MotoGP – The MotoGP final in Valencia! –

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The MotoGP final in Valencia !

MotoGP - The MotoGP final in Valencia! -

The 2008 MotoGP season is already coming to an end! On Sunday, Rossi – crowned for the 6th time in the premier category – will be keen to win the Valencia event which has eluded him since 2004. But his opponents will be there to make it harder for him….

This weekend in Valencia will be the very last event of the 2008 MotoGP Championship. Certainly, the Ricardo Tormo circuit is not the most suitable route for 800 cc monsters (read), but in terms of atmosphere it is undoubtedly the best designed for the public. !

"After a four-race tour of America, Japan, Australia and Malaysia, we are returning to Europe for the last race of the season.", points out Tohru Ubukata, responsible for the development of Bridgestone compounds..

Thus, this third and last visit to Spanish soil – after Jerez and Barcelona – concludes a season full of emotion, which has mainly seen the return to his best level of Valentino Rossi, now eight times world champion !

"I had two difficult years in Valencia and I have memories that I would like to erase with a good result: I have a score to settle !", warns the Doctor by approaching the last round of the world championship of speed…

Rossi: revenge

In 2006, while playing the championship against Hayden, the n ° 46 made a mistake, losing the front of his M1 990 cc under the nose of Vermeulen … Valentino got back on his M1 but Nicky ensured the third step of the podium while Vale finished ten places further: the Italian champion is no longer…

The following year, in 2007, the Yamaha rider had to give up, victim of a technical problem while he was fighting for second place in the championship … The Doc "got into the air" the day before during tests – a broken hand! – and finally leaves the "title" of vice-world champion to Dani Pedrosa, winner of this last race.

Released from all pressure, the new "Numero Uno" of the Intercontinental Circus should however return to the outposts on Sunday: "it’s not the best track for us, but I won with the Yamaha in our first year together and would like to do the same this weekend", recalls Vale.

With 357 points on the clock, Rossi is only 11 points off the record for the number of points scored in one season, but seems to find his motivation elsewhere: "I want to thank my team, Yamaha and Bridgestone for a fantastic season with the best possible result on Sunday. So we can have a big party!"A 10th victory for Valentino ?

Ducati or Honda ?

This year, Yamaha has been – by far – the strongest and most consistent: 386 points, ten wins (nine for Rossi and one for Lorenzo) and at least one rider on the podium in each race contested. Thus, the tuning forks firm has 90 points ahead of the second manufacturer … and 91 over the 3rd !

Because if for the world championship of pilots, the cause is heard between Casey Stoner (2nd with 255 points) and Dani Pedrosa (3rd with 229), the fight between their two manufacturers continues until the last race !

For the Italian, it is again Casey Stoner – despite his increasingly painful left hand – who will be the most likely to score the best result. "I hope my wrist doesn’t cause me as much trouble as it did in Sepang, in order to be ready to deliver a great race on Sunday and two solid days of testing Monday and Tuesday.", notes the" Number One ".

Unless, as in 2006 with Troy Bayliss, the victory in Valencia is obtained by a driver who was not expected ?

"Sure, I can’t say I’m very confident for this weekend after my recent results, but you never know", notes Marco Melandri. The Hedgehog of Ravenna is 17th in the championship with 51 points and can mathematically reach 13th place….

Conversely, the n ° 33 is only a small point ahead of Anthony West, last in the ranking of "holders" in MotoGP, whom Marco will replace next year within Team Kawasaki … "It would be good to end my season and my stint at Ducati with a good result"Melandri concludes. And above all, it would be good not to end the championship march…

At d’Antin, we count on the two drivers – also on the start – to record a good result. "Toni has not performed very well in the last two Grands Prix and I expect him to react with pride in front of his home crowd.", warns Fabiano Sterlacchini, the technical director of the Alice team..

"Honestly, Valencia is not one of my favorite tours", tries to moderate the Spanish star,"but riding in front of my audience obviously makes this race a special event". And we could be surprised by his performance, as we had been at Estoril in 2006…

As for Sylvain Guintoli, who will race next year in his adopted country in British Superbike riding a GSX-R, his boss "count on him to get a good result before his departure".

"Sad"to leave the round of the Intercontinental Circus, our national No. 50 wishes to demonstrate this weekend that he has his place in the premier class."I will do anything to come back in the future", promises Guintoli anyway !

The three Musketeers

At Honda, we can count on the "three musketeers" to get ahead of the first Ducati: Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden, respectively 3rd, 5th and 6th in the championship with 229, 161 and 144 points !

