2008 MotoGP Championship - Mugello, Italy

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

More:  Qualifying (Below)  |  Race Preview (Below)

Race Results
Valentino Rossi brought the house down once again in Mugello today with an emotional seventh straight victory at his home track in front of 96,000 adoring fans.

It was the Fiat Yamaha Team Rider’s ninth win in total and fifth for Yamaha at this track and also his third win in a row this season, the first time he has won three consecutive races since 2005.  His 91st victory is also a first for Bridgestone at this track.

Starting from pole for the first time in almost a year, Rossi set nerves on edge when he slipped a few places at the start, exiting turn one in fourth.  He soon passed his compatriot Loris Capirossi however and crossed the line for the first time hot on the heels of Stoner and Pedrosa.

Lap three saw him pass Pedrosa and then Stoner next time around, leaving him in the lead.  From then on it was the Italian’s race and he stretched the gap to more than three seconds at one point, before rolling off slightly in the later stages as the temperature increased.

He eventually crossed the line 2.201 seconds clear of Stoner, with his army of yellow-clad tifosi singing him home from the hillsides before invading the track, as is tradition here, and swarming under the podium.

It was a day of contrasts for the Fiat Yamaha Team as Jorge Lorenzo, in his 100th Grand Prix, slid out of the race on lap seven when looking strong in sixth place.  Rossi is now 12 points clear of Pedrosa at the top of the championship and Lorenzo is 16 points off him in third.  The team now heads directly to Barcelona for the Catalunya Grand Prix in just seven day’s time.

Valentino Rossi 1st 42'31.153:   “After winning the championship, winning at Mugello is the next best thing for me and once again today it was like a dream.  There is no way to describe the feeling I have standing on the podium in front of all of my fans here and I am so happy that I could win once again today.

To win for the seventh time running at my home track is amazing but I felt quite a lot of pressure about this, so it’s a relief as well because I didn’t want to disappoint everyone!  It’s been a hard weekend for everyone because of the bad weather and the lack of dry track time, but my crew have done a fantastic job with the bike and my M1 was wonderful today.

Once I got to the front I was able to make a gap from the others but towards the end it was unbelievably hot and it became quite hard to ride.  I wanted to ease off a bit but Casey was pushing hard behind so I had to keep going. 
Thanks to all of my team, to the engineers and of course to Bridgestone!  I’m really glad that I’ve been the one to give them their first win at this track and they did a great job today because my tire worked virtually the same from start to finish.

It’s been a fantastic day, it’s always one of the best moments of the year for me and now we’ve made a bit more of the gap at the top of the championship so things couldn’t be better.  Honestly after this weekend I think I would like to go to bed for five days but now we have to go straight to Barcelona!”

Tech 3 Yamaha Celebrate Double Top-Six Finish in Mugello
Colin Edwards and James Toseland catapulted the Tech 3 Yamaha team into third place in the coveted Team World Championship standings today after both produced fantastic top six results in front of 96,252 fans at the Italian GP.

Edwards produced by far his best Mugello result with fifth place, beating his previous best effort of ninth after he completed a terrific fight back from ninth place in the early stages.

No less impressive was the performance of rookie James Toseland, who finished just one place further back in sixth on his first visit to the challenging Mugello circuit. Displaying his trademark aggressive riding style, Toseland’s surge through the field was one of the highlights of the 23-lap encounter as he passed the likes of Shinya Nakano, Nicky Hayden, Andrea Dovizioso, Loris Capirossi and Edwards.

From lap seven to 15, a fascinating inter-team battle ensued as Edwards chased Toseland, before the American made his decisive move to secure his third top five finish in the last four races.  Toseland’s heroics moved him back into the top eight in the overall rider standings and equaled his previous best MotoGP result.

