Various previews of the Jerez Grand Prix:

EVENT PREVIEW, SPANISH GRAND PRIX, JEREZ
March 28/29/30 2008, round 2 of 18

The 2008 MotoGP World Championship moves to Europe following its Middle East kick-off with Repsol Honda RC212V riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden determined to shine at the Spanish GP, arguably the most spectacular event of the MotoGP year.

Repsol Honda has a rich history of success at Jerez, with six wins recorded by Mick Doohan (1996), Alex Crivillé (1997, 1998 and 1999) and Valentino Rossi (2002 and 2003). Last year Pedrosa qualified on pole position and finished the race a close second. Hayden claimed a Spanish GP podium finish in 2006, his title-wining year.

Jerez is the first of local hero Pedrosa's three races on home tarmac this season, and the former 125 and 250 World Champion will be doing everything in his power to go one better than his 2007 Jerez result. Although he likes Jerez, Pedrosa has had mixed fortunes at the track - he won the 250 GP in 2005 but never made the podium in his three 125 GPs at Jerez. This time he knows he will be in the hunt again - earlier this month he electrified the Qatar GP with a spirited ride to third place from the third row of the grid, despite struggling with his recently broken right hand. At Jerez he's sure the hand will be close to 100 per cent.

Hayden is looking forward to getting back up front at Jerez, where last month he topped preseason tests with a stunning 1m 38.848s lap. The American, who rode to a determined tenth-place finish in Qatar, will run 2008 RC212Vs with a revised chassis at the Spanish round. Like his team-mate, Hayden loves the Spanish GP because it's one of the most atmospheric races on the MotoGP calendar, with a noisy and knowledgeable crowd. Last year 244,461 fans watched the action at Jerez, making it the second best-attended MotoGP event, after Brno, which attracted 245,039 spectators.

Jerez offers a great challenge for riders and engineers with an interesting variety of corners. Excellent machine balance is vital to allow riders to maintain high corner speed through the many long turns, the real secret to a quick Jerez lap. The fastest corners on the track - the Crivillé and Ferrari right-handers - lead into the slowest - the final hairpin, scene of many a thrilling last-lap duel. Constructed in 1986, Jerez hosted its first GP the following year and quickly became popular with riders, teams and fans. Honda has won 15 of the 21 premier-class GPs at Jerez.

Dani Pedrosa
"I've been training since Qatar to get back to full strength and I hope my right hand should be 100 per cent at Jerez. It's a very important race for me and I really enjoy it. What I like most about racing at Jerez is the huge crowd and the great atmosphere, it's always very special to race there because you can really feel the crowd, especially through the Nieto and Peluqui corners where the fans are really close. There's a lot of commotion, you can see everyone and that's great. But the big crowd does have its negative side - I can't get around the paddock easily, which can make it difficult to do my job. I like everything about the circuit, though maybe the Sito Pons corner onto the back straight is the most beautiful corner. The last part of the circuit is the most important when you're chasing good lap times - the two fast right-hand curves approaching the end of the lap are crucial. The track is quite safe, though it could be improved in a few areas. There are a few bumps too, though not too many, and the tarmac offers good grip. Top speed doesn't matter too much at Jerez, what you need is an engine that looks after the tyres. But above all you need a very well balanced chassis that allows you to brake hard and tackle both fast and slow corners. It's a circuit that requires quite an aggressive riding style."

Nicky Hayden
"Qatar wasn't a great weekend for us but we'll be working hard to move on from that at Jerez. Our bike should work good at Jerez and in the past the Michelin tyres have worked really good there. I think it's a cool track and it's not a top-speed track. I like tracks where you've got to put sections together, and Jerez all flows together pretty good. The atmosphere is pretty cool - you come into the stadium section [the Nieto and Peluqui turns] on Sunday morning and it's wild. Nowadays you can design a racetrack on the computer, you can do whatever you want - make that, generate this, design that - you can use every trick in the book, but if the place don't have that atmosphere, money can't buy that. Even if a racetrack gives tickets away you can't guarantee the atmosphere you get at Jerez - there's explosions going off, it just wild and that's what makes it so good. From a riding point of view you definitely need edge grip for all the long corners and you need a bike that steers good in those long corners. It's a good tracks and one of my favourites. But it's the atmosphere that really makes it - if you haven't been there you need to go."

JEREZ CIRCUIT
Opened: 1899
Modified : 2002
Circuit Length 4.423km (2.747 miles)
Longest straight: 0.600km (0.373 miles)
Track width: 11m
Pole Position: Left
Right corners: 8
Left corners: 5

2007 RACE: 1° V.Rossi (Yamaha), 2° D.Pedrosa (Honda), 3° C.Edwards (Yamaha)
2007 Pole Position Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1m 39.402s
Circuit Record Lap Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1m 40.596s - 2005
Circuit Best Lap: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 1'39.064 - 2006

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Friday Mar 21 2008
Round 2 - Jerez GP - Preview

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM RETURN TO EUROPE FOR SPANISH CLASSIC

After a fantastic opening to the 2008 season under the floodlights of Qatar, where the Losail circuit played host to another masterclass from Casey Stoner, MotoGP returns to Europe this weekend for one of its classic fixtures - the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez de la Frontera.

