Brno, Czech Republic Review

Circuit Name : Brno

Opened : 1987

Lap Record : 1' 58.787 ( Valentino Rossi, 2005)

Fastest Lap Ever : 1' 56.191 ( Valentino Rossi, 2006)

Modified : 2002

Pole Position : Left

Length : 4423m

Turns : 13 (left:5 right:8)

Width : 11m Spectator

capacity around : 140000

A one-time road circuit the current track at Brno was built in 1987. Built in a natural amphitheatre it offers great viewing from many areas around the circuit. Your passes as well as giving you a reserved grandstand will also give you access to the whole circuit including the underpasses which allow you to wander right around the track and give you a great view from many points.

Lights go out!

With a reputation for close finishes (just look at the 2003 event) this event is a riders favourite, always producing great racing. By this stage of the Season everyone should be up to speed and the racing is bound to be some of the best. Add to this a fanatical crowd and you have a truly classic race meeting.

Our hotel for this event is 4 Star and situated close to the city centre. The nightlife in Brno is excellent and this hotel makes for a great centre from which to make the most of it. Transfers to and from the circuit are also included within your package.

Whether your first bike racing holiday or your 50th, Brno should be high on every bike racing fans list of must do’s.

Where is the circuit located?

Automotodrom Brno is situated in the locality of Kývalka, 16km from Brno and 2km from D1 Highway Prague - Brno

Shedule Moto GP 2008

Print

No	Tanggal	Seri	Sirkuit	Juara
1	Minggu, 09/03/2008	MotoGP Qatar	Losail	Stoner
2	Minggu, 30/03/2008	MotoGP Jerez	Jerez	Pedrosa
3	Minggu, 13/04/2008	MotoGP Portugal	Estoril	Lorenzo
4	Minggu, 04/05/2008	MotoGP Cina	Shanghai	Rossi
5	Minggu, 18/05/2008	MotoGP Prancis	Le Mans	Rossi
6	Minggu, 01/06/2008	MotoGP Italia	Mugello	Rossi
7	Minggu, 08/06/2008	MotoGP Catalunya	Montmello	Pedrosa
8	Minggu, 22/06/2008	MotoGP Inggris	Donington Park	Stoner
9	Sabtu, 28/06/2008	MotoGP Belanda	Assen	Stoner
10	Minggu, 13/07/2008	MotoGP Jerman	Sachsenring	Stoner
11	Minggu, 20/07/2008	MotoGP AS	Laguna Seca	Rossi
12	Minggu, 17/08/2008	MotoGP Republik Ceko	Brno
13	Minggu, 31/08/2008	MotoGP San Marino	Misano
14	Minggu, 14/09/2008	MotoGP Indianapolis	Indianapolis
15	Minggu, 28/09/2008	MotoGP Jepang	Motegi
16	Minggu, 05/10/2008	MotoGP Australia	Phillip Island
17	Minggu, 19/10/2008	MotoGP Malaysia	Sepang
18	Minggu, 26/10/2008	MotoGP Valencia	Valencia

Unpredictable Result, On Sachsenring German

The Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa successfully and wins in Moto GP Sachsenring German.On second place Loris Capirossi the Ducati Riders up on Podium. Then On third Podium, the Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden with 41:16.771.

The Fiat Yamaha rider slid off on the fifth lap while trying to overtake Randy de Puniet's Kawasaki for sixth place. The Italian ended up on the gravel, tried to restart his bike but couldn't and retired. He now lies 31 points behind Stoner which ailed to capitalise, in fifth in sweltering conditions.

Pedrosa made a perfect start from second on the grid to take the lead at the first turn. He was followed by Stoner, who on the third lap attempted a passing manoeuvre on the Spaniard but instead went wide and slotted back again into second.

On the same lap Carlos Checa fell off his Honda LCR but managed to retake the track. The next lap saw Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen forced to have a ride-through from 15th place for jumping the start.

When Rossi retired from the race, Stoner seemed content with his second place. He kept Honda Gresini's Marco Melandri behind for 15 laps, but on lap 20 the Italian was all over him, making two unsuccessful overtaking attempts.

Capirossi, who was right behind Melandri, decided to take two birds with one stone by overtaking Stoner and Melandri in just one move for second place at the first corner on lap 21.

