A small respite in the middle of a hectic season brings the MotoGP world to a standstill. But normal traffic will resume as the series heads to Britain, and to Donington Park for the bwin.com British Grand Prix, on the 22nd of June. The stakes are high as teams look to make amends for their mistakes and top most on the list will be championship leader, Valentino Rossi.
Rossi has turned Donington into his very own home as he has won five out of his last eight appearances at the track. Rossi will be turning out on his 200th Grand Prix appearance of his career and will be looking to make the occasion even more memorable. The Italian has had a stellar run with six podium finishes from his first seven races of 2008. His run has included three consecutive victories in China, France and Italy. Although he only managed a second place in Catalunya, starting from ninth on the grid, his performance was one that displayed a vintage Valentino Rossi.
Dani Pedrosa, the winner at the last round in Spain, trails Rossi by 7 points as we head into round 7 of the championships. The Spaniard, from the Repsol Honda Team, has only finished once amongst the podium places, this season. But ignore him at your own peril as this rider has shown his mettle with a 2006 victory at Donington Park. To Pedrosa’s benefit, Honda will have the advantage of some extra power in their engines as their new pneumatic valve engines underwent a test run at Catalunya. With favourable results, the team is ready to latch it on to Pedrosa’s bike but the final decision on the engine will only be taken on the evening before the actual event.
Jorge Lorenzo was unable to participate in the Spanish Grand Prix after suffering a bad crash on Friday. Lorenzo, third in the title race, was unable to make up ground in Catalunya and despite suffering a concussion, he will be ready to ride in Donington. Lorenzo has had a fantastic start to his 800cc career but with two disappointing races, on the last two race weekends, have left his title challenge in tatters.
The defending World Champion, Casey Stoner, is taking things one at a time. The Aussie won the Donington race last year and knows the track like the back of his hands. He has hit a purple patch of sorts and has ample experience backing his title shot. Stoner was also a part of the British National Championship and has a strong foothold on the track under a variety of conditions.
Colin Edwards was on the finishing Podium last year and is the highest placed satellite rider in the 800cc class. Riding with the Tech 3 Yamaha Team, the ‘Texas Tornado’ has swiveled quite a few heads with his resurgent performances this season. He is at 5th place in the standings, just ahead of Andrea Dovizioso, who in his rookie year has made a lot of positive waves.
James Toseland will be considered as one of the riders to watch out for as he takes part in his first MotoGP appearance on home soil. He has won with the superbikes on the Donington Park track but as the local hero, he will aim to become the first British premier class victor at the circuit.
The top ten is completed by Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi, Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden and San Carlo Honda Gresini veteran Shinya Nakano.
Capirossi suffered a broken finger after his crash in Spain and therefore, will not get the chance to add to his points’ tally. The team’s replacement for Capirossi, Ben Spies, will be receiving an earlier than expected debut when the riders go out on the 22nd of July, to battle it out there at Donington Park.