Winner of the Jerez and Catalonia events, Dani will try the pass of three: "there will be a lot of Spanish fans, and the Spanish want a Spanish winner", explains … the Spaniard, who won last year in Valencia.

Andrea Dovizioso, on the other hand, will do anything to deprive Spain of another victory this year and to add a fifth name to the short list of winners in 2008: a list featuring Rossi, Stoner and Pedrosa but above all Jorge Lorenzo, great rival of Andrea !

After spending three years fighting like rags in 250 cc, Dovi and Lorenzo continue to fight in MotoGP: arrived together this year, the two inseparable are fighting for the title of best rookie of the year … With 182 points against 161, the Spanish has a nice advantage which can however be quickly lost !

As proof, Lorenzo let many points slip away last week at Sepang with his slide forward: 16 points to be exact, Dovizioso having climbed – for the first time this season – on the podium. But for the podium, we will also have to count on Nicky, 4th in the same Malaysian race !

"I don’t wanna sound like a sentimental, but it’s gonna be touching"Says the American who has been riding Honda for nine years, including six on RCV!"For the past six years, the team has been a family to me: I was 21 when I arrived from Kentucky in Europe !", recalls the 2006 world champion.

"Since the RC51, I have ridden the most terrible motorcycles and I have worked with great engineers", underlines the one who will join Casey Stoner next year and ride a Ducati GP9 with a carbon frame, another"baddest bike"to tame…

Obviously, by qualifying Dani, Andrea and Nicky as musketeers, we secretly hope to see an d’Artagnan shine in the guise of … Randy de Puniet! Author of an average start and embarrassed by a painful wrist, the n ° 14 was able to secure 10th place after a magnificent battle against James Toseland last week in Malaysia (read).

Last year on his Kawa, the "Ninja" Randy climbed to 9th place in the race. This weekend, for the last fight of the year 2008, will the French and his Honda be able to interfere in the forefront? During practice there is a good chance, but it will be necessary to materialize on race day…

Some leave…

Besides Sylvain Guintoli, a second Frenchman will bid farewell to MotoGP on Sunday: Michelin! The Bibendum, "entered in the Motorcycle Grand Prix since the early 1970s, with 26 world crowns and 360 victories in the premier class", will perform his last round before leaving the track open to the sole manufacturer Bridgestone (read).

For the latter, the Auvergne manufacturer will offer a final bouquet that promises: the fight for the title of rookie of the year between Lorenzo and Dovizioso, coupled with a great battle between the Americans Hayden and Edwards for 6th place in the general classification. !

Like Guintoli, Anthony West is preparing to compete "one" last race in MotoGP before joining Johan Stigefelt’s team in Mondial Supersport next year, on a CBR600RR which will be, "able to win races", recently declared the Australian.

However, the n ° 13 does not permanently strike MotoGP from its plans: "2009 will be a year to refocus, try to impress in another championship. And if I get there, there’s no reason why I can’t come back to MotoGP afterwards !"

But Anthony can have good hopes, because we remember that he hit the headlines in Supersport last year. Replacing Kevin Curtain on the handlebars of the official R6 over three races, the guy was on the podium three times, including two on the top step! But don’t good results in Supersport open the door to Superbike instead? To check !

Shinya Nakano will also make his last laps as a starter in the MotoGP championship. Certainly, since the arrival of the "latest version" RCV – with the pneumatic valve return motor, in particular – in its box, we have seen an increase in the results of Super Shinya..

But this renewed vigor comes too late and the Japanese rider should join the Honda development team next year … Fortunately, to replace him in the hearts of Japanese fans, Takahashi will make his entry into MotoGP on the Honda deprived of its Scot team !

and others are coming back !

Great feeling of Valence even before the start of hostilities on the track: the official announcement of the return in 2009 of Sete Gibernau! Exclusively on its official website, the Intercontinental Circus is delighted to welcome a 5th Ducati for the next season.

Engaged this year in 125 cc with KTMs driven by Pablo Nieto and Raffaele de Rosa, the Onde 2000 team will therefore line up next year on the MotoGP grid with a "satellite" GP9 which will take on the black and gold decoration of the small cars. Katoches and will be wearing the number 59…

Indeed, customary of n ° 15, Sete Gibernau will not be able to wear his favorite number, it being already taken by Alex de Angelis. For the record, Sete would therefore have chosen the 59 in homage to his grandfather Francisco "Paco" Bultó, who, in 1959, produced his first "Bultaco" motorcycle….

And for the big history? See you on Monday for the last lap of the season, in which all the previously mentioned drivers – not to mention Vermeulen, Capirossi and Hopkins! – will all try to figure prominently !

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