The next two laps saw Stoner dropping to fifth place by being passed first by Melandri and then by Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden.

The reigning world champion had a fine race from 14th place and immediately started making up positions. He was seventh by lap 15 and ultimately finished in third place, 16 seconds behind his winning teammate.

Fiat Yamaha's Colin Edwards also had a good race that saw him following Hayden throughout, with the former starting in 13th place and ending up fourth.

Rizla Suzuki's John Hopkins finished seventh, followed by Anthony West on Kawasaki, Alex Hofmann on the d'Antin Ducati, and Michel Fabrizio - standing in for Toni Elias at Honda Gresini - rounding up the top ten.

Pedrosa was overwhelmed after taking his first victory in more than a year.

"I'm so happy," he told BBC Sport. "I want to thank all the team. I feel great and this is a result I want to give to all the fans who have supported me."

Capirossi, who has been linked with a move away from Ducati, secured his best finish of the season.

His high finish was all the more surprising given that other riders using Bridgestone tyres struggled.

"I wouldn't say it was easy but I made a different choice of tyres to the other Bridgestone riders," said the 34-year-old.

"It was really difficult because the temperature was so hot. At the beginning, I just tried not to do too much and it turned out to be a great race for me."

On his Ducati future, he added: "I expect some answers from Ducati because I've been with them a long time."

Classified:

 Pos  Rider             Bike      Time

 1.  Daniel Pedrosa    Honda     41:53.196

 2.  Loris Capirossi   Ducati    +  13.166

 3.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     +  16.771

 4.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    +  18.299

 5.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    +  31.426

 6.  Marco Melandri    Honda     +  31.917

 7.  John Hopkins      Suzuki    +  33.395

 8.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  +  41.194

 9.  Alex Hofmann      Ducati    +  43.214

10.  Michel Fabrizio   Honda     +  44.459

11.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    +1:01.894

12.  Kurtis Roberts    KR        +1:10.721

13.  Makoto Tamada     Yamaha    +  2 laps

14.  Carlos Checa      Honda     +  3 laps

 Not classified:

      Rider             Bike      Laps

     Randy de Puniet   Kawasaki  29

     Shinya Nakano     Honda     19

     Alex Barros       Ducati    9

     Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    5

     Sylvain Guintoli  Yamaha    3

Pole Position On Moto GP Sachsenring Germany

Casey Stoner, who has topped all sessions of the weekend so far at Sachsenring, set a time of 1:22.384 with his Marlboro Ducati.

Four thousandths of a second behind Stoner was Dani Pedrosa in second spot. The Repsol Honda rider ended the session just nine thousandths ahead of Marco Melandri on his Honda Gresini.

Randy de Puniet, who held top spot for a long time in the session, qualified his Kawasaki in fourth place, before crashing against the barriers after a run through a gravel trap as the session ended.

John Hopkins' Rizla Suzuki qualified fifth, while Valentino Rossi could only set the sixth fastest time, 0.221 seconds behind Stoner.

The Fiat Yamaha rider often bettered the Australian's time in the first three sectors of the track, but lost all the advantage and more in the fourth and last one.

Loris Capirossi could not reaffirm the good form he showed this morning, when he had set the second fastest time with his Ducati, and could only qualify in seventh spot.

Pramac d'Antin Ducati's Alex Barros qualified eighth, followed by Sylvain Guintoli on Yamaha Tech 3 and Shinya Nakano rounding up the top ten with his Konica Minolta Honda. Nicky Hayden n only 14th spot, over seven tenths behind pole.

Result Qualifiing

Pos  Rider             Bike      Time
1.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    1:22.384
 2.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     1:22.388  + 0.004
 3.  Marco Melandri    Honda     1:22.397  + 0.013
 4.  Randy de Puniet   Kawasaki  1:22.539  + 0.155
 5.  John Hopkins      Suzuki    1:22.561  + 0.177
 6.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    1:22.605  + 0.221
 7.  Loris Capirossi   Ducati    1:22.615  + 0.231
 8.  Alex Barros       Ducati    1:22.897  + 0.513
 9.  Sylvain Guintoli  Yamaha    1:22.958  + 0.574
10.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     1:22.969  + 0.585
11.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    1:23.049  + 0.655
12.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  1:23.056  + 0.672
13.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    1:23.090  + 0.706
14.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     1:23.151  + 0.767
15.  Carlos Checa      Honda     1:23.182  + 0.798
16.  Alex Hofmann      Ducati    1:23.199  + 0.815
17.  Michel Fabrizio   Honda     1:23.491  + 1.107
18.  Makoto Tamada     Yamaha    1:23.744  + 1.360
19.  Kurtis Roberts    KR        1:24.209  + 1.825

