The Qatar race marks the beginning of Bridgestone’s fourth season as Official Tyre Supplier to MotoGP™ in what promises to be an exciting year of competition. This season sees the return of 1000cc machinery to the grid and the introduction of several new teams has boosted the number of full-time entrants in the world’s premier road-racing championship to twenty-one riders.

The unique environment of the Losail circuit, with its cool night temperatures and susceptibility to being coated with abrasive desert sand, presents an exceptional technical challenge for Bridgestone. To help riders deal with the variable conditions, Bridgestone is for the first time bringing three front tyre compounds to Qatar while an asymmetric rear tyre will also be made available to provide the durability needed to cope with the succession of high-speed right hand corners.

Reigning champion Casey Stoner has won four of the five previous editions of the Qatar MotoGP™ including last year’s race and the Repsol Honda rider will have to continue his sparkling pre-season form in order to fend off the challenges of teammate Dani Pedrosa, Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies, and the Ducati duo of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden.

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Extra-hard; Rear: Medium, Hard (Asymmetric)

Hiroshi Yamada – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department
“I am excited to get the 2012 season underway at Losail as not only do we commence our fourth year as Official Tyre Supplier to MotoGP™, it also marks the beginning of our renewed contract with Dorna that will see us continue as sole tyre supplier to the series until the end of the 2014 season. Qatar always produces a thrilling race and with many new riders and teams in the MotoGP™ championship for 2012, I expect we will have many thrilling battles throughout the year. In keeping with the revision to the front tyre allocation we made at Brno last year, we will make three front tyre options available to riders to help them cope with the variable conditions that can occur in Qatar.

“The pre-season tests gave Bridgestone the opportunity to establish working relationships with all the new teams and riders so I am confident that we will commence the season in a strong position to support everyone taking part in this year’s championship equally and fairly.”

Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Division
“The first race of the season at Qatar presents a unique technical challenge for Bridgestone. Apart from being the only race on the calendar to be run at night-time which brings with it low track temperatures, the fine desert sand can coat the track surface in a highly abrasive coating. To enable riders to adapt to these variable track conditions, for the first time we are bringing three front tyre compounds options to Qatar; soft, medium and extra-hard. The softer compounds are available to ensure rider safety if particularly cool track temperatures occur, while the harder option gives greater durability when track conditions improve while also providing greater stability under hard braking.

“With the Losail circuit featuring a number of high-speed right hand turns, we have also made available an asymmetric rear tyre. This development sees harder, more durable rubber on the right shoulder of the tyre and softer rubber on the left shoulder to keep the tyre in its optimal operating temperature range to provide riders with the best combination of grip and durability.”

Source: Bridgestone Motorsport

Redding heads into the new season with renewed confidence. The 19-year-old British rider struggled with the 2011 Suter chassis last year, but he has no such issues with the Kalex Moto2 machine he’ll race this season. Redding topped the timesheets regularly during preseason testing and he travels to Qatar determined to carry this momentum into the first race of the new season.

The Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar is unique in that it is the only race on the GP calendar to be held at night. The 5.380km / 3.434 mile Losail track is illuminated by 3,600 light fixtures burning a massive 5.4 million watts of power, creating enough light to cover an area equivalent to 70 football pitches.

Scott Redding #45: “I’ve been thinking about Qatar since the Valencia race last year! Preseason testing went well, but testing isn’t racing, and I can’t wait to get back out there and battling this weekend. I want to start the season on a high, which for me would be a top five or top six finish this weekend. Last year we had a DNF in the first race, which did us no favours, and we can’t afford the same this time around. In the past I’ve gone flat out from the first second of the first session, but this year I’ll be taking it a bit easier, building up the speed in practice so that we’re fast when it counts; in qualifying. Saying that, the first session can’t come quick enough for me now. I love riding this bike!”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal: “Both Mika and Scott have showed strongly during preseason testing, but now we need to translate this into race results, which we know from past experience isn’t always so easy. However, we are quietly confident about the season ahead, and we are keen to get it started with two strong results in Qatar. In Mika and Scott we have two riders who know exactly what it takes to finish on the podium in Moto2 and, although our target for this first weekend is more modest, I know that both will have thoughts of a top three finish at the back of their minds. The start of a new season is always something of a step into the unknown, but we’ve done the work over the winter and I am confident that we have never been better prepared for the first race.”

Source: MarcVDS Racing

Photo: Gold and Goose

Ellison, a former World Endurance champion and double European Superstock champion, has spent much of the winter helping the Penrith-based squad develop the bike which is the start of a long-term MotoGP project and will see an all-British bike and team set to take on the world in future years.

However, in the meantime, they go into Sunday’s race under the floodlights at the Losail track with work very much in progress and looking to match the pace of the leading CRT bikes at the opening round of the 18-race championship.

James Ellison: “I’m really excited to be back in Qatar as I love the circuit and it’s even more special that I’m here to be part of MotoGP. Being honest I never thought it possible to get a second chance so of course I am extremely grateful to Paul Bird and the whole PBM UK team for this opportunity and I can promise that I will give no less than 100% in every session and hope that I can repay them in some way. It will be a tough battle for sure with the relative lack of time we’ve had on the bike to date but we are a strong team and I’m sure we’ll fight hard to make up for lost time. One request though: dim the lights please!”

Paul Bird: “This is an historic time for us as we embark upon the latest phase of the team’s development in MotoGP and one which we are very excited about. We have raced as wild cards in GPs on many occasions in the past but to be part of the MotoGP elite is very special for us. This year is all about learning for us and James has done a great job with the team so far, but we know we have a very long way to go yet. The idea is to become more competitive as the season progresses and to challenge the front-running CRT bikes.”

Source: Paul Bird Motosport

Gino Rea “I am really looking forward to it! I’m so excited to get out to Qatar. It is a new championship for me which is extremely competitive but I am ready for a new challenge. I hope we can continue to improve the bike from the Jerez test. I have not been to Qatar yet so I hope I can learn the circuit as quickly as possible, then start to work on bike set-up. Qualifying will be very important. Racing at night is a very exciting prospect for me, I have never done it before! I have heard it is only the shadows that are a problem but the vision is okay. Everything looks so cool at night under floodlights so I can’t wait to get to Qatar!”

Fausto Gresini “Gino Rea makes his debut in the Moto2 World Championship and we are happy that he is doing so with us in a new project with Federal Oil. As a team we are proud to have brought such an important new sponsor into the sport in Federal Oil, who will help our championship grow in a major market in Indonesia. So in Qatar it will be a double debut of sorts, with a clear target for Gino to improve on his performance at the Jerez test. There is a lot of work to do because we received the bike late and we have an important new technical partner in Showa, which will require time. We are ready to race in Qatar though and over the course of the championship I am sure we will see notable progress from this bright young English talent.”

Source: Gresini Racing

For the 2012 season the Marc VDS Racing Team have switched to Kalex machinery, with Scott Redding quickly adapting to the new bike to top the timesheet during the final test of 2011 in Jerez.

The British youngster, who turned 19 in January, is keen to carry this momentum into both pre-season testing and the first race in Qatar. Redding is the first to admit that his pace during testing hasn’t been reflected in his early race performances, a situation he is determined to rectify as he heads into his third season in Moto2.

The first three-day test of the 2012 season gets underway at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia on Wednesday 8th February. The Marc VDS Racing Team will then head straight to Jerez for three more days of testing, starting on Thursday 16th February. The final three-day pre-season test also takes place at Jerez, commencing on Monday 19th March.

Scott Redding: “After a couple of months off the bike, I’m really looking forward to getting back to work at Valencia. We need to be on the pace from the first practice session in Qatar, so these pre-season tests are critical. In the past we’ve come away from tests convinced we’ve got a good set-up on the bike, only to have problems in the first few races. The advantage we have this season is that we know the new Kalex is good. From the first test last year I felt confident on the bike, able to push harder because it didn’t feel like I was going to crash in every corner. Now we need to focus on refining the set-up and confirming and reconfirming any changes we make. If we can do this during testing then I’m confident we can fight at the front from the very first race this season.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Manager
“After a somewhat difficult season, we ended 2011 on a high with Mika’s second place at Valencia. Post season testing with the new Kalex bike was also very positive, with Scott topping the timesheet in Jerez, but now we need to carry this momentum into the new season. Our priority at this first test is not to chase one-off fast lap times, but to find a set-up on the bike that allows Scott and Mika to lap both quickly and consistently. We need to be fastest when it counts, at the first race, so that effectively dictates our plan for these pre-season tests. I have every confidence in our riders, the team and the bike, so I know we can achieve our goal.”

Source: Marc VDS

After coming agonisingly close to scoring a point on debut in Qatar, the regular test venue of the Circuito de Jerez is the venue for Mahindra’s next opportunity to take the battle to their more experienced opposition.

