San Carlo Honda Gresini Mugello Preview

The third Grand Prix in as many weekends gets underway this Friday as the MotoGP World Championship paddock moves straight from Sachsenring to Mugello. After starting from the back of the grid in Germany Alvaro Bautista is looking forward to things getting back to normal in Italy at the home Grand Prix for Team San Carlo Honda Gresini. Bautista's goal is to continue making the progress he has shown in recent weeks, which culminated with a charge through the pack to fight for fifth last Sunday, and capitalise on the confidence he has found with the Honda RC213V. Michele Pirro also has a score to settle after failing to finish the German race due to a technical problem, despite having shown a high level of performance throughout practice. The Team San Carlo Honda Gresini CRT rider will now be looking to get the most out of his FTR machine powered by Honda in his own home race at Mugello, an important round for the team and sponsors.

Alvaro Bautista “Sachsenring was a strange and unique race for me. Starting from the back of the grid is not easy but after a tough start to the race I found my pace, made up ground and ended up fighting to finish fifth. This experience will serve us well for Mugello even though the characteristics of the circuit are very different to Sachsenring. It will be very important to find a good setting if we want to be competitive otherwise you really struggle at this track. I really want to have a good race because this is a very important event for the team. I am sure that the progress we have made over the last few races will see us back in the lead group in Italy.”

Michele Pirro “I am still upset about the technical problem that forced me to retire from the race in Germany but I am also confident that the guys will be able to study the data and make sure we don't suffer this issue again. It was a real shame because I am sure that without it I could have been fighting to be the top CRT at Sachsenring. We will make up for it at Mugello, a circuit where we are obliged to do well in front of our home crowd and sponsors. I am excited about it and can't wait to get on track and see how competitive our bike is there. The bike is still new and every track is a discovery but on paper Sachsering was not going to suit us and we showed we could be competitive there so that gives us a lot of confidence. I really want to have a great race because a lot of people are coming from my hometown of San Giovanni Rotondo to support me at Mugello.”

Fausto Gresini “We knew Sachsenring was going to be a tough race but Alvaro stayed upbeat and produced an extraordinary performance. Despite starting from the back of the grid he found the motivation to recover positions and achieve a great result. It was exciting to watch and I think Germany just proved the progress we have made lately and it should give Alvaro the confidence to have another good weekend at Mugello. He likes the track and if we can find a good setting for the bike he can be back up at the front again. Michele also has plenty of reasons and motivation to do well at Mugello and to put behind him the disappointment of Sachsenring. In front of a lot of friends and fans on a circuit that should suit our CRT bike Michele should be able to fight to be the top CRT and bring a good result home for the team. The Italian Grand Prix is always very important to our team. It will be an exciting weekend and we are looking forward to sharing it with San Carlo and all our other partners who share in and support this project.”

San Carlo Honda Gresini Press Release

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Karel Abraham also pulls out of Italian Grand Prix at Mugello on doctors’ advice

Karel Abraham has taken his doctors’ advice to pull out of the MotoGP race at Mugello in Italy, which takes place on the weekend of July 13th – 15th. Franco Battaini, who started for the team at Sachsenring will not be racing in Italy. Cardion AB Motoracing will therefore probably be unable to enter into the race any replacement rider.

Karel Abraham, rider for Cardion AB Motoracing

“Unfortunately, the hand is still not 100%, and I have to respect the doctor’s advice that I shouldn’t needlessly put it under excessive strain. I’m going to physiotherapy, trying to do some training, and I believe that the two weeks before the race at Laguna Seca will be enough to ensure I’m 100% ready. I’m really disappointed that I’ve lost out on a series of perhaps the best races of the entire championship: Silverstone, Assen, Sachsenring and Mugello are tracks that I really love, and also places that I’ve done quite well at in the past. Laguna Seca is another on the list, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be back racing by then.”

Karel Abraham snr., team manager of Cardion AB Motoracing

“Franco Battaini did a good job at Sachsenring, and if it was up to us, we’d have liked to give him another opportunity at Mugello. The problem for us is that Franco is first and foremost a test rider. Ducati have got him testing after the race at Mugello, and the factory want to make sure he’s 100% focused on that task. Currently there are five riders in the world who have experience with the Ducati Desmosedici GP12, and the factory would have no issue letting them start. Besides Rossi, Hayden, Barbera and Kája, that leaves us only Battaini. To use another rider would theoretically be possible, but we’d have to get the go-ahead from Ducati, the racing teams association - IRTA, and the promoter Dorna. To find such a rider is a tall order, and bearing in mind the little amount of time before the race, it’s unlikely we’ll be using any replacement rider.“

Cardion AB Ducati Press Release

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Lorenzo and Spies are Ready for Mugello

The MotoGP paddock arrives in Tuscany this week for the third consecutive race weekend in a row, the Grand Prix of Italy at the Mugello circuit. Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo prepares for the weekend after an incident packed previous two races which saw him first lose his 25 point Championship advantage over Casey Stoner, then regain a 14 point lead over new second placed rider Dani Pedrosa. The Mugello circuit is a favourite for Lorenzo, having taken victory in the 250cc class, two second place premier class finishes in 2009 and 2010 and his first Grand Prix premier class win last year. 

Team mate Ben Spies heads to Mugello having valiantly battled against tyre issues in the last two races, intent on finding a set up solution to eliminate the issue in Italy. His first visit to the Tuscany circuit provided an entertaining battle, running as high as fourth at times before finishing in seventh in 2010. Last year saw another strong fight with the Texan eventually finishing just off the podium in fourth place. 

The Mugello circuit is one of the fastest tracks on the MotoGP Calendar. With a straight of over a kilometer in length fans can expect to see some incredible speeds as the 1000cc prototypes race there for the first time. The rest of the track is guaranteed to provide exciting racing with varied camber and gradient changes and high speed chicanes set on an extra wide track with many overtaking possibilities.

Jorge Lorenzo

“After two very difficult race weekends we arrive at Mugello, where we delivered a great victory last year. I love the track; it’s very fast and should be a good one for our bike. I’m very happy to be leading the Championship but we still have many races to go so our target is to again aim for the podium and victory if it is possible.”

Ben Spies

“Sachsenring was a very difficult race for us, with the different weather conditions it proved to be hard to find the right set up. Having found something that worked on Sunday we were then unfortunately compromised by a lack of side grip so were unable to ride to our full potential. Mugello is a much faster track which should suit our bike well so I can’t wait to get started on Friday.”

Yamaha Factory Racing Press Release

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