GERMAN MOTO GP 2007 SCHEDULE

Friday 13 July 2007

125cc Free Practice 1 09:00-09:45

MotoGP Free Practice 1 10:00-11:00

250cc Free Practice 1 11:15-12:15

125cc Qualifying 1 13:05-13:35

MotoGP Free Practice 2 13:50-14:50

250cc Qualifying 1 15:05-15:50

Saturday 14 July 2007

125cc Free Practice 2 09:00-09:45

MotoGP Free Practice 3 10:00-11:00

250cc Free Practice 2 11:15-12:15

125cc Qualifying 2 13:05-13:35

MotoGP Qualifying 1 13:50-14:50

250cc Qualifying 2 15:05-15:50

Sunday 15 July 2007

125cc Warm-Up 08:40-09:00

250cc Warm-Up 09:10-09:30

MotoGP Warm-Up 09:40-10:05

125cc Race 11:00-1

Ducati Optimist on Sachsenring Germany

Ducati believe that they will good perform at the Sachsenring despite the circuit layout not playing to the strengths of their bike

Team boss Livio Suppo said: "The Sachsenring is quite a strange circuit, quite tight in places with no big straights, but we have always gone quite well there.

"We go into this race feeling fairly confident of a good result, and during this period of the season there are several circuits that suit our package, so that is a positive for us."

Loris Capirossi believes that the track will be easier on this year's 800cc machines, in comparison to the 990cc bikes that were raced until this year.

"We have been making some improvements to the bike in recent races, and I think the track will be more fun on the 800 than it was on the 990," he said

"The new bikes are a bit more nimble, so they are a bit faster into the corners and through the corners."

World championship leader Casey Stoner believes that Ducati have been strong at every circuit so far this season, so he feels that the team can approach the race as they have all season.

"Every race we are still learning about the set-up of the bike, especially when we go to different types of circuit," he said.

"The Ducati and the Bridgestones have been working well at pretty much every circuit, so when we get to Germany we'll just concentrate and keep doing what we've been doing."

Finally "Victory" Back To The Winner at Assen TT

Valentino Rossi has third victory of the year from the hard-fought in Assen today, from 11th on the grid to beat Casey Stoner by 1.9 seconds. And Assen's victory sees Rossi reducing the point’s gap to 21 behind his rival (Stoner).

Stoner had a better start than pole-sitter Chris Vermeulen, with the Ducati reaching the first turn ahead of the Suzuki. In the other Rizla Suzuki, John Hopkins went into third place from his fifth spot on the grid, and quickly overtook his teammate for second. The best start was Nicky Hayden's, who was 13th on the grid. The reigning champion made an amazing move on the outside to go into fifth place at the first corner. In the space of three laps, the Repsol Honda rider was in third place. That's when Rossi started to make up ground on the riders ahead of him. On lap 4 he overtook Marlboro Ducati's Loris Capirossi and Yamaha teammate Colin Edwards; on lap 5 he passed Vermeulen for fifth; and on lap 7 and 8 he overtook the Hondas of Dani Pedrosa and Hayden for third place.

In the space of three laps - in which he set a string of consecutive fastest laps - he reached and passed Hopkins, who previously had a 2.6-second advantage over him. On the same lap 12, Randy de Puniet tried to overtake Chris Vermeulen for seventh position, but the Australian resisted on the outside and the two made contact. The Frenchman slipped off his Kawasaki and both ended up in the gravel trap, but Vermeulen managed to carry on in 16th position while de Puniet retired on the spot. Within two laps Rossi caught up to Stoner and began making several attempts to pass him. After eight laps behind the championship leader, the seven-time world champion managed to take the lead at the entry of the last chicane.