Colin Edwards 5th +12.530:  “I didn’t get a great start but it wasn’t that bad but before I knew it I’d lost a couple of places.  I didn’t have the grip in the first two laps that some of the other guys did, so I couldn’t stay with them off the corner.  Once my tires started to come in I really started to feel good, but I had to adjust my riding style with the temperature being so much higher than yesterday.

The rear was coming round a bit on the entry of the corner and I started braking a lot harder, carrying less corner speed to try and conserve the tire by picking the bike up and accelerating.  It worked and I’ve got to say I’m happy with fifth.  I’m happier with fifth here than I was with third in Le Mans to be honest.  I expected to win at Le Mans, but my best result here has been a ninth.

I’m not a guy that likes fifth, but on my biggest bogey track ever I’ll take it.  We just had to run a tire that we thought would have good endurance because in a situation where there’s hardly been any dry track time, you have to play safe.  Nobody had done any endurance testing on tires and I think the tire I raced on I’d done about two laps on before the race!

I have to say a big thanks to Michelin because they did a great job. We had no idea what the tire would be like after 20 laps but to come from where I did showed we made a good choice.  Tire choice is critical at any track but here even more so because it is such an abrasive surface.  It will destroy tires if you are just a little bit off, so credit to Michelin.

I had a good battle with James and its great to see him back in the top six.  There were a couple of places like the two Arrabbiata corners where he could pull away.  I felt like I could control him if I could pass him, and the key was getting by and being able to pull a gap so he couldn’t slipstream back by me.  It is another great result for the team today. I’m sure if you had said to Herve that our team would be third in the team points after six races he would have taken it."

James Toseland 6th +13.806:  “That was a really hard race and I’ve got to say a massive thanks to my guys at Tech 3 because we found a set-up this morning after losing so much time with the weather and it got me in the top six.

Considering the lack of dry time track time my Michelin tires held up fantastically well too, so a big thanks to them as well.  I couldn’t have done anymore. I was really close to Shinya Nakano in the first corner and that picked me up and I lost quite a few places.  I kept my calm because I knew it was a long race and I didn’t want to make the same mistake as I did in Le Mans.  I just had to settle down and I didn’t do anything stupid.

It’s nice to follow Colin home on the same package.  Colin did a great job as well. I passed him early on but he found his pace. I held him towards the end but he just found those extra few tenths a lap and that was enough for him to pass me.  You can tell he has got a lot of experience on these bikes and his bike doesn’t do move so much. I feel like I’m wrestling mine a bit too much but I’m still learning. 

With the setting I had the bike wasn’t so stable on the faster corners but my bike is one of the best out there and thanks to Yamaha.  I rode hard in that race and if I was riding this hard and finishing fourteenth my morale would be seriously dented, but when I’m riding really well and the package is working well, I’m back in the top six again and this is where I need to be.”

Qualifying
Valentino Rossi brought out the best for his home fans once again in Mugello this afternoon, taking a stunning pole position to ensure he will start tomorrow's quest for a ninth Mugello victory in the best possible way.

The Italian's 50th career pole has been a long time in coming, his last one having been at Catalunya last season, almost one year ago. It is also his first for Bridgestone and Yamaha's fifth from six races this season.

Rossi greeted his fans in slightly unusual fashion today as he unveiled his traditional one-off Mugello helmet, which this year carries a picture of his face on top of it.

Joking aside however, this morning's practice was another disjointed session with the track drying throughout after yet another rain shower and Rossi finishing sixth.  After his crew made some slight, but important modifications to his M1 over lunch it was a different story this afternoon, as Rossi dominated a hot and sunny qualifying session.

He was consistently fast on race tires and then improved with the first three of his four Bridgestone qualifying tires, bettering the existing pole position lap by more than 0.8 seconds with the third.

Rossi's team-mate Jorge Lorenzo struggled with the lack of dry track time after yesterday's washout and was unable to find a perfect set-up for his M1, qualifying at the head of the second row in seventh.  After two days of poor weather however the sun that finally came out this afternoon looks set to continue through tomorrow, when the 23-lap Italian Grand Prix gets underway at 1400 local time.

