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Posted: 10/24/06
09:27 AM
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From a MotoGP press release ...
After a magnificent season and one of the most exciting races of all time in the last race at Estoril, the breathtaking 2006 MotoGP World Championship will go right down to the wire. The final race of the year, the Gran Premio bwin.com de la Comunitat Valenciana, will welcome a sell-out crowd into the Ricardo Tormo circuit ready to see either Valentino Rossi or Nicky Hayden take the ultimate accolade in motorcycle racing.
The five-time MotoGP World Champion Rossi leads the championship for the first time this season, and could not have chosen a better race to enter with an 8 point advantage. The Italian has made an outstanding comeback against all odds after a series of DNFs gave him his worst ever start to a premier class season. Since his last mechanical failure at Laguna Seca, the reigning World Champion has been on a run of five consecutive podium finishes, his last victory coming in Malaysia at the start of the triple flyaway. In its simplest form, if Rossi can make it six wins this season at Valencia, or finishes above rival Nicky Hayden in the race, then he will take a sixth consecutive premier class title and become the only champion of the 990cc MotoGP era. There are also possibilities based on Hayden finishing ahead of the Camel Yamaha rider.
Having led the championship for nearly the entire season, Nicky Hayden suffered a crushing blow in Portugal when team-mate Dani Pedrosa took him out of the race on lap five. Hayden has offered the opinion that the Spaniard could make it up to him with a second place at the Cheste circuit this weekend, which combined with a Hayden win would send the crown to Kentucky. For the first time this year, the title is out of the American’s hands, and the 51-point advantage that Hayden held after his last win at Laguna Seca has been slowly converted into the current 8 point deficit. With nothing left to lose, the Repsol Honda rider will be going all-out in what may be his best ever chance of a premier class title.
Although a discreet result in Portugal ended Marco Melandri’s title hopes, the Italian could still catch Hayden for second place. 19 points behind his American rival, the rider who recently renewed his contract with Fausto Gresini’s team for 2007 will have last year’s race in Valencia fresh in his mind, where he took glory and edged out Hayden to become the 2005 MotoGP World Championship runner up.
Loris Capirossi, one of the season’s outstanding performers, also saw the mathematical possibility of a title slip away at Estoril. Capirossi is the only other rider apart from Hayden and Rossi to lead the championship this season, and will hope to cement Ducati’s best ever finish in the series by sneaking third from Melandri.
As mentioned previously, Dani Pedrosa will want to make amends for the all-Repsol Honda crash in the last round by helping his team-mate win in the Spanish rookie’s home country. His final race on a 990cc machine before the introduction of new rules which could favour Pedrosa’s build and style more, he will be eager to show the kind of riding that left him with a possibility of maiden season glory until lap five in Portugal.
Kenny Roberts Jr’s season has continued to improve alongside his KR211V bike. As new parts have been added and chassis modified, the American has climbed up the standings to currently lie in sixth. Roberts was even battling for the win until the very last lap at round 16, admitting later that he was expecting to see the chequered flag one lap earlier than it appeared.
The aftermath of Estoril created much excitement in the premier class, with a number of developments on Sunday night. Lucio Cecchinello confirmed last Monday that it would be all change in his LCR Honda team next season, with Casey Stoner leaving the team and veteran Carlos Checa moving to the Italian’s one-rider outfit.
Speculation abounds as to the future of Herve Poncharal’s Tech 3 Yamaha team as a result of the switch, whilst Stoner later confirmed that he will race for Ducati in a one year deal with the option of an additional season.
Surprise victor on Portuguese soil Toni Elias has also renewed his contract with Fausto Gresini, once again accompanying Marco Melandri next season.
Sete Gibernau will miss his home race after breaking one of the plates inserted into his collarbone when he crashed with Stoner two weeks ago. The Spaniard has already been forced out of four races this season after the spectacular crash in Catalunya back in June, three of those times replaced by Alex Hofmann in the Ducati Marlboro team. However, it is Troy Bayliss, the rider who lined up for Ducati’s first MotoGP outing in 2003, who will give the 990cc Desmosedici its final run-out.
Practice for the Gran Premio bwin.com de la Comunitat Valenciana get underway on Friday, with the crucial MotoGP race taking place on Sunday at 2pm local time (GMT+1 after clocks go back on Sunday morning).
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