HONDA RACING INFORMATION 2013 FIM Roadracing World Championship Grand Prix Round 18 of 18, Valencia Grand Prix, Circuit Ricardo Tormo 8/9/10 November 2013 Preview: MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 REPSOL HONDA ALL SET FOR FINAL SHOWDOWN The season-ending Valencia Grand Prix will be MotoGP’s biggest weekend in more than half a decade – the first time the World Championship has gone down to the wire since 2006. The Repsol Honda team has great memories of that weekend seven years ago, when its American rider Nicky Hayden secured the title ahead of Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) in a nerve-jangling finale. This weekend Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V) faces a similarly thrilling duel for the title with Rossi’s current Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo. Thus Sunday’s battle for supremacy is an all-Spanish affair which should guarantee a full house and an electric atmosphere at the stadium-style Spanish track. After 17 races, Marquez leads his compatriot by 13 points. If Lorenzo wins at Valencia, Marquez needs to finish at least fourth to secure the crown. If he does take the title, he will make history as the youngest winner of the premier-class championship in the 65-year history of the sport. The 20-year-old Marquez has already rewritten the record books this year – when he won April’s Grand Prix of the Americas he became the youngest rider to win a premier-class race. Since then he has won a further five victories, a record for a rookie. Marquez may be ahead in the title battle but he is still nursing injuries sustained in a morning warm-up crash at Motegi on October 27. Team-mate Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) is also looking for a strong finish to the 2013 season, which he will finish in third position, regardless of Sunday’s result. The former 250 and 125 World Champion had also featured in this year’s title battle, until bad luck once again conspired against him. In July he was leading the points chase when he crashed and broke a collarbone at the German Grand Prix. Even then he was still in with an outside chance of the title until an unlucky tumble at September’s Aragon Grand Prix effectively ended his hopes. In the past Valencia has been kind to both Repsol Honda men. Pedrosa has won no less than six GPs at the track: the MotoGP race in 2007, 2009 and 2012 (when he won in complicated wet/dry conditions, despite starting from pit lane), the 250 race in 2004 and 2005 and the 125 race in 2002. Marquez won last year’s Valencia Moto2 race, despite starting from the back row of the grid. Unfazed by tricky track conditions, he charged through the pack to win the race, a perfect ending to his title-winning season. Alvaro Bautista (Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini RC213V) and Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda RC213V) will enjoy their own duel on Sunday – to be the next best-placed Honda rider in the final standings. German Bradl had been ahead of his Spanish rival until an unlucky injury sustained during the Malaysian GP. Bradl missed the Malaysian and subsequent Australian races and arrives at Valencia 14 points behind Bautista who has been on excellent form since the middle of the season. In Japan Bautista’s fourth-place finish helped make history by completing the first all-Spanish top four in the premier class. That ride was another great performance from the former 125 World Champion who has only twice finished outside the top five in the last ten races. Bradl had also being showing excellent from until that spill at Sepang. His highlight of the year so far is his first MotoGP podium at Laguna Seca, where he made history as the first German to start a premier-class race from pole position. Australian Bryan Staring (GO&FUN Honda Gresini FTR Honda) comes to the end of his rookie MotoGP season hoping for another points-scoring ride on his CBR1000RR-powered CRT machine. The battle for the Honda-powered Moto2 World Championship may already be over, but that won’t take any of the thrills out of the last race of the season. Although Pol Espargaro (Tuenti HP40 Pons Kalex) wrapped up the Moto2 crown at the last race in Japan, he will be going all out to take his 11th and last win in the class before he graduates to MotoGP, commencing with his first test ride on a MotoGP bike during the post-Valencia tests. The same goes for Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex) who led so much of the championship chase until he crashed and broke his left wrist at last month’s Australian round. After having the injury pinned and plated, Redding returned to action in Japan, only to become an innocent victim of a first-lap pile-up, triggered by Esteve Rabat (Tuenti HP 40 Pons Kalex). Like Espargaro, Redding is moving up to MotoGP and will make his debut on a prototype of the Honda production racer he will race in 2014 during the post-Valencia tests. Rabat has been the other star of the 2013 Moto2 season, taking his first three victories in the class. He will want a fourth success to propel him towards the 2014 season, which he hopes to start as title favourite. Finn Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex) has already secured fourth place in the notoriously hard-fought series, but there’s a three-way battle for fifth overall in which Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert Suter), Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Suter) and Takaaki Nakagami (Italtrans Racing Team Kalex) are separated by six points. Of all the championship contests, the fiercest is unfolding in the Moto3 class, in which three riders have a chance of taking the title. The all-KTM trio of Luis Salom, Maverick Vinales and Alex Rins are covered by just five points, so whoever wins on Sunday will carry off the title. Although there are no Honda riders involved at the very top of the table, all of them will be trying to finish 2013 in style. Stand-out performer of the year on an NSF250R machine has been tough Aussie teenager Jack Miller (Caretta Technology – RTG FTR Honda), who lies seventh overall, just ahead of Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold FTR Honda). Romano Fenati (San Carlo Team Italia FTR Honda) will be doing everything in his powers to secure a place in the championship top ten. He is currently tenth overall, equal on points with KTM rider Jakub Kornfiel. Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo (named in honour of the late Ricardo Tormo, who won the 50cc World Championship in 1978) is a tight, technical and very asymmetric racetrack, dominated by left-handers, which places very different demands on the left and right sides of the tyres. Machine priorities are agile handling for the many changes of direction and edge grip – Valencia packs 14 corners into just 4 km (2.5 miles). The circuit is surrounded by grandstands, giving the venue a unique stadium feel. It is usually a hugely popular event with more than 200,000 fans expected over the weekend. Honda has enjoyed considerable success at Valencia, with five different riders winning the elite class on RCV machinery since the venue joined the MotoGP calendar in 1999: Alex Barros (2002), Rossi (2003), Marco Melandri (2005), Casey Stoner (2011) and Pedrosa (2007, 2009 and 2012). Honda MotoGP rider quotes Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda: “It’s been nice to have a week at home after a long three weeks away, after my accident in Motegi I’ve doing muscular rehabilitation on my neck in anticipation for the race, and it now feels much better. We’ve had good races in Valencia; I’ve always tried to give it my best there. I have fond memories of last year’s race in Moto2 but the weather will also be a factor to consider because it is very changeable. I’m already looking forward to getting back in the pit garage and getting on the bike! Obviously we know what is at stake in this final Grand Prix of the year, but we will – as ever – approach it as we have done every other race, and work hard from the Friday and do our best.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: “I’m looking forward to going to Valencia and racing in front of the home fans! We’ve had a long trip in Asia and it will be nice to race in Valencia again, where the atmosphere is always very special. Even though we are out of the championship now, I’ve had good results here in the past with many victories – including last year when we won after starting from the pits – and I want to end the season on a high.” Alvaro Bautista, Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini: “Japan was a good race for us even though it was a difficult weekend because of the weather, which limited track time and made it hard to find a set-up. We didn’t make a perfect start but made up positions well, so it was a shame that we were too far back to fight for the podium. Anyway, it was satisfying for us to finish as the top satellite bike with a factory rider behind us and in a way it is a shame that the season is finishing this weekend with us in such great form. Unfortunately we haven’t managed to finish on the podium this season but I maintain that we have been more competitive than last year and we have one more opportunity to show it this weekend at Valencia. It is a decisive race for the outcome of the championship but I also want to be running at the front and there to take advantage of any situation that could favour us. Valencia is tight and twisty, not one of my favourite circuits because you don’t get chance to make the most of the power of a MotoGP bike. We will need to work hard on the setting to make sure the bike handles well through the tight sections.” Stefan Bradl, LCR Honda MotoGP: “I am heading to Valencia with extra motivation after this tough period. In Japan I felt a little bit of pain during the race, when my right leg was kind of pumping the muscle, so fifth place was an extraordinary result, considering my conditions. The mobility of my ankle is better now but not yet at 100 per cent. I have continued my standard training programme since returning to Germany because I aim to finish the season with another positive result. Missing two races cost me a lot, including sixth position in the points standings. By the way, I think we have done a pretty good season, including my first podium at Laguna Seca.” Bryan Staring, GO&FUN Honda Gresini: “Valencia will be an important weekend for me. It is the last race of the season and I want to sign off with my best performance. Unfortunately the season has not met our expectations in terms of results and that is disappointing for myself and for the team. However, overall it has been an incredible experience for me and I would like to end it in the best possible way.” Moto2 rider quotes Pol Espargaro, Tuenti HP40 Pons: “I can’t wait for Valencia – it will be great to be able to race without thinking about the championship. It’s been an amazing year – I made some mistakes at the beginning but finally we got the title because the team and I never gave up. It was wonderful to win the crown in Japan, but before the trip I didn’t expect to win it there so I didn’t prepare any celebrations, so maybe we do something at Valencia!” Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team: “I was pretty banged up in the Motegi crash, so it’s been all about recovery since I got back home. The swelling on my lower back and right elbow means I haven’t been able to do any training since Japan, but both have improved over the last few days, so I should be good by the time I get to Valencia. This weekend will be my final race in Moto2 and my last appearance for the Marc VDS Racing Team, so I’m keen to finish the season with a good result at Valencia.” Esteve Rabat, Tuenti HP 40 Pons: “After what happened on the first lap at Motegi, I hope to have the chance of a good race at Valencia to complete this season. It will be the last race of 2013, but also in another way it will be the start of my work to prepare all the bases to fight for the 2014 championship. I was quite lucky when I crashed at Motegi – just some bruising and a knock on my head – so this will not affect me this weekend.” Honda Moto3 Rider quotes Jack Miller, Caretta Technology – RTG: “I think Valencia will be good. I think the track will be okay for us, even though we never really know until we get to a track. I like the circuit more than I like Motegi, anyway, and I hope to be fighting as close to the front as possible.” Alexis Masbou, Ongetta-Rivacold: “Valencia isn’t among my favorite tracks – I prefer fast, flowing tracks – it’s too slow for me. Anyway, we have an excellent bike, and since Malaysia we have got the settings right and we have been very fast. So the bike is working well and we’re working well, but, to be honest, I’m already working thinking about next season!” Romano Fenati, San Carlo Team Italia: “Valencia is the last race and everyone always wants to do well at the last race to give them good motivation into the winter. I don’t think it will be an easy track for us, but we will do our best and see how it goes.”
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 10:17:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015