Race Results - Another Incredible Day at the Races!
I've been a fan of motor- and moto-sports racing for decades and there's not a question in my mind that MotoGP racing is absolutely THE most exciting racing on the planet!

This was confirmed yet again in today's MotoGP Grand Prix at Donington Park.

Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi produced one of the performances of his life today as he rode through the pain of hand and ankle injuries to take a simply sensational second place in the British Grand Prix.

Roared on by a partisan local crowd, who have taken the Italian to their hearts after a string of victories at this circuit, Rossi started steadily from twelfth on the grid but soon got into his rhythm and began passing riders with the flamboyance and determination that has already taken him to five consecutive MotoGP World Championship titles.

With the series leader before today's action, Nicky Hayden (Honda), struggling to seventh place today, Rossi's incredible charge comes into sharper focus with a glance at the championship standings.  With eight rounds remaining the Yamaha man trails the American by just 35 points and the destiny of the title is now back in his hands.  Rossi remains in third place overall, however, after a second victory of the season for Dani Pedrosa (Honda) saw the Spaniard consolidate second spot.

Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards also produced a determined ride as he made up four places from his qualifying position to take sixth despite also struggling to find the correct set-up for his machine during practice.  The American now heads to Japan to prepare for the Suzuka 8-Hour race he will contest on 30th July, before returning for the next round of the MotoGP season at Sachsenring, Germany, two weeks from now.

Valentino Rossi (2nd; + 3.864):  "That was an amazing race and a very important result for me.  I am in a better position as far as the points are concerned and that is more important than winning the race.  To be honest after Assen I wasn't sure if it would be possible to fight for a top result here but I wanted it so much because Donington is a very special place to me and the fans give me such incredible support every year."

"We were really surprised that the bike didn't work on Friday but the whole team worked really hard to find the right setting and the right tire.  After qualifying we decided we would try some new things this morning but the wet warm-up meant we had no chance to do that so we just took a gamble with the setting and it worked.  It took me eight laps to understand just how good my pace could be and from that point I realized that my goal had to be the podium.  I had some hard battles along the way but when I got up to Melandri it got even harder!  We had real fun and neither of us wanted to back down.  He was faster than me in some places and I was faster than him in others.  In the end it came down to the last hairpin and we both braked around 20 or 30 meters deeper than normal.  We both ran wide but luckily Marco went even wider than me and I was able to get in from of him.  I finished second but today it felt like a win."

2006 MotoGP Round 9 - British Grand Prix at Donington Park

Lap Record: 1' 28.714 (Daniel Pedrosa, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 27.676 (Daniel Pedrosa, 2006)

Race Results: 
1 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP 44' 54.878
2 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA +3.864
3 M. Melandri Honda ITA +4.016
4 C. Stoner Honda AUS +5.776
5 K. Roberts Team Roberts KR USA +9.596
6 C. Edwards Yamaha USA +21.710
7 N. Hayden Honda USA +25.764
8 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA +29.034
9 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA +35.606
10 C. Checa Yamaha ESP +40.442
11 M. Tamada Honda JPN +41.062
12 R. De Puniet Kawasaki FRA +42.197
13 A. Hofmann Ducati GER +51.454
14 J. Ellison Yamaha GBR +1' 17.804
15 J. Cardoso Ducati ESP +1 lap(s)
16 C. Vermeulen Suzuki AUS +1 lap(s)

Fastest Race Lap:  D. Pedrosa Honda ESP 1' 28.714

Championship Standings - 2006 MotoGP
1 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 153
2 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 127
3 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 118
4 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 114
5 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 107
6 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 91
7 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 73
8 Kenny Roberts Team Roberts KR USA 66
9 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 59
10 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 58
11 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 57
12 Toni Elias Honda ESP 53
13 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 44
14 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 37
15 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 37
18 James Ellison Yamaha GBR 14

Manufacturers Standings -  2006 MotoGP
1 Honda 201
2 Yamaha 147
3 Ducati 116
4 Suzuki 72
5 Team Roberts KR 66
6 Kawasaki 61

Team Standings -  2006 MotoGP
1 Repsol Honda Team 280
2 Camel Yamaha Team 191
3 Fortuna Honda Team 167
4 Ducati Marlboro Team 158
5 Rizla Suzuki 95
6 Honda LCR 91
7 Kawasaki Racing Team 74
8 Team Roberts KR 66
9 Konica Minolta Honda 59
10 Tech3 Yamaha 51
11 Pramac D'Antin 18

Qualifying
Dani Pedrosa, Chris Vermeulen and Marco Melandri are the (somewhat) surprising best qualifiers for the ninth round of the 2006 MotoGP Championship at Donington Park on July 2.

Meanwhile, Camel Yamaha team-mates Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards will both start from the fourth row of the grid in the British Grand Prix, after running into set-up problems during the second day of practice at Donington Park.

Whilst Rossi continued to ride through the pain from the ankle and wrist injuries he sustained at Assen nine days ago, he also struggled to adapt his machine to the demands of the British track, where he has taken victory for five of the last six seasons.

Edwards was equally baffled by the lack of progress he made today after making positive initial steps yesterday.  The base setting of the YZR-M1 machine has adapted swiftly to the fast and flowing nature of recent circuits such as Assen and Catalunya, but with only the morning warm-up remaining before tomorrow's 30-lap race the team still have plenty of room for improvement.  A small consolation for Rossi was that Nicky Hayden (Honda), the current series leader, was also unable to challenge for a top grid position and will start in between the Yamaha pair on the fourth row in 11th spot.

Colin Edwards (10th - 1'28.481; 30 laps):  "The bike is really not working as well as we would like and to be perfectly honest we're not sure why.  The things that worked so well last weekend don't seem to be having the same effect here and we're struggling to come up with an alternative at the moment.  It's not for a lack of trying because my crew have worked really hard all day - we played about with the springs and the ride height but kept running down a blind alley."

"This is one of my favorite tracks and I'm used to turning up here and being in the top three from the first session - like I have for the past two years. In theory it should have been the same today but it's just not happening. Now we have to hope we can find something good in the morning, make a great start and just fight our way through!"

Valentino Rossi (12th - 1'28.808; 28 laps) "We didn't expect to have so many problems here in Donington because last year our bike worked really well.  It's a track where I've always been able to be really fast and go very well from the start, so it's quite disappointing.  The situation with the wrist isn't so bad, but I've got some problems in the hard braking areas.  For sure I can't ride how I would like to; we're not at the maximum."

"We've been quite confident because, since the new chassis in Le Mans, the bike has worked very well and been fast from the start, but here we can't find a good setting for some reason.  Tomorrow we will try to find a way to make the situation a little better.  Today with Dr. Costa I decided to try with some painkillers, to understand better what we need to do for the race tomorrow.  With these painkillers it seems I can ride more or less normally.  Tomorrow me and my team will try to find the best possible setting to enable me to ride a good race and I will also do some more work with Dr Costa after warm-up in order to be in the best possible shape to ride."

Race Preview
Honda - The Repsol Honda Team rolls into Donington Park for round nine of the MotoGP World Championship in confident mood ahead of Sunday’s British Grand Prix.

A fantastic display at the Dutch TT last weekend has put Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa in first and second places in the riders’ world championship, with Honda at the top of the manufacturers’ standings and Repsol Honda out in front in the team competition.

Fresh from his first MotoGP victory of the season in Holland, Hayden has declared that his game plan for Donington remains unchanged.  The American ace will be working as hard as ever with his pit crew to maintain the phenomenal speed and consistency that has seen him build a championship lead of 42 points at the season’s half-way point.

The 24-year-old former US Superbike champion has finished off the podium only once in 2006, and another top-three at Donington will be his eleventh podium from the last twelve MotoGP races.

“The win last weekend was pretty exciting but it doesn’t last long – we’ve got to go right back to work and just try to keep this level of performance going,” said Hayden.  “We’ll go into Donington and try to be smart and strong all weekend, get a good qualifying position and have a good package for Sunday so we can fight again for a victory.  It’s nice to have a lead in the championship but it’s still really early in the year and the main thing is to stay focused and stay hungry.  Donington is a home GP for some of my team – there’s a lot people in the Repsol Honda Team based in England – and we want to get the best possible result for them.  I really like the first section of the track and I’ve been quick there before."

"The Craner Curves really separate the men from the boys pretty quickly – you need some guts and a good set-up to get through there fast.  I haven’t always been so quick in the last section with the hairpin and the chicanes, so that’s what I’ll be trying to improve this weekend."

Dani Pedrosa arrives at the circuit determined to take the next step in his rapid development as a MotoGP rider.  The 20-year-old reigning 250cc world champion, who has already notched up a win and two pole positions in 2006, intends to improve his consistency in qualifying and the first part of the race to ensure he’s right there at the front this weekend.

"I will try to improve my overall performance at Donington because, even though third was ok at Assen, I was not so satisfied with the race.  The main thing to work on for me is the beginning of the race where sometimes I have not been so strong.  And making better use of the practice and qualifying sessions on Saturday will help with this too."

"Donington is not my favorite track, although they have improved the surface and made it less bumpy.  I can imagine that the extra speed on the MotoGP bike will make for some really hard braking into the Esses and the hairpins towards the end of the lap.  And it’s going to be tough to control the bike because there will be a lot of wheelies on the exit of those corners as well.  The other thing to consider is the weather.  We’ll have to wait to see what it does as last year it was raining – a lot.”

Yamaha - The Camel Yamaha Team head for the third race in as many weekends looking to end a grueling run of races on a high as the MotoGP World Championship arrives in Great Britain this weekend.