In the four laps Rossi opened up a gap his victory, ultimately finishing almost two seconds ahead of Stoner. Third place went to Hayden, who took his first podium of the season. His teammate Pedrosa took fourth place, ahead of Hopkins in fifth and Edwards in sixth. Alex Barros on the d'Antin Ducati finished in seventh, with teammate Alex Hofmann in eighth, Kawasaki's Anthony West in ninth and Gresini Honda's Marco Melandri rounding up the top ten. Capirossi had another lacklustre race, which ended when he came in the pits and retired towards the end.

Valentino Rossi

"It was a great race," said Rossi. "Today all worked very well. For sure, starting from 11th position, I was quite worried but I know that with these conditions we are fast. Today we improved the setting and my Yamaha worked very well. "At the beginning I didn't know what to expect from the race: I just tried to make a recovery to the top, but I saw my bike was very fast and I remembered to catch Casey who was already in front”. "I had some advantage, so lap by lap I caught up and when I arrived behind him I was very tired and my tyres were sliding because I had to push a lot”. "Casey was very fast. When I arrived behind him he went even faster but in the end I tried and in the last three laps I was very fast and was able to win”. "It's an important victory and I have to thank Michelin because the tyres worked well to the end, and all my guys and Yamaha." The Italian also sent his best wishes to rival Toni Elias, who broke his leg in Friday's practice session. "I want to say good luck to Toni Elias because he is a hard rival but he has a bad injury so I hope to see him back on the circuit very soon," said Rossi.

Casey Stoner

I just don't think we could have gone a lot better with the bike, the tyres and the set-up we had," Stoner told Eurosport. "We did the best job we could and I think Valentino just had a lot more pace. I tried to stay with him for the last couple of laps and the mid-turn speed he had on me was just phenomenal, so I'm really happy with this result. "I saw him catching me and catching me. I was just trying to keep things constant and stay smooth, and when he got there I started to feel a little bit better grips so I tried to go a little bit harder, but that was as much as I could do on the bike today. "We've really got to be happy with what we've done because I think Valentino, with the way he caught us, had a lot more pace, so to come out with a result like this today is really good." Stoner believes the strong wind at Assen was a factor in his defeat. "Unfortunately it was really windy today and with the Ducati's big fairings I was sort of getting blown wide on a lot of corners and I was losing the front," he told the BBC. "I started to feel the front getting too much tyre wear on it, so I was trying to sit back on the rear a little bit and try to use the rear tyre, but we were still sliding around with that, so I don't think I could've gone a lot quicker, especially at the end of the race."

Watch Highlights Speedy Rossi takes Dutch victory (from BBC)

Dutch Grand Prix result:

Pos Rider Make Time

1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 42:37.149

2. Casey Stoner Ducati + 1.909

3. Nicky Hayden Honda + 6.077

4. Daniel Pedrosa Honda + 10.465

5. John Hopkins Suzuki + 13.138

6. Colin Edwards Yamaha + 15.139

7. Alex Barros Ducati + 36.075

8. Alex Hofmann Ducati + 41.768

9. Anthony West Kawasaki + 43.605

10. Marco Melandri Honda + 43.796

11. Carlos Checa Honda + 43.826

12. Shinya Nakano Honda + 47.896

13. Makoto Tamada Yamaha + 54.068

14. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha + 57.718

15. Kurtis Roberts KR +1:28.637

16. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki +1:34.808

Not classified:

Rider Make Laps

Loris Capirossi Ducati 17

Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 11

Fastest lap: Rossi, 1:37.433 on lap 13

Rossi, "Sweet Revenge" at Assen TT circuit

THE TRACK

Assen is the only MotoGP venue that has featured on the World Championship calendar every year since the series began in 1949. The event’s classic status is highlighted by its unique TT title. While all other MotoGP events are Grand’s Prix, Assen uses the TT tag, for Tourist Trophy, a traditional name given to motor sport events in the early twentieth century. Last year Assen underwent enormous changes, the circuit shortened from more than 6km to its current 4.555km.

Assen is MotoGP's oldest racetrack, in fact it is the only venue surviving from the motorcycle world championship's inaugural 1949 season. Last year Assen underwent huge change, with much of the northern section lost to make way for a new entertainment and leisure facility, which called “TT World'.