Valentino Rossi 1st 1'48.130:  "This is a great, great qualifying because it's been a long wait to be on pole position again, almost one year exactly! Now for sure we will try to win tomorrow.  To be honest I was quite worried after practice this morning because we had a few problems with the set-up and I couldn't find my rhythm, but I want to say thank you to all my team because they made a great job during lunch, we did some important modifications and then this afternoon I had the feeling and the speed that I wanted.

We're now fast on race tires but we still need to make our final decision about which tire to use and we will do this when we see the conditions tomorrow.  It's great to make my first pole with Bridgestone and I think 48.1 is a very fast time and it shows how good their qualifying tires are now.

It's good as well to have two Italians on the front row and now I hope we have a lot of people here tomorrow and that we can make a big party once again!  I have to be honest about my helmet, it was Aldo Drudi's idea this time but I think it's one of the best ever!  It's not a drawing, it's a real picture of my face at the braking at the end of the straight here and I think it's very funny!"

Jorge Lorenzo

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo will become the youngest rider ever to pass the 100 Grand Prix milestone tomorrow when he starts the Italian Grand Prix from seventh on the grid.  It is the 21-year-old's lowest qualifying position so far since his MotoGP debut but, with four podiums already under his belt and an impressive passing record in the last two races especially, he will be looking forward to making his way through the field tomorrow to challenge at the front.

The hoped-for dry session this morning did not materialize as more rain early on meant the track was still damp for first practice and Lorenzo struggled in the conditions, finishing 14th.  This afternoon the sun finally came out and the Mallorcan and his crew worked hard to iron out the issues they were having with the M1, making some improvement but not enough to allow them to challenge for the top qualifying spots.

They will now aim to make the most of tomorrow's short warm-up session to finalize their choice of Michelin race tire and make some last-minute adjustments to put them in better shape for the race.

Jorge Lorenzo 7th 1'48.905:  "Of course I'm not happy with seventh because I always want to be at the front, it's my worst position so far with Yamaha in MotoGP and I'm especially disappointed because I really like this track and I love the Italian fans, but now we just have to look forward to a good race!

I still lack some power in my ankles but honestly I can't blame my injuries this time, today it was a case of lacking time to find the right dry set-up and of me not riding as well as I might have done.

We need to work on the front especially because at the moment we are wheelieing too much and we don't have enough stability in the bumpy areas, but I have confidence in my team and in Yamaha and I know we will be able to improve for tomorrow.  Anyway, we know our bike is working well here because Valentino is on pole!  Tomorrow morning we will decide on the race tire, together with Michelin, and then I will try to get a good start and pass as many people as possible."

Colin Edwards

Colin Edwards came within a whisker of handing the Tech 3 Yamaha team a fifth front row start in six races for tomorrow's Italian MotoGP race in Mugello.  Edwards ended today's qualifying session in fifth place, but was only 0.070s off extending his remarkable front row starting record in 2008 with another impressive display on Michelin's qualifying tires.

Edwards seemed certain to be on the front row when he claimed third with only five seconds left on the clock in what was the first full dry session of a weather-hit weekend.  Loris Capirossi and Casey Stoner though denied Edwards after he'd posted a 1.48.383. 

Edwards, who had led the way earlier after using his first Michelin qualifying tire, is confident he can challenge for a second successive podium in tomorrow's race, despite minimal time to find a good dry set-up due to the inclement weather conditions that dominated free practice.

Colin Edwards 5th 1'48.383:  "Missing the front row like that is a bit of a shame but I've got to be happy.  It would have been nice to get on the front row but I still feel like I can be up with the guys tomorrow.  I put my first qualifier in early just in case it rained and I did a 48.7 and told my team 'we can do a 47.'