Despite setting the fastest lap in wet conditions during the Official Test here in February, when he also found excellent race pace in the dry, the reigning World Champion is also aware that the Andalusian track is one of only four venues where he didn't manage a podium finish on his way to the title last season.

However, Stoner is not the type to look at past results - be they good or bad - and he is ready to work 100% with his team to achieve the highest possible finish this time out.

Stoner's team-mate Marco Melandri heads to Spain in the same spirit after finding a good feeling and rhythm with his GP8 during the second half of the race in Qatar. He can't wait for the next Grand Prix as he targets continued improvements.

A fortnight ago, Casey Stoner and Marco Melandri attended the international media launch of the new Bridgestone Battlax BT-016 tyre at Jerez using a Ducati 848 equipped with the new hypersport tyres (photos attached)

LIVIO SUPPO, MotoGP Project Director
"Last year Jerez was one of the most difficult races for Casey but during both tests here in November and February he managed to improve his performance a lot and ended up very fast in both sessions. He is in incredible form, as he showed in the first GP in Qatar. His confidence in the bike and tyres is definitely even higher than it was a year ago so I think that at Jerez he can also be amongst the frontrunners. We're also expecting an improved performance from Marco, who we think learnt a lot in the first race. There is no doubting his talent - it is only three races since the penultimate round of 2007 at Sepang when he produced an outstanding display to finish second behind Casey. Now, with the improved feeling he found with the Desmosedici during the race in Qatar, I'm sure the results will start to come for him too."

CASEY STONER, Ducati Marlboro Team
"You could say that Jerez last year wasn't one of our best races, but winter testing went well there and with the general improvements we've made since last year I think we can be competitive next weekend. We worked well with the Bridgestone technicians there and tested a lot of different types of tyre, so we should be well prepared to pick the right one for the race. There are a lot of riders who have started the season strongly, especially the rookies, amongst them riders who will want more of the same and riders racing at home, so they'll be very motivated. We just have to try and make sure we do our job well and then try to achieve the best result possible."

MARCO MELANDRI, Ducati Marlboro Team
"Jerez is one of the circuits where we did a lot of testing in the winter and where we tried a lot of different set-up solutions. It is quite a demanding circuit but for me the first race was very important to understand certain things, more than we'd managed during the tests. I definitely have to decide on a direction during practice and follow it without making too many modifications so that we're ready when the moment arrives to put in a qualifying tyre. Starting closer to the front gives you the chance to be fast from the first laps, something we couldn't do in Qatar. The first race certainly wasn't at the level we want to be at but there were positives to take out of it, especially in the second half, so we have to keep working because we can and must improve."

THE TRACK
Built in 1986, Jerez hosted its first Grand Prix the following year and has stayed on the World Championship calendar ever since. It is a race that the majority of riders look forward too thanks to the special atmosphere created by the Spanish fans and the characteristics of the circuit layout, which reward good riding. Many of the 13 corners flow into each other, requiring a precise and smooth racing line and a well-balanced machine set-up. The track also demands good front grip, whilst a host of slower corners also oblige the riders to control the rear wheel as it slides under acceleration on the exit. The latest resurfacing took place six years ago and the circuit infrastructure was also given a recent facelift.

Circuit Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha - 2005) 1'40.596 - 158.284 km/h
Best Pole: Loris Capirossi (Ducati - 2006) 1'39.064 - 160.732 km/h
Circuit Length: 4.423 km.
MotoGP Race 2008: 27 laps (119,421 km)
MotoGP Schedule 2008: 14:00 CET

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM - RIDER INFO

CASEY STONER
Age: 22 (born 16th October 1985)
Residence: Montecarlo
Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP8
GP appearances: 96 (35xMotoGP, 31x250, 30x125)
GP victories: 18 (11xMotoGP, 5x250, 2x125)
First GP victory: Valencia, 2003 (125)
First GP: Great Britain, 2001 (125)
Pole positions: 10 (6xMotoGP, 2x250, 2x125)
First pole position: Italy, 2003 (125)
World titles: 1 (MotoGP, 2007)

MotoGP track record at Jerez:
2007: Grid - 5th; Race - 5th
2006: Grid - 15th; Race - 6th

MARCO MELANDRI
Age: 25 (born 7th August 1982 in Ravenna, Italy)
Residence: Derby, UK
Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP8
GP appearances: 156 (80xMotoGP, 47x250, 29 x 125)
GP victories: 22 (5xMotoGP, 10x250, 7x125)
First GP victory: Holland, 1998 (125)
First GP: Czech Republic, 1997 (125)
Pole positions: 9 (6x250, 3x125)
First pole position: Germany, 1998 (125)
World titles: 1 (250, 2002)

MotoGP track record at Jerez:
2007: Grid - 9th; Race - 8th
2006: Grid - 7th; Race - 5th
2005: Grid - 3rd; Race - 3rd
2004: Grid - 11th; Race - DNF

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