But the remainder of the circuit remains the same as before, which means it still offers a special challenge to MotoGP riders. Unlike most racetracks, which feature wide straights and mostly slow to medium-fast corners, Assen is a narrow, meandering venue, dominated by high-speed corners and rapid direction changes. Its surface is also special, because it is crowned like a public road for improved drainage, whereas other racetracks are flat. This greatly complicates riding, since riders must cope with several changes of camber as they enter and exit most of Assen's corners.

“The new Assen is very different from the old track, it’s not like the circuit we used to know,” says Jean-Philippe Weber, Michelin’s director of motorcycle racing. “The new layout puts a bit less stress into the tyres. The old Assen was very, very fast, with a lot of banked corners, so the G-forces and loads were pretty big, which heated up the compound, so you needed harder tires for the higher temperatures.

“The new layout is still fast but the rear tires we use now are in the medium-hard range, because you still need good stability for the fast corners but also good traction for the slower turns. I’d say that the tires we use here are more or less similar to the slicks we use at Donington, but with the compounds on either side of the tyre adapted to suit the different surface. Assen is also very asymmetric, rather like Donington and Barcelona, the layout is much more aggressive on the right side of the tyres, so you need good traction and stability for the long corners, like Ossebroeken, and also good warm-up, especially on the left side, for Strubben and the other left-handers.

PREVIEW

After watching his World Championship points lead dwindle to nine after Rossi's victory at Mugello, Marlboro Ducati's Casey Stoner has ripped off victories at Catalunya and Donington to reestablish himself as the man to beat in 2007. Stoner has won five of eight MotoGP races this season and hasn't finished any lower than fifth place. His lead over five-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi sits at 26 points. But Rossi is no stranger to the podium at Assen. The Doctor has won three of the last five MotoGP races there and has five victories on his resume at the Circuit van Drenthe.

Valentino Rossi

"A legendary place" Valentino Rossi could not be happier to have only four days' rest between last Sunday's race at Donington Park and Thursday morning's free practice at Assen. After struggling to fourth place with wet tyres on a drying track, the 28-year-old spent several hours in deep discussions with engineers from Yamaha and Michelin and revealed they now have a clear idea of how to improve performance and results this weekend. "I wasn't happy after the race on Sunday but we had a long meeting afterwards and we know what our problems are - now we need to fix them," said Rossi. "I'm happy to get the chance to ride again so soon and forget about the race at Donington because I was so disappointed to finish fourth at a circuit I love so much and have always done well at in the past. "Assen is another of my favourite tracks and after riding injured there last year I want to get back to winning ways. It is a shame they had to change the circuit layout last year because they have removed the most exciting part of the track, which I still cannot understand. Anyway, it is like this and Assen is still a legendary place, with a great atmosphere and great fans. Hopefully we can make a good show for them and be competitive like we know we can be once again."

Casey Stoner,

"At Donington we again proved that the Ducati has got more than just power. The bike and tyres are working well for me and we are competitive at pretty much every circuit. I'm really enjoying the races and I'm going to keep working at it like that because if you look start looking at the championship maybe you'll get too involved in it. I'm sure there's going to be some great races at Assen this year, but the new circuit is disappointing because the old layout was unbelievable, really good fun to ride. They even ruined what was probably my favourite corner in the world [De Bult], it was a great banked left-hander and now they've flattened it out and destroyed it. Anyway, we were quite competitive there last year. I think I came from 14th or 15th at the first corner to fight for the top three and I got fourth, so it was a really good race for us. I think this year we can go there with slightly higher expectations. The new Assen is really confusing for set-up, it's got flat corners, banked corners, long corners and tight little dinky corners, so it's really hard to find out what you need though you can pretty much go with any bike and it'll work. You have to find the right tyres that will last the race with the right amount of grip. "Valentino has always done this in the past, especially in the past couple of years," he said. "I think on the first day, he's building, building and then becoming faster. Hopefully we can stay one step ahead. We'll see if Valentino improves again tomorrow, and I'm sure he will."Rossi was reasonably satisfied with his practice performance, but hoped that the weather remained dry for Friday so he could make more improvements.