You are talking about finding another seven tenths but I'd made a few little mistakes.  I thought we could do it but just missed out at the end.  Hats off to my team and Yamaha because I'm feeling good as far as race set-up goes and I think we have got the right tire from Michelin.  Tires are going to be more critical than ever and I think we've got to be a bit cautious in the beginning.

We'll have to stay with the guys but I don't think we can go too crazy with the tires.  We've got to do 23 laps and none of us have had chance to endurance test tires so that just adds to the intrigue.  Michelin have been doing a great job so I'm confident.

I have never in my entire life been this happy at this track though.  To have confidence is one thing, but then to come to a track that you have never done any good on and do well, that just amplifies the confidence feeling.  You realize the tires and the bike are working like a dream because every year I've been to this track I've had chatter, and now I don't have chatter and the bike works unbelievably.

Hopefully I can get away with the guys tomorrow because with that slipstream on the straight you can hang in there. I feel really happy with my gearing off the last corner and that is the most important corner on the whole track, because if you lose that slipstream its tough to get back in the group unless they start holding each other up."

James Toseland

James Toseland once again belied his lack of track experience to clock the eighth best time, just one place behind early title contender Jorge Lorenzo. Robbed of crucial dry track time to fine tune his YZR-M1 set-up, while also learning the challenging Mugello circuit, Toseland finished just 0.895s off pole position.

James Toseland 8th 1'49.02:  "To finish less than a second off pole when you consider all the time we have lost due to the weather is a great result for me.  I'm relieved to be honest because when it started dry this morning, the dry set-up we had was quite a long way off.

It was really hard to ride with that setting and we have changed the bike a lot and gone to a set-up close to what Colin is running.  The bike feels a bit more stable now. I think for a tighter track the set-up I had wasn't going to be too bad.  But on a fast and flowing track like this it was a little bit nervous so we just changed the front a bit.

Now we haven't got a bad set-up, but I have only had 10 laps on a decent set-up.  With the set-up and lack of knowledge of the track, to be a less than a second is not bad.  Fair play to my team because we did a lot of work and fortunately for me the new set-up is a good direction to go in.

This afternoon I only really had 30 minutes to work on the race set-up because you spend 30 minutes on the qualifiers.  I made some mistakes because on all these new tracks, with the qualifiers you need to be so precise and I haven't quite mastered exactly where you need to be on the track with them.

I'm still not getting the best out of the qualifiers  It is such a long lap and I kept coming out of a couple of corners going slightly wide and then you can forget about the lap time because a small mistake costs you corner speed at the next turn.  I just suffer a bit of a lack of track knowledge but the bike and the tires are working great. I just need to get a good start because the slipstream here can really help you get a good result."

Race Preview - Yamaha Team Report
The Fiat Yamaha team head into their home Grand Prix at Mugello in Italy this weekend looking to continue the most successful ever start to a MotoGP World Championship for the Japanese factory.

Yamaha riders have won three of the first five races of the year, having taken pole in four of them, and have racked up nine podiums - including a top-three lockout at the last round in France.

Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo currently occupy the top two positions in the championship, while Yamaha are leading both the Constructors' and Teams' standings.

The 300km trip to Mugello from the team's current base in Milan has traditionally been a successful one for the factory, who have dominated for the last four seasons with Rossi.  The Italian's record at his home race is second to none, with an unbeaten run of six seasons in MotoGP to add to victories in each of the 125cc and 250cc classes.

Back-to-back successes in the last two rounds of this season mean that for the first time in over a year Rossi leads the World Championship, although just three points separate him from team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who is tied on points with Dani Pedrosa.

Lorenzo's tally of 94 points is the highest ever score after five races by a rookie and whatever the result in Italy the 21-year-old plans to make more history as the youngest rider ever to reach the milestone of 100 Grand Prix starts.

Lorenzo has a strong record at Mugello, having gone from his debut 250cc pole to second place in 2005 before taking victory from pole in 2006.  However, last year he started from 20th place following a rain-affected qualifying session and then slid out of the lead on the final lap, re-mounting to finish eighth.

