Ducati team duo in high revs for Portuguese Grand Prix – MotoGP News
The MotoGP 2011 season is coming back in action after an unpredicted gap between the events, caused by the postponement of the Japanese Grand Prix at the Motegi Twin circuit.
The action was taken when Japan was hit by a devastating earthquake which triggered a dangerous tsunami, leaving the nation in deep sorrow.
The third event of the MotoGP season, bwin Grande Premio de Portugal is scheduled for May 1 and the Ducati duo is ready for the Estoril to give a winning performance. The Portuguese track is well known for its unpredictable weather, as the circuit spans
between the hills with just seven kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean.
The track is full of contrasting conditions, where it has tight turns, dropping the average top speed compared to other tracks and on the other side it has one of the longest stretches of all the tracks included in the MotoGP season. Turn 5 is a prominent
section of the track which holds the cornering speed up to 200kmh.
Several times MotoGP World Champion, Valentino Rossi of Ducati has massive experience with the Estoril track. He has won five times out of his eleven starts on the track in his tremendous career. Rossi holds five podium finishes in other occasions.
Rossi explained his view, “We’ve had three weekends without a race so I was able to unwind for a while following the GP12 test at Jerez, although I continued training to help my physical recovery. Now we go to Estoril, a track I quite like, where we’ll continue
working on the GP11’s setup, particularly during the test on Monday.”
Rossi is lingering from his shoulder accident, experiencing lack of strength in his arm. The Italian’s performance has been affected by his poor physical status and could not even get a podium place in first two rounds of the 2011 season.
The American rider for Ducati, Nicky Hayden has had a fourth place finish on the track in 2007, his best at Estoril. Hayden will be looking to grab another podium place in continuity to his third place finish at the Jerez circuit.
Hayden shared some words, “Three weeks off seemed like a long time, so I’m looking forward to getting back with the team. The Estoril circuit has some pretty tight, narrow places, but I’d say my favourite part is the fast kink on the back straightaway. We
raced there recently in October but the weekend was completely wet until the race.”
Ducati rider, Hayden is expecting to have a good weather day so that the team can have better testing time and a dry track for the race. The team is working hard to score some good numbers from this race and Hayden seems already looking forward to the test
trial on Monday, just after race day.
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