ASSEN DATA

Lap record: Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), 1m 37.106s, 168.867km/h-104.929mph
2006 pole position: John Hopkins (Rizla Suzuki GSV-R), 1m 36.411s

Recent winners of the Dutch GP
2006 Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), 42m 27.404s (new track)
2005 Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 38m 41.808s (revised track)
2004 Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 38m 11.831s
2003 Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V-Michelin), 42m 39.006s (wet race)
2002 Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), 38m 49.425s (new race distance, 19 laps)
2001 Max Biaggi (Marlboro Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 30m 56.346s (rain stopped race after 15 laps)
2000 Alex Barros (Emerson Honda Pons NSR500-Michelin), 42m 46.142s (two-part wet/dry race)
1999 Tadayuki Okada (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 41m 12.732s
1998 Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 41m 17.788s
1997 Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 43m 37.954s
1996 Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 41m 29.912s

Stoner Leads First Practice At New Assen

Pos.	Rider	Team	Bike	Time
1	Casey Stoner	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati GP7	1:38.323
2	Valentino Rossi	Fiat Yamaha Team	Yamaha M1	1:38.369
3	Nicky Hayden	Repsol Honda Team	Honda RC212V	1:38.507
4	Colin Edwards	Fiat Yamaha Team	Yamaha M1	1:38.739
5	Alex Hofmann	Pramac D'Antin	Ducati GP7	1:38.894
6	Dani Pedrosa	Repsol Honda Team	Honda RC212V	1:39.045
7	Randy De Puniet	Kawasaki Racing Team	Kawasaki	1:39.139
8	Alex Barros	Pramac D'Antin	Ducati GP7	1:39.145
9	Loris Capirossi	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati GP7	1:39.327
10	John Hopkins	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki GSV-R800	1:39.483
11	Marco Melandri	Honda Gresini	Honda RC212V	1:39.523
12	Toni Elias	Honda Gresini	Honda RC212V	1:39.716
13	Chris Vermeulen	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki GSV-R800	1:39.930
14	Carlos Checa	Honda LCR	Honda RC212V	1:40.165
15	Makoto Tamada	Tech 3 Yamaha	Yamaha	1:40.182
16	Sylvain Guintoli	Tech 3 Yamaha	Yamaha M1	1:40.324
17	Anthony West	Kawasaki Racing Team	Kawasaki	1:40.330
18	Shinya Nakano	Konica Minolta Honda	Honda RC212V	1:41.450
19	Kurtis Roberts	Team Roberts	KR212V	1:43.604

Time Table of the TT Assen Moto GP 2007

GP 125 GP 250 MotoGP WK Zijspan RedBull Rookies Cup Qualifying Practice 1 13.05-13.35 15.05-15.50 19.00-19.40 18.20-18.50 Free Practice 2 13.50-14.50 Free Practice 1 09.00-09.45 11.15-12.15 10.00-11.00 16.45-17.30 16.05-16.35

GP 125 GP 250 MotoGP WK Zijspan RedBull Rookies Cup Qalifying Practice 2 13.05-13.35 15.05-15.50 16.45-17.25 Free Practice 2 09.00-09.45 11.15-12.15 Free Practice 3 10.00-11.00 Qualifying Practice 13.50-14.50 16.05-16.35

GP 125 GP 250 MotoGP WK Zijspan RedBull Rookies Cup Warm Up 08.30-08.55 09.05-09.30 09.40-10.05 Race 11.00 12.15 14.00 16.45 15.30

Stoner Got The "Perfect" Race at Donington Park

Casey Stoner came home ahead of pole sitter Colin Edwards and Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen to earn his fifth win of the season. Valentino Rossi, Stoner's nearest championship rival, was fourth and now trails him by 26 points.

Apart from a brief spell early on when Dani Pedrosa led after getting a superb start from third place, Edwards was out in front until lap 15. But then Stoner made up a gap of more than one second to streak into the lead and after that the outcome was never in doubt, as he romped home nearly 12 seconds ahead of Edwards. Rain in the morning threatened to make a lottery of the race but in the event the rain stopped and the track dried out substantially in time for the start, and only two riders - Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa - failed to finish.

Even after he passed Edwards, Stoner said he had doubts as to whether or not he would finish the race.

"Colin seemed to be taking it nice and slow and I knew I could go a fair bit quicker so I decided to go past him," he said.

"A few laps later I saw it was continuing to get drier and I was worried I might destroy the rear tire and maybe we wouldn't finish, so I started going over all the wet patches I could and avoiding the dry line”.