One of the fastest circuits on the calendar, with the 1,141m front straight last year tempting the new 800cc machines towards top speeds in excess of 320km/h, Mugello differs from other fast circuits in its frequent changes of gradient and the speed of its chicanes.  There is a mix of slower and high-speed corners, although even the slowest corners are still wide - allowing plenty of scope for overtaking as the riders get a choice of line, putting the emphasis as much on their skill as on the precision of their chassis set-up.

Valentino Rossi:  "Le Mans was fantastic and I am still feeling very happy when I think about it!  We had a good test afterwards and did a lot of hard work with Bridgestone and on the general setting of our bike, so hopefully we have been able to improve our package even further.  Everyone knows that Mugello is one of my favorite tracks; I've won there six times in a row and now I want to make it seven!

It's my home race and also the home race for a lot of our team and to race there is always something very special.  It's fast and technical and we know it suits our bike so we will be aiming to be quick right from Friday morning.  I hope the weather is good - for us and for all the fans - and then hopefully we can have a big Italian party!"

Jorge Lorenzo:  "I have to be really grateful for the fact that I have recovered so quickly from my injuries and to have had such great professionals making sure that was the case.  Obviously we're still not going to be at 100% for Mugello but with every race that passes I'm able to put more weight on the footrests.

I'm going to Italy with high hopes because it is one of my favorite circuits, with lots of fast and flowing corners.  We have some favorable tracks coming up but we can't rely too much on that because in sport, and especially in motorcycle racing, you never know what can happen.  This is a special race for me because it will be my hundredth appearance in the World Championship.

It has all gone really fast and if I ever make it to 200 then I hope it goes just as fast - that would mean I'm having just as much fun as I have up to now and hopefully I'll have helped the fans enjoy it too!"

Kawasaki Team Report
After the frustrations of the French Grand Prix at Le Mans just over a week week ago, Kawasaki’s John Hopkins and Anthony West head this week for the Tuscan hills of Italy, and the picturesque circuit of Mugello, for the sixth round of the MotoGP world championship.

John Hopkins is looking to get his first season aboard Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR back on track, after a disappointing result in China and a retirement due to a mechanical problem last time out in France. The Anglo-American celebrated his 25th birthday on 22nd May, and is determined to award himself a belated birthday present with a strong result in Italy.

With six races packed into the next eight weeks, the Kawasaki pilot knows he has to be on the pace at Mugello, and then carry that momentum through until the summer break if he is to improve his position in the overall championship standings by the midway point of the season.

The Italian Grand Prix marks another first for Hopkins' Kawasaki teammate, Anthony West.  The 26-year-old has never raced the Mugello circuit aboard a MotoGP machine before, and it's not a circuit he was particularly enamored of during his 250cc racing days.

Typically, West is unfazed by the challenge ahead, and is focused instead on working with his crew to eliminate some of the problems with rear traction that has held him back so far this season, and to reclaim his rightful place in the top ten.

One of the most picturesque circuits on the MotoGP calendar, the 5.245km Mugello track twists its way across two sides of a scenic valley, deep in the Tuscan hills above Scarperia.  The circuit includes six left turns and nine rights in total, and regular changes of elevation.  It features many fast chicanes, twisty sections and an incredibly long straight.  The chicanes are taken at relatively high pace, and accuracy in a rider's lines is vital in the last sector to keep momentum up to the final turn, out of which the riders launch themselves onto the 1.141km main straight.

Record Lap Mugello: M. Biaggi (Honda) 2005, 1'50.117
Best Lap Mugello: S. Gibernau (Ducati) 2006, 1'48.969

Grand Prix results Mugello 2007
1. V. Rossi (Yamaha) 42'42.385
2. D.Pedrosa (Honda) +3.074
3. A.Barros (Ducati) +5.956