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HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Grand Prix of San Marino at Misano

29, 30 and 31 August 2008

DANI DETERMINED TO CLAW BACK TITLE RIVALS

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V), chastened by
what was a disastrous Grand Prix in Brno two
weeks ago, is ready to take the fight to his
title rivals once more. It looks as if Valentino
Rossi (Yamaha) is out of sight in the World
Championship points table with 237 points to
Ducati rider Casey Stoner's 187 and Dani's 172.
But with six rounds and 150 points remaining nothing can be taken for granted.

The horrendous Czech Republic race, which
seriously derailed Dani's title hopes, has now
been consigned to the history books and with
Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) now rejoining
the Repsol Team after being sidelined with a foot
injury, Honda's main men are back at full
strength for the final clashes of the year.

This Grand Prix was a thorough disaster for Dani
and Nicky in 2007. Both were involved in a turn
one, lap one pile-up which ruined their races and
neither man will want a repeat of that scenario
this time round. Nor will Randy de Puniet (LCR
Honda RC212V) who was also involved.

After a testing session following on from the
Brno race, Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda Gresini
RC212V) has proved that he is still a force to be
reckoned with as he continues to perform strongly
while working on RC212V chassis developments.

His fourth place in the Czech Republic showed
that the Japanese rider's ambition of finishing
in the top six at the remaining six races of the
year is by no means too tall an order and as a
local rider (Shinya lives a mere 10km from the
track) he will be especially fired up this weekend.

Nakano's team-mate Alex de Angelis (San Carlo
Honda Gresini RC212V) is another entirely local
hopeful. The San Marinese man has shown massive
potential since his elevation to the premier
class from the 250cc category and he would like
nothing better than to snatch a podium here this weekend.

Another genuine local with high hopes this
weekend is Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda
RC212V) who is holding fifth place overall in the
points standings in what is turning out to be a
highly impressive rookie season. Dovi lies only
ten points behind Yamaha rookie Jorge Lorenzo and
there is never any lack of desire on Dovzioso's
part when it comes to getting the better of Lorenzo here or anywhere.

The Misano track was excised from the roster of
Grand Prix circuits after the terrible accident
that befell Wayne Rainey there in '93. The
American rider suffered spinal injuries in a
crash that ended his stellar career. Now with
massive changes made to this Rimini venue -
including a switch from anti-clockwise to
clockwise circulation - Misano is once more a Grand Prix fixture.

The three long lefts that characterized the ?old'
Misano are now three right-hand turns of
diminishing speed, whereas before the lefts led
onto the back straight and into another left
turn. With tyre and set-up data from last year's
race this Grand Prix will be marginally less
tricky than in 2007. But in the light of recent
tyre troubles for riders - perhaps not by much.

Now at 4.226km, after an extra 250m was added to
the pitlane exit to improve safety, the previous
lap records will be irrelevant and riders will be
vying to get their names on the books as the
quickest participants at this modified venue.

Dani said: "I'm hoping that we can have a better
weekend at Misano, though I had bad luck there
last year, another rider knocked me off at the
very first corner. The Misano circuit is quite
fast but it feels tight and narrow. The grip
level is OK and last year we used medium-compound
tyres because it was quite hot. The track was
also very bumpy last year, which was probably its
worst feature. From a set-up point of view the
most important thing at Misano is having good
braking power and good stability when
accelerating out of the corners. It's the kind of
track that requires you to ride aggressively."

Nicky said: "I'm certainly excited to be getting
back out there with the boys, because I hated
missing Brno. I've been seeing doctors and I'm
going to get some moulded support to wear in my
boot. I've been doing some training in the pool
and a few things at the gym, nothing too crazy.
Misano is almost a Laguna without the hills, it's
a tight little scrappy track where you need a
bike you can be aggressive with. I enjoyed it
last year but I'd just as soon they flipped it
back around and go the old direction for those
big lefts that used to go on to the back
straightaway, I remember seeing the old 500 guys riding those on TV."

De Angelis said: "Misano is not one of my
favourite tracks but I can't wait to ride in
front of my fans. My fan club will be taking up
an entire grandstand, decked in the colours of
the San Marino flag and giving me an extra push
to ride on the limit. From a technical point of
view everything is in place for a top performance
the Bridgestone tyres are really competitive and
last year at Misano they worked really well. On
paper the track looks as though it should be well
suited to our bike because there aren't any long
straights. Racing at home obviously provides an
extra motivation but we'll try to retain our
focus from the first session and not get carried away with the excitement."

Nakano said: "We had two days of really important
tests after the Czech GP, trying out a variety of
different settings with the new bike, which was
impossible during the race weekend. In particular
we found a front setting that should also prove
to be a good option at Misano. I know this
weekend's Grand Prix is very special for the team
and in a way it is like a second home race for me
too because I only live ten minutes away from the
track! I'll do everything I can to provide the
team with a good result and after that fourth
place at Brno it would be fantastic to get on the podium."

Dovizioso said: "This for me is my home Grand
Prix, so I am excited to run in front of my fans
and the many friends who wish me support on the
many internet forums. The track itself is pretty
slow, because there are many curves and the
straights are short, but this could help during the race.
Everyone is motivated to get a good result for
both the Italian public and for my Championship
position. Last year I went well in practice and
qualifying but then in the race I was a victim of
a mechanical problem, so I have unfinished business here."

De Puniet said: "Brno was a bad experience for me
and the crew but we must continue our job to find
a solution for front grip. We tested some
Michelin tyres there but we could not find any
important improvement. So we decided to end that
testing session early and proceed with our set-up
work in here at Misano. I like the track and we
need to work hard with HRC and Michelin to close
the gap to the fastest riders. We need to avoid
the troubles we suffered in Brno and I'm sure
Michelin is working hard to find a solution for
this weekend. We will have a lot of sponsors and
friends here and I absolutely want to be more
competitive like at Laguna Seca and Germany."