2007 MotoGP Donington Park

MotoGP 2007 Round 8
Grand Prix of Great Britain - Donington Park - June 24, 2007

Text and Photos Courtesy MotoGP, Ducati Corse, Kawasaki, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, Suzuki Racing, Yamaha Racing and World Superbike. Edited by webBikeWorld.com.

Race Report
Returning to the scene of his first ever road race appearance, MotoGP World Championship leader Casey Stoner took win number five of the 2007 season and his premier class career at the Nickel & Dime British Grand Prix.

The Australian extends his lead at the top of the standings to 26 points courtesy of a great performance at a tricky circuit, prompting Ducati MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo to describe his 21 year-old protégé as ‘a genius’. Like all genii, Stoner did things very much his way at Donington Park, having to make up a number of positions after an atrocious start.

Back up to seventh by the end of lap one, Stoner needed just three more laps to put himself amongst the podium spots during the ‘wet weather’ stage of the proceedings, finally passing leader Colin Edwards at the halfway point. From there he never looked back; knowing when to back off as a dry line was established on the track and saving his tires to take his Desmosedici GP7 through to victory.

Once again, the rider on pole failed to win the race, but Colin Edwards at least had a better race than at Le Mans where he took his maiden top grid spot. Finishing second in his best result of the past two years, ‘The Texas Tornado’ will have confidence at an all-time high when he returns to Assen next Saturday to avenge some of his personal demons from 2006.

Having crashed three times over the course of the weekend, Chris Vermeulen rewarded the mechanics that he had kept so busy over the weekend with the final podium position. A fantastic start from twelfth on the grid gave the wet weather expert the chance to show his stuff, and he didn’t disappoint with a masterful display. Overtaking seven-time Donington victor Valentino Rossi, the second Australian on the rostrum held off any attempt at an immediate comeback from the Italian to earn his second top three finish of the year.

Rossi’s tires were destroyed at the end of the race, as the Italian pushed his Yamaha M1 to the limit, and he had to be wary of any mistake allowing the second Suzuki of Anglo-American John Hopkins to close him down.

Randy de Puniet followed up his fifth place at Catalunya with another top six finish onboard the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR. The Frenchman has had little time to recover from an operation on his knee, making his gritty showing all the more impressive.

Alex Barros took seventh on the last lap, ahead of 2006 race winner Dani Pedrosa. After a good start, the factory Honda rider was -- in true British schoolyard style -- bullied out into eighth by some of MotoGP’s ‘bigger boys’, as first the Suzuki riders and then Barros imposed themselves on the 21 year-old Spaniard.

Alex Hofmann and Marco Melandri completed the top ten, with the latter only coming into form as the track dried to suggest that perhaps his tire choice was not quite what was required.

Making his debut for Kawasaki in MotoGP, the Nickel & Dime British Grand Prix was Anthony West’s first chance to show what the premier class has been missing over the past six years. The 25 year-old had been fastest in the warm-up, and was one of the outstanding riders of the day.

Showing no respect for reputations, West passed the likes of World Champion Nicky Hayden, fellow Australian Vermeulen and five-time MotoGP title holder Rossi to ascend to fourth position in the early going, and almost impressed just as much after a crash soon after. Dusting off his bike, West returned to the track and set about salvaging something from the race, eventually finishing a respectable 11th.

Colin Edwards - Position: 2ndTime: +11.768: "We had good race! I had a great start, better than any of my practice ones during the weekend, and then I just got my head down and kept pushing lap after lap. My bike was feeling good in the wet but then it started to dry out. I started braking a bit harder and feeling more confident, but then the front locked once into the chicane which gave me a bit of a scare. Then at the next corner, down at the hairpin, I locked it again, ran wide and Casey came through."