The 4.4km circuit is one which teams know well as it is frequently used for testing and the Spanish Grand Prix is one of the most popular races in the 17 race calendar. The track is a technical challenge with a wide range of corner types, meaning that rider and team will have to work closely to get the best set-up on the Mahindra GP125.

Finishing just 0.394 seconds away from a point finish in Qatar, 19 year-old Briton Danny Webb from Tunbridge Wells is eager to score Mahindra’s first points at second time of trying.

Danny Webb: “I’m looking forward to Jerez as for me it’s where the season really starts. In Qatar we made fantastic progress with the bike, especially with finding a good set-up and getting the suspension to work well with my riding style. Jerez is a track that I know well, but it’s one that every rider knows well as we test here so much.

Mufaddal Choonia – Team principal: “After our Qatar debut we now start the first of eight races in Europe, which is an important region for the growth of the Mahindra brand. The Spanish Grand Prix is a tremendously popular race and we are proud to showcase our qualities as the first Indian motorcycle manufacturer to enter the MotoGP World Championship in this highly competitive arena.”

The Spanish Grand Prix opens with practice sessions for the 125cc class on April 1, qualifying on April 2 and the race on April 3.

Source: Mahindra Racing

After a difficult start to the season in Qatar, where both Redding and Kallio finished outside the points, the Marc VDS riders head to Jerez determined to get their championship campaigns back on track with two strong results at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Jerez circuit is one at which the Marc VDS riders have enjoyed success in the past. Kallio took the race win in the 250cc class in 2008, to add to his 125cc podium finish three years earlier. While the Jerez podium has eluded Redding so far, the British rider previously finished fourth at the Spanish Grand Prix, during his second season in the 125cc World Championship.

Situated in southwest Spain, not far from the coastal city of Cadiz and on the outskirts of Jerez de la Frontera, the Circuito de Jerez has a complex layout, offering riders a real challenge. It boasts 13 turns over its 4.42km distance, with a combination of slow technical corners and fast sweeping turns making stability under braking and a good feeling from the front tyre critical when it comes to bike set-up.

Scott Redding #45: “Qatar was a complete fail as far as I’m concerned, but after two successful pre-season tests at Jerez, we head into this weekend knowing that we have the pace. The bike will suit the Jerez track better than it did Qatar; we have a pretty good base setting for this track already, which means we can be a bit adventurous with the set-up in practice, as we can always switch back if changes don’t work as expected. The fast corners here are where you make or lose time, so a good feeling with the front of the bike is important. This is one area in which we still have some work to do, but I’m confident that we can score a good result this weekend and get our season back on track.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Manager
“We struggled in Qatar, so I’m happy to return to Jerez, where Scott and Mika were well and truly on the pace during pre-season testing. After the problems we had with tyres in Qatar, we know from testing here that the Dunlop tyres work well around the Jerez circuit, so that’s one less problem already. Both riders are fired up for this weekend, determined to get their season back on track, so I’m pretty confident that we’ll leave here on Sunday with two good results and our first championship points of the year.”

Source: Marc VDS

A ninth world title was wrapped up by Rossi in Malaysia, leaving the remainder of the MotoGP class to decide the final standings beyond first place for the 2009 season at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana.
Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo pushed him the closest for the title this year, and now the 22 year-old looks primed to secure second spot in his second season in the premier class. With a 25-point margin between him and Stoner in third, it would take a non-point scoring finish from the Spaniard and a race win for the Ducati Marlboro man to dislodge Lorenzo from the runner-up position.

Far likelier for Stoner, who comes into round 17 in a rich vein of form having won his last two races at Sepang and Phillip Island, is third place to round off a season interrupted by illness. Speculation will linger as to how the final standings could have looked had the 2007 World Champion not missed Brno, Indianapolis and Misano due to fatigue, but the focus is now on preventing Pedrosa from regaining third place. With victory last year and second the season before, the 24 year-old Australian has a strong pedigree at Valencia.

Repsol Honda’s Pedrosa is 11 points adrift in fourth, and needs a strong showing at a track where he won in 2007 and finished second last time out.
The competition for fifth place is still very much alive, with just six points the difference between Andrea Dovizioso and Colin Edwards. The Italian’s crash at Sepang was not largely capitalised on by Edwards, whose 13th-placed classification means that the fight for fifth will now go down to the wire at Valencia.
Seventh place, meanwhile, is still to be decided upon between no less than six candidates. Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), Alex de Angelis and Toni Elías (both San Carlo Honda Gresini), Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) are all separated by just seven points from positions seven to 12.

All have top-ten finishes at Valencia within the past two seasons, with Melandri’s fourth in 2007 the most notable recent result from the pack. Nicky Hayden, at a further eight points adrift of De Puniet, has an outside chance of challenging for seventh if he manages his second podium of the year and other results go his way.

Also riding at Valencia will be American star Ben Spies, who will take to the track as a wildcard for Yamaha in preparation for his first full MotoGP season with Monster Yamaha Tech 3 in 2010. In the Pramac Racing team another rider who is coming into MotoGP full-time next season will be making an additional guest appearance this weekend, as Aleix Espargaró again substitutes the injured Niccolò Canepa.
 


250cc

After prevailing in his epic battle with Marco Simoncelli at Sepang, Hiroshi Aoyama is within touching distance of being named the 2009 250cc World Champion in the final race of the season – and indeed the final 250cc contest in the 60-year history of Grand Prix racing before the introduction of the new Moto2 class next year.

Simoncelli had narrowed the gap at the top of the standings to just 12 points prior to Malaysia, but an enthralling ‘head-to-head’ was won by Aoyama who now heads to Spain with a 21-point cushion.
Should Simoncelli win his seventh race of the campaign at Valencia – thus surpassing his total from 2008 when he won the title – Aoyama would need to finish no lower than eleventh to still take the crown.
The Scot Honda rider has a chequered history at the circuit however, with last year’s fifth place being his best-ever finish. Prior to that, Aoyama has placed sixth and tenth and registered two DNFs, whereas Simoncelli won last year’s race having already secured the title.

Héctor Barberá in third place could mathematically catch Simoncelli in second, but would need to finish second or higher at Valencia and hope for a poor result for the Metis Gilera man. Barberá has a strong record at the track, having finished inside the top five on five occasions in the 250cc and 125cc classes.
Álvaro Bautista’s title hopes ended with his second crash in three races at Sepang, and Valencia is the only one of the three Spanish circuits on the calendar at which he has not tasted a GP victory. Fourth in the championship is safe for the Mapfre Aspar man, who could take third with a good display if Barberá falters.

Mattia Pasini in fifth is 21 points ahead of Thomas Luthi, who leads a pack which also comprises Raffaele de Rosa, Mike di Meglio, Héctor Faubel and Álex Debón. Those five riders are separated by just six points in the battle for sixth spot.
 


125cc

Bancaja Aspar team-mates Julián Simón and Bradley Smith have already secured first and second places respectively in the 125cc World Championship, but the duo will still look to put on strong showings at Valencia in the final race of the season.

Clinching the title at Phillip Island did not stop Simón from producing another fine display at Sepang last time out, as he took his sixth race victory of the season, and the Spaniard will hope to improve on a best previous result of sixth at Valencia in the 250cc class in 2007.
A win at the final round would make Simón the first rider to take three successive victories in the 125cc class since Alvaro Bautista in 2006.

Smith finished fourth at Valencia last year and is currently on a run of five consecutive podiums. A sixth consecutive rostrum finish would be the perfect way to round off the season for the Oxfordshire youngster, who has already achieved the best performance by a British rider since Barry Sheene was second to Kenny Roberts in the 1978 500cc title chase.

Local rider Nico Terol will attempt to secure a top-three finish for the season ahead of his compatriot Pol Espargaró, who is 15 points behind in fourth. Terol finished second at Valencia last season, just one tenth of a second behind race-winner Simone Corsi, while Espargaró’s best placement at the track is sixth, in his debut season in 2006.

MotoGP Brits look ahead to the final round…

Bradley Smith
“Julian has beaten me on the last lap in the last two races because he is such a great late braker. I really want to beat him in this last race but I need to break away if I can and not leave it to another head to head on the last lap. It’s been a great year for me and the team and another grand prix win would be the perfect finish for me.”

Scott Redding
“We are working hard on securing a ride for next season and I so want to finish the season with a decent result. Since Donington it’s been a disaster but I hope I can put that all behind me on Sunday.”

Danny Webb
“I’ve just been to the hospital and they have found I’ve broken two not one metatarsal bones in my left foot in the Malaysian crash. I’ve got a special boot on and I’m able to walk and so I will be out there on Sunday. It’s been a hard year and I really want to do well to thank the team for all their support.”

James Toseland
“I was doing my absolute best and trying my hardest but it was impossible for me to go any faster with the feeling I had with the bike in Malaysia. It was another tough weekend but I’ll look to bounce back and finish the season strongly in Valencia for my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3.”