"I got to five laps left to go and realized it wasn't getting any worse so I just continued to ride on the dry line and at the end of the race it still looked pretty good."

Stoner said he hoped the style of his win would silence some of his critics who said his success this season was all down to speed.

"It proves to a lot of people that the Ducati doesn't just have power. We've been improving the bike's weak points and now it doesn't have any particularly.

"I can't complain, everything has been working perfectly all weekend and pretty much all season," he said.

Edwards, who has yet to record a win in his career, was pleased with his podium place and admitted the better man won.

"This was the best start I got all weekend so I just put my head down, chipped away at the lap times and stayed consistent," he said.

"Just before Casey passed me, coming into the chicane I started breaking harder and the front locked on me.

"If it had been wet I would have been down. The same thing happened at the next corner, and Casey went by, and after that I was hanging on for dear life.

"Hats off to Casey, he rode an incredible race."

The next round of the championship, the Dutch TT, takes place at Assen on Saturday 30 June.

Donington Grand Prix result:
1. C Stoner (Aus) Ducati, 51 mins 40.739 secs
2. C Edwards (US), Yamaha, 51:52.507
3. C Vermeulen (Aus) Suzuki, 51:56.417
4. V Rossi (It) Yamaha, 52:02.566
5. J Hopkins (US) Suzuki, 52:16.257
6. R de Puniet (Fr) Kawasaki, 52.17.213
7. A Barros (Brz) Ducati, 52:18.833
8. D Pedrosa (Sp) Honda, 52:19.731
9. A Hofmann (Ger) Ducati, 52:19.978
10. M Melandri (It) Honda, 52:42.265

Watch Stoner clinches win at Donington Interviews
: Stoner, Edwards and Vermeulen at www.bbc.com

Rossi VS Stoner, Who Will Win at Donington Park?

The 4.023kms long Donington circuit is set in a natural arena in the English countryside, and few sights in MotoGP can match the whole field of bikes streaming into Craner Curves on the first lap. The track also features many other exciting corners and elevation changes over its length. And the final section, which features three hard braking zones, means the bike also has to be good under braking and makes set-up a quest for compromise between agility and stability.

Valentino Rossi heads north to Donington Park after a brief stay in his hometown of London. The 28-year-old has lived in the English capital since 2000 and has built up an army of local fans, who have cheered him to victory on seven occasions at the East Midlands circuit. After conceding defeat to Dani Pedrosa when riding through injury to second place last year, Rossi is doubly keen to lead the celebrations again this time around.

"Donington is always like my second home race because I live quite close, in London. It's one of my favourite racetracks in the world and I've had some fantastic victories there in the past, including my first ever 500cc win back in 2000 after a great battle with Jeremy McWilliams and Kenny Roberts. Last year I had a bad injury after my problem in Assen but I was still able to finish second, which was a great achievement I think."

"This year though it's going to be really hard of course with Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa riding so well at the moment. Even though it hasn't been one of his best tracks in the past I am expecting Casey to be strong again and Dani won last year so we can expect him to be fighting too. Anyway, it's a great track, fun to ride, the straight is not too long and the fans there are wonderful, so I hope we can win again!"

"I had a lot bigger aspirations for this season than my recent results have shown. After our first few tests and first few races I thought we would be consistently in the top five, but unfortunately that hasn't been the case recently so it's a bit discouraging. At the same time I think you have to bring the positives out of every weekend and learn what you can. I think with Donington coming up we have the chance to turn things around; it's a track that I've always liked - I've won a few races there, stemming back from my World Superbike days."

"I've got nothing but high hopes going there - I know the track like the back of my hand so I'm staying positive. As far as I am concerned, the rest of my year involves winning some races. Winning races was my goal in March and it's still my goal now and, despite the last few races, I know we can do it. I think the next two races at Donington and Assen are prime opportunities."

The 21 year old Australian has had a truly remarkable short career with the Italian factory team. He has won four of the opening seven races and leads seven times World Champion Valentino Rossi by 140 points in the Championship. His performance in the Grand Prix of Catalunya where he fought off everything that Rossi could throw at him to win by 0.069 of a second was that of a potential World Champion.