"After that I tried everything but I couldn't stay with him and it was clear that I didn't have the grip he had. It was pretty tough, but then I guess it was tough for everyone! You could see the dry line forming and rain tires with a dry track don't work well! I just had to pay attention and take care not to spin it too much, using half throttle instead of spinning it up. Anyway, we did the best we could today and it feels good to be back on the podium, so a big thanks to all my guys. We've made a lot of progress this weekend and now we'll carry the momentum on to Assen next week! Hats off to Casey too, he did a great job today."

Qualifying
Fiat Yamaha rider Colin Edwards took a surprise pole, while Ducati Marlboro Team riders Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi qualified fifth and 13th quickest at Donington Park this afternoon. Both today's sessions were run in cloudy but dry conditions after yesterday's deluge, allowing riders to work on dry set-up for the first time this weekend.

World Championship leader Stoner showed superb race pace throughout the day but was out of luck on his crucial final qualifying run. The Australian was on course for a front row start until a moment at the final hairpin.

Capirossi, using Bridgestone's new 16 inch rear slick, was also confident of moving up the order but got the checkered flag as he started what he hoped would be his best lap. Nonetheless the Italian is happy enough because he also showed good speed in race trim. Tomorrow's weather forecast predicts further rain with sunny intervals.

Colin Edwards took his second MotoGP career pole at Donington Park with team-mate Valentino Rossi in second place, meaning that between them the Fiat Yamaha riders have now filled the top grid spot for six out of eight races this season.

Edwards, who also took his first ever MotoGP podium here in 2004, put in a perfect lap of 1'28.531, 0.146 seconds ahead of Rossi, with Dani Pedrosa filling the final front-row slot.

Rossi's first qualifying lap was good enough to put him on pole and, despite valiant efforts from Casey Stoner, Nicky Hayden and Pedrosa, he held onto the top spot until the very end, when Edwards' second lap saw him edge his team-mate into second place.

Tomorrow's race gets underway at 1300 local time and, with showers forecast, the weather could once again play a part in what promises to be another tense MotoGP battle.

Colin Edwards - Position: 1st Time: 1'28.531 Laps: 29: "I'm really happy so far this weekend. We made big steps with our rain set-up yesterday and then today Michelin brought the tires I wanted and things were looking good in the dry too."

Colin Edwards. Photo Courtesy Yamaha Racing

"With the qualifying tire things felt really great once again and I'm seriously happy to be on pole here. This track is known for the left turn down Craner, it's one of the only lefts on the track and you need to have a lot of confidence in that side of the tire to really attack it."

"With my second soft tire I got the left side really warmed up on my out lap and then just gave it everything I had. If you really want pole you have to risk it a little bit; that's what I did today and it paid off!"

"My race pace feels pretty good and it was fairly consistent this afternoon, I need to study the data with my guys now to really know exactly where we are but we're definitely in good shape for tomorrow. Thanks a lot to Michelin and to all my team, they've done a great job so far."

Valentino Rossi - Position: 2nd Time: 1'28.677 Laps: 29: "When the bike and tires are feeling good this is a fantastic track to ride and now with these new 800s you can use all the best lines, so it's a great feeling. Unfortunately I got a little bit blocked by another rider on my lap and I lost a bit of time, but anyway Colin and I are one and two so this is the most important thing and I want to say well done to Colin. This morning was not brilliant for us but this afternoon things were a lot better and my bike felt very good. Thanks to Michelin because they've brought some good tires here and they seem to be working well with our bike; we have two good race tires to choose from for tomorrow. Now let's hope that it stays dry like this for the race!"

Casey Stoner, 5th fastest, 1m 29.061s: "On race tires we're pretty well safe and looking pretty good, and we should be able to make a couple more improvements before the race if we get a dry warm-up session. Qualifying was unbelievably disappointing, the electronics were playing up, every time the tire would spin just a little bit the engine cuts would start, so I couldn't get on the gas and I was losing tenths on the exit of every corner. So I decided to do two laps on that qualifying tire and the second lap wasn't too bad because I had learned how to ride around the cuts."

