2007 MotoGP - Estoril

Estoril, Portugal. Photo Courtesy Kawasaki Racing

Race Results
It was racing just like in the days of the 990cc bikes today in Estoril, with wall-to-wall action and finally some challengers for Casey Stoner's non-stop run for the championship.

Valentino Rossi made a triumphant return to the top step of the podium, sealing his fourth victory of the season with an extremely close but masterful ride to victory in front of Dani Pedrosa and Stoner. 

Rossi's eighth consecutive podium finish at this circuit was his first in six races, since his last victory at Assen back in June.

With 41,566 spectators looking on, Rossi made a poor start from the outside of the front row and slipped to fifth around the first corner, before making up one place and crossing the line first time around behind Nicky Hayden in fourth.  Hayden had the pole but immediately fell back and finished fourth.

He quickly began to put the pressure on Hayden and passed him on lap three, whilst Pedrosa in the meantime picked off Stoner to take the lead.  Lap-by-lap Rossi closed the gap and he showed the improved level of his new Yamaha engine when he passed his championship rival on the straight going into lap nine.

From then on the race turned into a nail-biting head to head between Rossi and Pedrosa, the pair evenly matched on pace but faster in different areas of the track.  With four laps to go Pedrosa ran wide and Rossi came through, only to make a similar mistake moments later, letting the Spaniard back past him.

With Pedrosa beginning to slide and Stoner looking menacing in third, Rossi made his move with an inch-perfect pass on the penultimate lap but was forced to keep pushing at the limit to hold on until the end, crossing the line just 0.175 seconds ahead of Pedrosa.

Rossi's maximum-points haul today means he closes the gap to Stoner to 76 points with five races remaining, the next of which comes at Motegi in Japan in one week's time.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 1stTime: 45'49.911:  "First of all I want to dedicate this victory to Colin McRae, who sadly died yesterday.  Colin is one of my idols from when I was very young and it's because of him that I have my passion for rally.  It's a very sad day for motorsport and I am glad that I could win for him today."

"This is a very important victory for us in every way, it's the fourth one of the year so the numbers are starting to look a little bit better, and it's a great, great emotion to win again after so long without even a podium.  Today my Yamaha and my tires worked very well.  Our new engine is better and today I was able to keep in the slipstream of the Honda and the Ducati on the straight, and even to go alongside them at some points, so this is very important."

"Michelin have done some good work on the tires and today we were maybe stronger than our rivals.  Once again we've shown that when the tires are working well we can fight at the top.  I had a great battle with Casey but most of all with Dani and it was fantastic fun to ride like this again, at the maximum and with a lot of good passes.  When I passed Dani for the first time I tried to go but he was too good so I knew it was going to come down to the last few laps."

"At the end Dani started to slide a little and I knew I was stronger on the brakes than him in some places, so I was able to make a good pass.  When I came out of the last corner on the second to last lap I could only think about how I lost the championship there last year so I knew I had to be far enough ahead next time around!  I want to thank Yamaha, Michelin, my team and everyone around me, this is a great day and it's given us a lot of confidence to keep fighting to the end of the season."

 

Qualifying
A surprise qualifying session, with Nicky Hayden on pole for the first time in a while, while Valentino Rossi sealed a second consecutive front-row start in Estoril today, finishing this afternoon's sunny qualifying session in third ahead of tomorrow's Portuguese Grand Prix.

His team-mate Colin Edwards also put himself into a promising position for the 28-lap race with a competitive lap that saw him take sixth on the grid.

After a good first day's work yesterday, Rossi was fast again in this morning's final free practice session and finished second behind Casey Stoner, but Edwards continued to struggle and was down in 13th.  Rossi put in more good work throughout the first half hour of this afternoon's session and was never out of the top three, showing a good race pace which was well in touch with his rivals.

Edwards meanwhile was making little progress before a small change to his set-up in the second half gave him the tools he needed to improve his pace.  As the session moved into its crunch period, both riders tried a new qualifying tire from Michelin but it did not work as planned and they were left with a sole soft tire each with which to make their qualifying bids.