"We are still learning and going forward, always gaining experience with the Ducati. After Barcelona we go to Donington with a positive attitude, it could be a tough track for us but we've already proved this year that the Ducati is good at a lot of circuits. I've never really cracked Donington but we'll see how we can piece it together this time. The flowing part is tough, down through Craner and into the Old Hairpin you're braking on the side of the tyres and the bike's moving around. I find the circuit a little dangerous in some points, if they improved that it'd probably be more enjoyable. Some of the other turns are a little bit funny, so it's really hard to try and compromise the set-up - whether you set it up for the tight and twisty bits, which are very important at the end of the race if you're in a battle, or if you set it up for the faster bits, where you make the time. I'm still not thinking about the championship, maybe later in the season we can start aiming for it, but the way we're going now is just perfect, so we're going to continue doing the same thing."

Donington Park Review

Donington has hosted GPs since 1987, taking over from Silverstone, which became Britain's World Championship venue after the notorious Isle of Man TT circuit was deemed too dangerous for GP racing in the mid-1970s.

Donington Park is dominated by fast, sweeping corners that crucially interlink with each other. Through these sections a fluid riding style and high corner speed are much more important than brute horsepower. But just to complicate matters, the Melbourne loop section (added in 1986 to bring the venue up to minimum GP length) features three dead-stop turns where last-gasp braking and vicious acceleration are all-important. Getting a MotoGP machine to work through these two contrasting segments requires engineers to find a compromise in chassis settings and tyre choice.

"Donington is a real challenge because the two sections of the track are very different, demanding different things from the tires," says Jean-Philippe Weber, Michelin's director of motorcycle racing. "Through the faster part riders need good maneuverability for the high-speed direction changes and good stability, especially through the longer corners like Hollywood and Coppice. For the slow part they need good traction. The track is also very asymmetric, with very few left-handers, so tire warm-up, especially on the left side is crucial

"We use a medium range of rear tires at Donington because the tarmac isn't so aggressive, because riders need good traction out of the slow turns and because there's not a lot of long corners where riders are using a lot of throttle for long periods of time, much of the track is part throttle. We know from our experience what to do with compounds and constructions to offer more stability or more traction. All tracks demand some kind of compromise between these two, though Donington requires quite a big compromise.

"We also use medium range fronts at Donington because although there's some heavy braking it's not from super-high speeds and riders certainly don't need harder fronts like they did at Mugello and Catalunya, which both place much greater stresses on the front tire.

"This track isn't so easy, however, especially when you throw in the extra factor of unpredictable weather. Sometimes we get good weather at Donington, other times it's very cold and wet, so we have to produce tires that cover a large range of temperatures. Also, we have to consider the likely temperature changes during the day. There could be a big difference between the morning and afternoons session temperatures, like at Jerez where it was very cold in the morning and 15 degrees warmer in the afternoon. It's not so easy to cover that temperature range within the new tire rules, it's a real challenge."

DONINGTON PARK DATA (4023 m)

Lap record: Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V-Michelin), 1:28.714, 163.253km/h-101.441mph (2006)
Pole position 2006: Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V-Michelin), 1:27.676, 165.185km/h-102.641mph

Recent winners of the British GP:
2006 Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V-Michelin), 44:54.878
2005 Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 52:58.675 (wet race)
2004 Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 45:30.473
2003 Max Biaggi (Honda Camel Pons RC211V-Michelin), 46, 06.688
2002 Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda RC211V-Michelin), 46:32.888
2001 Valentino Rossi (Nastro Azzurro Honda NSR500-Michelin), 46:53.349
2000 Valentino Rossi (Nastro Azzurro Honda NSR500-Michelin), 52:37.246 (wet race)
1999 Alex Crivillé (Repsol Honda NSR500-Michelin), 47:06.290
1998 Simon Crafar (Red Bull WCM Yamaha YZR500), 46:45.662
1997 Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda-Michelin NSR500), 46:55.378
1996 Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda-Michelin NSR500), 47:11.135

Michelin's 2007 Donington MotoGP riders:
Carlos Checa (Honda LCR RC212V-Michelin)
Colin Edwards (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin)
Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team RC212V-Michelin)
Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda RC212V-Michelin)
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC212V-Michelin)
Jonathan Rea (Team Roberts KR212V-Michelin)
Kenny Roberts Junior (Team Roberts KR212V-Michelin)
Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin)