGP World Championship.
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