"Then going into the last turn the bike hit neutral, so I had no engine braking, so I was entering the corner too quick. I got it back into first but unfortunately I just had to push it in there too hard to try and make the corner and nearly lost it, but I've got a pretty good feeling with the tires because the Bridgestones actually give me feeling so it's a little bit easier to save."

"We tried the 16 inch rear this morning but we're going to stick with what I know and just make sure I make everything right. We have got a good race pace so we've got to look at that now since qualifying was kind of a disappointment. It doesn't really matter if the race is wet or dry because we're also pretty quick in the wet but it would probably be a lot safer having a dry race. One or the other, wet or dry, is okay, we'd just rather it wasn't something in between."

2007 MotoGP Great Britain - Donington Park - June 23, 2007

Qualifying

Circuit Length: 4023. Temp: 18. Weather: Dry

Qualifying 1

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time

1 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'28.531

2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'28.677

3 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'28.863

4 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 1'29.025

5 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'29.061

6 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'29.073

7 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 1'29.281

8 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1'29.415

9 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'29.498

10 Toni Elias Honda ESP 1'29.711

11 Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 1'29.718

12 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1'29.793

13 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'29.900

14 Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 1'29.911

15 Alex Barros Ducati BRA 1'30.071

16 Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 1'30.271

18 Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 1'30.800

Race Preview
The Fiat Yamaha Team trucks complete another grueling journey across land and sea this week as the MotoGP World Championship trail heads from Spain to England for the first of three consecutive races in Northern Europe.

The Donington Park circuit in Leicestershire hosts the eighth round of the campaign, with round nine set to take place just six days later at Assen in Holland before moving on to Germany's Sachsenring circuit for round ten a fortnight after that.

It promises to be a crucial few weeks for Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards, who will both be on the hunt for victories at some of their most successful circuits. Rossi is a seven-time Grand Prix winner at Donington Park, whilst Edwards scored his first MotoGP podium there in 2004 and took World Superbike victories in 1999 and 2000.

The pair also have impressive records at Assen, where Rossi had not stepped off the rostrum in five seasons until his injury last year and Edwards has both WSB wins and MotoGP podiums to his name, whilst the Italian is a five-time winner at Sachsenring.

Rossi's immediate goal is to close down the gap to current series leader Casey Stoner, which currently stands at fourteen points. However, there is an interesting bonus up for grabs for 'The Doctor', who could usurp another Australian in the shape of Mick Doohan as the all-time top points-scorer in the premier-class. A top seven finish would secure that accolade for Rossi, who broke Doohan's record for the most career podiums with number 96 at the last round in Catalunya.

A dramatic viewing experience, Donington Park sits inside an amphitheatre style setting, with the spectators banked on the grass verges that surround the track. The prevalent off-camber nature of the circuit is one of the main factors at play during the British Grand Prix, with a large tendency for the front tire to push, making the right, left, right flick down the Craner Curve section something of a high tension and the key to making up time.

The stop-and-go nature of the final section, which features three hard braking zones, means the bike also has to be good under braking and makes set-up a quest for compromise between agility and stability.

Valentino Rossi heads north to Donington Park after a brief stay in his hometown of London. The 28-year-old has lived in the English capital since 2000 and has built up an army of local fans, who have cheered him to victory on seven occasions at the East Midlands circuit. After conceding defeat to Dani Pedrosa when riding through injury to second place last year, Rossi is doubly keen to lead the celebrations again this time around.

"Donington is always like my second home race because I live quite close, in London," says Rossi. "It's one of my favorite racetracks in the world and I've had some fantastic victories there in the past, including my first ever 500cc win back in 2000 after a great battle with Jeremy McWilliams and Kenny Roberts. Last year I had a bad injury after my problem in Assen but I was still able to finish second, which was a great achievement I think."

Donington Park Race Circuit

"This year though it's going to be really hard of course with Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa riding so well at the moment. Even though it hasn't been one of his best tracks in the past I am expecting Casey to be strong again and Dani won last year so we can expect him to be fighting too. Anyway, it's a great track, fun to ride, the straight is not too long and the fans there are wonderful, so I hope we can win again!"

