The MotoGP championship arrives in Mugello this weekend – a track, which is one of the most exciting circuits in the world for both the fans and thanks to the media interest generated at this legendary track. For Italian riders it’s a home race where they strive to take the victory. The riders of JiR Team Scot will prepare and ride with the usual passion and courage, which is inspired by the home support and the fans that populate the Tuscan hills.
Andrea Dovizioso, riding the Honda RC212V represents the future promise of the five Italian riders attending the event. With luck, the Italian riders will give the fans a real ‘Tricolour duel’ that will only be resolved on the finish line. Mugello is the sixth GP of the season and a very important one for Andrea as he wants to move up the championship table. Yuki Takahashi is a naturalised Italian as he lives near Rimini and he desperately wants the second podium of the season that he just failed to take in the last two races.
Gianluca Montiron – Director, JiR Team Scot“The GP of Mugello gives a great opportunity for Andrea to make a jump forward in the championship ratings. He has shown that he can fight at the front and to get an excellent result would be fantastic in front of his home fans. The experience gained by Andrea so far on the four-stroke GP bike will be useful as he prepares for the practice sessions as he strives to optimise tyre management during the long race. The fundamental element this coming weekend though is to get the result we want. In the 250cc class we are near the top of the classification and the last few performances make us think we can get a better result at home at Mugello.”
Cirano Mularoni – Team Manager, JiR Team Scot“Mugello is a very technical circuit and we know that the team and riders will be working very hard to prepare both bikes for the races. Mugello has many different corners and chicanes: some slow and some fast and there’s also a straight that it is possible to go over 300km/hr (190mph) on. Another aspect of the track is the many elevation changes you have at Mugello. These characteristics of the circuit mean that it is a compromise when you are setting up the chassis and this can make the difference at the final result. Our riders in past seasons have not had very good results here, but both are very motivated to honour our Italian partners, guests and fans with a good result.”
Andrea Dovizioso – Rider, JiR Team Scot MotoGP - HONDA RC212V“It’s difficult to describe my emotions on the run-up to my home Grand Prix. The emotion begins to grow at the track when you arrive and it only ends on the Sunday when you get to the finish line. The circuit is beautiful, set between the Tuscan hills and it’s so good as the fans can see most of the circuit. Our home fans will be there giving us a lot of support and this in turn will give us a lot of motivation to do well at our home Grand Prix. The circuit itself has many different corners and it goes up and down through the hills. You have corners like Casanova-Savelli and then Arrabbiate. It promises to be a hard weekend but we will give our maximum in front of our home fans. The preparation of the bike is fundamental to the result so practice day will be very important for the end result of the Sunday’s race.”
Yuki Takahashi – Rider, JiR Team Scot 250GP - HONDA RS250RW“I feel ready for the Mugello Grand Prix as I have great motivation to get a good result for the championship and also for the team after the last two races where we could have finished on the podium. I am Japanese, but as Ilive in Cattolica, in the province of Rimini, I consider myself Italian also! For this reason it will be like a home race for me. We have to work hard as usual with bike set-up as the techinical but with our Honda we can be competitive in the corners and that is important at Mugello, especially through the final corner that leads you onto the long main straight.”
Mugello Circuit Information:Circuit length: 5245 m (3.259 miles)
Main straight: 1141 m (0.709 miles)
Width: 14 m
Pole Position: Right
Right corners: 9
Left corners: 6
MotoGP:Lap record: 1’50”117 M.Biaggi 2005 (Honda)
Pole Position: 1’48”969 S.Gibernau 2006 (Ducati)
Italian Grand Prix 2007 - Results:1st Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
2nd Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
3rd Alex Barros (Ducati)
250GP:Lap Record: 1’53”457 J.Lorenzo 2005 (Honda)
Pole Position: 1’54”061 H.Barbera 2007 (Aprilia)
Italian Grand Prix 2007 - Results:1st Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia)
2nd Alex De Angelis (Aprilia)
3rd Hector Barbera (Aprilia)