Rossi's lap put him on pole briefly but both Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden then went faster than him, with Hayden's eventual pole lap a tenth of a second off Rossi's 2006 time.  Edwards also put in a strong flying lap which was good enough for fifth, before a last ditch effort from Yamaha Tech 3 rider Makoto Tamada pushed the American one place down the order.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 3rdTime: 1'36.576 Laps: 28:  "We've been fast for all the practice sessions so far here and we have found a good rhythm so things are looking quite positive.  It's good to be on the front row, of course pole is always the target but the most important thing is to be on the front row in order to give ourselves the best chance.  I tried a new kind of qualifying tire today but it didn't work so I only had one lap, but luckily I was able to do a good time, even if I might have improved with one more tire."

"The new Michelin race tires are working well here and the other Michelin riders are fast too so we can hopefully all be close to Stoner tomorrow.  I hope that we can fight with him, make some good passes and have some fun, especially in the first part of the race.  I'm happy with the work we've done and with the setting we've found; our Yamaha is working well in the tight corners on this track and we're excited about a good race tomorrow."

Colin Edwards - Position: 6thTime: 1'36.904 Laps: 25:  "We made some changes to the swing arm, back to what we know works and that helped me a lot in the later stages of this afternoon.  It's only a millimeter or so different to Valentino but to me it makes all the difference.  The session went okay and I was feeling quite positive about the qualifying laps but then we tried a new tire for the first one and it didn't work at all, so I was way down the order!"

"After that it was now or never with the second one, which is not ideal because usually you like to have one flying lap to get your confidence and then one to really nail it!  Anyway I made one mistake in the small chicane but it didn't hurt me too much and I can't be too upset with the second row after the way we've been going for most of the weekend. I t's going to be a tough race and I'm just going to have to get my head down tomorrow and take no prisoners."

Race Preview
The Fiat Yamaha Team make the Mediterranean road trip from the east coast of Italy to the west coast of Portugal this week.

The team is aiming to put their biggest disappointment of the season behind them after a home Grand Prix to forget at Misano.

Valentino Rossi's retirement from that race was his fourth non-podium finish in as many races - his worst run since 2000 - whilst tire problems returned to haunt Colin Edwards in a race that saw Casey Stoner take his eighth victory of the season.

With 85 points now separating Stoner from Rossi at the top of the championship and just five races remaining it appears that the 2007 is almost out of reach, but until the mathematics confirm it the Fiat Yamaha Team will refuse to wave the white flag - especially with a circuit like Estoril on the horizon.

Its location on the western tip of Europe, just seven kilometers from the Atlantic coast, makes it vulnerable to dramatic changes in weather and high gusts of wind, meaning the riders can take nothing for granted.

Even the layout of Autodromo Fernanda Pires de Silva circuit is one of extreme contrasts.  It features one of the longest main straights in MotoGP and a tight chicane, which is one of the slowest corners on the calendar. 

Several other twisty sections contribute to the lowest average speed in the championship and the throttle is seldom overworked on the tortuous infield sections, which are riddled by a host of second and third gear bends.  However, the 200km/h kink at turn five and the final Parabolica corner are two of the toughest tests of any rider and machine's cornering prowess and make for exciting viewing.

Estoril Race Circuit, Portugal

Valentino Rossi - As well as having a score to settle after his disappointment at Misano, Valentino Rossi has extra reason to look forward to Estoril thanks to his fantastic record at the Portuguese circuit in the premier class.  The Italian has finished on the podium on each of his seven visits, including a sequence of four successive victories from 2001 to 2004, and narrowly missed out on adding to that win tally last season when he was beaten to the line by Toni Elias by just 0.002 seconds.

"Misano was a great, great disappointment," said Rossi.  "To not have the chance to fight and to finish after just a few laps was a terrible thing, but now we just have to put it behind us.  We got back to work straight away on Monday for the test and we did some really good work with Michelin - it seems that they found some good new tires and overall it was quite an encouraging test, much more than the last one.  Hopefully we will be ready in Estoril with a package with which we can fight.