It has been a difficult few weeks for Colin Edwards and relatively fruitless in terms of results, with the American struggling to get comfortable with his YZR-M1 machine ever since his good early season form was hit by a terrible run of bad luck. After struggling to finish in the top ten for the past four races, a good result is crucial for the Texan this weekend as he looks to increase confidence and performance levels in the build-up to his home race at Laguna Seca in a month's time.

"I had a lot bigger aspirations for this season than my recent results have shown," concedes Edwards. "After our first few tests and first few races I thought we would be consistently in the top five, but unfortunately that hasn't been the case recently so it's a bit discouraging."

"At the same time I think you have to bring the positives out of every weekend and learn what you can. I think with Donington coming up we have the chance to turn things around; it's a track that I've always liked - I've won a few races there, stemming back from my World Superbike days."

"I've got nothing but high hopes going there - I know the track like the back of my hand so I'm staying positive. As far as I am concerned, the rest of my year involves winning some races. Winning races was my goal in March and it's still my goal now and, despite the last few races, I know we can do it. I think the next two races at Donington and Assen are prime opportunities."

Rizla Suzuki Team Report - The British based Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team travels to Donington Park in England this weekend for the British Grand Prix, the next round of a so far profitable season, looking to continue with its fine run of form when it arrives on home-soil.

Chris Vermeulen and John Hopkins arrive in England with 72 points each – more than both riders together had accumulated at the same time last season – looking to strengthen their positions in the championship on a track that both of them enjoy. The two Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers qualified in second and fourth places last year respectively, and without a crash for Vermeulen and a late-race grip problem for Hopkins, could have both finished in higher positions.

The Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team is based on the south coast of England and a large proportion of the crew are also from the UK, so this is a race that is very important to the team. Rizla also began its racing partnership with Suzuki in the UK, and still has a high profile team running in the national championship.

Both racers also have a strong bond with the UK, Vermeulen competing in Britain when he first left Australia and winning the British Supersport and Superstock championships in 2000. Hopkins has family roots with the UK due to his English parentage, and although he was born in the USA, he has always regarded himself as Anglo-American. The large trackside support that he enjoys at Donington makes this feel like a home race for him.

The 4.023kms long Donington circuit is set in a natural arena in the English countryside, and few sights in MotoGP can match the whole field of bikes streaming into Craner Curves on the first lap. The track also features many other exciting corners and elevation changes over its length, and you can expect to see Hopkins getting his elbow close to – if not touching – the asphalt at the Melbourne Loop!

Track action for round eight of the MotoGP World Championship will begin on Friday, as Hopkins and Vermeulen take to the circuit for two free practice sessions. Saturday will have another practice session in the morning and the all important qualifying hour - to determine grid positions for the race - in the afternoon. The 30-lap race will get underway at 13.00hrs local time (12.00hrsGMT) on Sunday 24th June.

Chris Vermeulen: “I really like the Donington circuit, it was a track I enjoyed racing on in the British Championships, and I got my best dry grid position - up to that time - there last year. We did a lot of work on the GSV-R at the test after the race in Catalunya and I am now ready to get back out there and start racing again. I know what I need to do as far as qualifying goes, because as I’ve shown this year I can be competitive in the race, I just need to be starting from higher up the grid. I am certainly planning to change things here and I’m really looking forward to what I hope will be a successful and profitable weekend for us!”

John Hopkins: “It’s great to be coming "home". I feel that’s what Donington is for me as I used to live close by and I have a lot of friends and family here. This is one of my favorite tracks of the year and I’m sure the new 800cc GSV-R will go well. I had a bit of a tire problem last year but the Bridgestones have been working so well everywhere this season that I don’t see that being an issue at Donington. We tested many new tires at Catalunya and some of the stuff they had for us was awesome! We just need to get out there and start showing what we can do straight from the off on Friday!”