Following on from the elation of victory at Catalunya and the double disappointment of an injury for Valentino Rossi and a final-bend crash for Colin Edwards at Assen, the Donington Park race represents an ideal opportunity for both riders to bounce back before a well earned two-week break.

Rossi, in particular, is in desperate need of a boost after conceding further ground to Nicky Hayden (Honda) at the top of the World Championship standings.  The Italian fought bravely to eighth place despite riding with cracked bones in his hand and foot at the Dutch TT, but crucially he now trails the American by 46 points in the championship.  Rossi has won seven times in all classes at Donington Park, one of his favorite MotoGP circuits, but a return to the top step of the podium will be a huge challenge as he battles to recover his fitness and as many points as possible.

Edwards is sure to be given a hero's welcome by his army of British fans, thousands of whom cheered him to the verge of his first MotoGP victory just across the North Sea at Assen last Saturday.  The British Grand Prix ranks equally with the Dutch TT as Edwards' most successful event in the premier-class, having finished second there two years ago and narrowly missing the podium last year, so he has high hopes that he can bounce back from that disappointment with another top performance.

There is a slight change to the order of the races this weekend, with the main event taking place after the 250cc race but before the 125cc race.  The red lights will go out for the MotoGP riders at 1pm local time, although this will not affect the regular schedule for fans around the world since it still coincides with the standard starting time of 2pm CET.

Rossi: A Race Against Time
MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi returns to his country of residence this weekend keeping the fingers on his good hand crossed that he will be in sufficiently good shape to challenge at the front of the field once again.  The Italian left Assen on Saturday evening with his physiotherapist Marco Montanari, who will remain by his side for the rest of the week as he tries to recover as much strength as possible before the crucial ninth round of an intriguing championship.

"We have a lot of work to do to improve the situation with my wrist and try to reduce the swelling and heal the bone as much as possible," explains Rossi.  "It would be better to have a month now to recover but we are racers and we have to go straight to the next race, which is a pity.  Anyway I hope we can improve it as much as possible so that I can ride well at Donington.  For sure I won't be at full fitness, but we have five days to improve.  Colin showed that the bike is working really well so hopefully it will be like this at Donington also for both of us.

"Donington is like a second home Grand Prix for me and I hope the fans give me all the usual support because I need all the help I can get right now.  It has been one of my favorite tracks ever since I rode the 125 there for the first time in 1996 and I have a lot of good memories - especially my first win with the 500 in 2001 and victories with Yamaha for the last two years.  It's going to be a big challenge for me to stand on the top of the podium on Sunday, but as long as my hand continues to improve throughout the week, then I think we can try!"

Colin Edwards
The British Grand Prix can't come soon enough for Colin Edwards, who heads to another of his favourite tracks looking to bury his Assen nightmare with that elusive first MotoGP win.  The amiable American refuses to dwell on the final corner calamity that denied him a visit to the top step of the podium in Holland as he looks on the positive side of a weekend that should provide the platform to another bid for the winners' champagne in England.

"I can't deny that I'm still disappointed after what happened at Assen, but now I have to put that behind me and focus on Donington, which is one of my best tracks and a place I have always gone well," says Edwards.  "I have to forget about what happened at the end of the race in Assen and focus on the fact that my bike worked perfectly all weekend, I was consistently fast and I was able to do a really great race up to the last chicane.

"Now we have to hope that the situation is the same at Donington because my aim is to go out there and get my revenge!  I want to make up for the disappointment for the team and my fans, and give them something to cheer about again.  I always have loads of fans in the UK, a lot of them were there for me at Assen so let's hope they're all back to cheer me on again this weekend."

Technically Speaking: Donington Accroding to Matteo Flamigni
A dramatic viewing experience, Donington Park sits inside an amphitheatre style setting, with the spectator bankings ringing around the outside.  The prevalent off-camber nature of the track 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 rollercoaster ride.  This sequence of sweeping corners is one of the fastest in the world and, according to Valentino Rossi's Data Technician Matteo Flamigni, it is a place the top riders can really make the difference.

"I don't know of any other circuit in the world with a series of corners as fast as Craner Curves," says Flamigni.  "The rider is more important than the machine here because it takes a lot of courage and skill to make up time through the first section of the track.  In any case the bike setting must be stable enough to give the rider confidence at speeds of around 200km/h and agile enough to cope with the quick changes of direction.

"Donington is like two circuits in one.  After the fast opening two sections the second half of the lap is much slower because of the last section, which has two hard braking zones.  Turn nine in particular is crucial because the riders go from something like 280km/h to around 60km/h, so the bike has to be good under braking - especially because these are key points to overtake at the end of the race.

Setting up a motorcycle is always a question of making the right compromises but at Donington Park this is particularly true. The best bike out there will have the most accurate balance between performance in these two contrasting halves of the track."