"To be honest the championship is almost out of reach for us, especially when Stoner is so strong, so we will put all our energies into holding onto our second place and winning as many races as possible, as well as thinking about continuing the development of our package for next year.  Now the aim is to have a good end to the season - we have five races left and we will be trying to win all five, even if the championship is out of our reach. I've had some good races at Estoril in the past although last year I missed out on the win by a tiny amount!"

Kawasaki Team Report
The Kawasaki squad, represented by Randy de Puniet and Anthony West, will be at Estoril to persevere in their mission to gain points and continue the relentless development of the Ninja ZX-RR which, already, has made it very much a machine to beat.

Both riders stayed at Misano for a day's testing after the last round two weeks ago, evaluating some new components and perfecting the set up of their bikes.

De Puniet will be determined to perform at the highest level after his crash at San Marino.  After putting in some increasingly powerful performances this season, including a superb top five finish at Catalunya in June, the 26-year-old, who lives in Andorra, is unwavering in his pursuit of a podium place in this, his second season at premier class level.

History shows the Frenchman has a strong record at the 4.182km circuit: he managed no less than four top ten finishes here in his 250cc days, including three thirds, and managed 10th spot last year on the erstwhile 990cc ZX-RR.  With his increasing mastery of the new 800cc machinery and ample confidence in the Bridgestone tires used by the squad, de Puniet will be fast, agile and unyielding as he fights for a good outcome this weekend.

West, meanwhile, is steadily coming to grips with the advanced bike and tire technology of MotoGP and is proving a strong team member and reliable, fast and consistent rider, gradually learning his way around the 200+bhp Ninja.

The 26-year-old Australian has managed to score points in every race he's run for the team, having joined Kawasaki in June.  Last time out, at Misano, he grabbed another fine placement, crossing the line in 8th position and, like de Puniet, arrives at Estoril with a number of previous top ten results at the circuit from when he competed in the 250cc class.

He will be out to maintain the positive momentum of his achievements so far, which have impressed both team and fans alike, ultimately aiming for a personal best, which will mean beating the remarkable seventh he scored at Laguna Seca in July.

Suzuki Team Report
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP travels to the Atlantic coast of Portugal for round 14 of the MotoGP World Championship this week, fresh from the fantastic double podium earned at the last round in Misano.

Chris Vermeulen took his second podium position in three races at the last event and John Hopkins’s third position gave Suzuki a tally of seven podium places this season – including the runners-up position in the last three races.  The Team’s total of 284 points so far this year is the biggest the Suzuki squad has earned since the introduction of four-stroke regulations.

Vermeulen will be making only his second visit to the Estoril circuit, but is buoyed by his recent performances and determined to hold onto his fourth place and close down on third placed Dani Pedrosa in the riders’ championship.  Vermeulen had a good first visit to Estoril last year finishing in a positive ninth place after qualifying in 12th and running off the track and having to re-join the race.

Hopkins was the first Bridgestone rider across the line last season with a sixth placed finish after being the highest qualifying Bridgestone-shod racer - also with a sixth position on the grid.  He is enjoying his best-ever season in MotoGP and is looking to open his MotoGP victory account in Portugal.  Hopkins is on a high at the moment and is sure that Estoril gives him an excellent chance of standing on the top step.

Chris Vermeulen:  “I’m going to Portugal with high hopes for the rest of the season.  I want to do the best I can for the remainder of the year, but I can’t win the championship so my main priority is improving the GSV-R and my own performance so that I will be in a position to challenge for the title next year.  I quite enjoyed Estoril last season and am sure that I can go even better this time out.  I have a couple of tracks coming up that I really enjoy so I am expecting to get some more good performances to follow on from the podiums that I have had recently.”

John Hopkins:  “I am really looking forward to the next race and feel confident that I can make big things happen there.  I like Estoril and I think it will suit the latest GSV-R well.  If we mix that with excellent performance and improvement of the Bridgestone tires I am sure we can be right up there and chasing after that top spot.  I really want that first place before the end of this season and I’m running out of races so I’ll be going all-out to make sure I get it, and Estoril gives me a good chance of it happening this coming weekend!”