GP donington 2007

[psy31]

Envoyé par guigue

et quand il y en a , ils sont a la rue.

Finir 2 et 4, ce n'est pas si mal, lol.
Ils ont pris une déculottée à Istanbul mais depuis ils sont plutôt pas mal.
Et ils sont bons en qualifs.
Le problème de Michelin, c'est qu'ils ont réduit leur client à Honda et à Yamaha. Le HRC subissant des revers, ils n'ont plus que Yamaha pour briller. Ce qui fait deux motos à opposer à 4 ducati, 2 suzuki, 2 kawazaki et de temps en temps à deux honda. Bridgestone a un peu plus de latitude sur ce plan là.

[mickey]

les réactions :

CASEY STONER, 1st, World Championship leader on 165 points
"This proves to people that the Ducati doesn't just have power. We've been improving the bike and now it doesn't have any particular weak points, we just need to improve it as a complete package. Obviously today it was the best bike out there. I got a perfect jump at the start, a perfect clutch release, but then I must've hit a white line and it spun up straight away. I was panicking a little bit because everybody was zooming past and I thought I'd be last into the first corner. We still got in there in a reasonable position and we were able to pick our way through. Colin seemed to be nice and smooth, but I knew I could go quicker. Then I saw the track getting drier and drier. I was worried about destroying the rear tyre, so I started going over all the wet patches. When we got to the last five laps the tyre still had a pretty good feeling and it looked pretty good at the end of the race, considering it was our softest option. I'm not looking at the championship yet, I'm just enjoying all these races whether I win or don't finish on the podium. It's just nice to be out there, I've got the confidence in myself and in the bike to really get involved in the race and really enjoy it."

LORIS CAPIROSSI,
"I'm really sad about the crash because I was feeling really good and very confident. I didn't get a perfect start but I pushed very hard and caught a lot of people until I got into fifth place. My rhythm was really good and I was feeling pretty confident, so when I saw Valentino [Rossi] and Chris [Vermeulen] ahead I thought I could also catch them because I was lapping a second a lap faster. Unfortunately I lost the front at turn one and my race ended there. The tyres were working brilliantly, even though we were using a softer type. It's a shame but I'm happy with my pace and because my feeling on the bike continues to improve. If we can keep moving forward like this at Assen I think we can do well.

Chris Vermeulen:
“It was very wet to start with and then dried out later on and that made the conditions very difficult. But my team and Bridgestone deserve full marks for picking the best tyres for today – they certainly knew what they were doing! I also want give my crew an extra special thank-you because for the second day running I crashed heavily in the morning and they again managed to get the bike rebuilt in time, so thanks guys! As far as the race went, I felt comfortable early on, but then had some trouble seeing through my visor. A couple of riders came past me and I ran off the track, I was struggling to see so much that I could have hit a wall or a spectator or anything and not have known! When the rain stopped I was able to lift my visor up a bit and that cleared the misting and I was able to push harder again. I passed John and Valentino and very nearly caught Colin but I ran out of laps. I am very happy to be on the podium and now let’s go and do it again – preferably in the dry!”

John Hopkins:
“Firstly congratulations to Chris, it is great to see a Suzuki on the podium again, I wish it had been me but he is pretty good in the wet! I got a decent start to the race and had a couple of battles early on with other riders. As the rain stopped falling it created a dry line which was difficult for me because although most riders take that line it’s not the one that I always take! For the most part I’m pleased with the result; we finished in the top-five again and got some good points. We need to get a run of dry races now because I think with the Suzuki and Bridgestone package can be competitive wherever we go. I hope it will be dry at Assen next weekend as that is a place I really enjoy and I want to get a good result there so I can climb up that championship table.”

Colin Edwards

"We had good race! I had a great start, better than any of my practice ones during the weekend, and then I just got my head down and kept pushing lap after lap. My bike was feeling good in the wet but then it started to dry out. I started braking a bit harder and feeling more confident, but then the front locked once into the chicane which gave me a bit of a scare. Then at the next corner, down at the hairpin, I locked it again, ran wide and Casey came through. After that I tried everything but I couldn't stay with him and it was clear that I didn't have the grip he had. It was pretty tough, but then I guess it was tough for everyone! You could see the dry line forming and rain tyres with a dry track don't work well! I just had to pay attention and take care not to spin it too much, using half throttle instead of spinning it up. Anyway, we did the best we could today and it feels good to be back on the podium, so a big thanks to all my guys. We've made a lot of progress this weekend and now we'll carry the momentum on to Assen next week! Hats off to Casey too, he did a great job today."

Valentino Rossi

"Unfortunately today the conditions were not good for us at all and we had a lot of problems. In the full dry we would have been at our strongest, in full wet we would have been also quite good, but with a drying track like this we struggled a lot. I made a mistake and ran off the track when I was going the best I went during the whole race and then as the track began to dry I had less and less grip; it seems that this year, when the conditions aren't perfect, we suffer a lot. I had to go very carefully just to be able to finish and, because we were riding with a wet tyre on a dry track, my tyre was destroyed by the end. Colin did a great job in difficult circumstances so congratulations to him. We've had a very long meeting tonight and now we have to try to improve the situation for Assen."

[mickey]

Dani Pedrosa

“At the start of the race things were going quite well and I was able to lead the race and felt quite comfortable. After few laps the track was becoming drier and it turned out we’d chosen a rear tyre that was too soft for those conditions and I just couldn’t maintain the pace. I tried to stay with de Puniet and I had battle with Barros in the last few laps but I had very little traction at the rear and unfortunately I couldn’t hold him off. This was definitely a disappointing race for us, although we had promising performance in practice and qualifying which is positive. It’s a pity because, with Casey winning again, the gap in the championship has opened up quite a lot. We’ll just have to fight back quickly at the next race.”

Nicky Hayden

“The bike felt really good early in the race and I was trying to be a little bit patient when a few guys came past and I started going back and forth. It felt like I could go quicker, though when Stoner came through I was having quite a hard time seeing because of the spray. Still, I felt like I could go towards the front and I was enjoying the race. Then I just got in a little bit hot at the top of the hill and lost the front. I’d been passed there earlier once or twice and just didn’t want to go back any further. I felt really good everywhere except on the brakes where I was quite weak. Some of the guys were really strong on the brakes, although I felt like I had better exit grip and better traction. It sucks to crash out of the race but it wasn’t as if I crashed while going backwards and struggling – at least I was up front and so I’m going to take the positives from this weekend. Being fastest in the dry on Saturday morning was a big boost for me and I definitely feel that I’ve been the most competitive I’ve been all yea

Alex Barros :
“I’m quite satisfied for the race. Honestly speaking, I hoped for an even better result, but because of my position on the starting grid and the inclement track conditions, we couldn’t do a lot more. I started well, but when I sped up, the bike started to slip and I lost some positions. At the beginning my race pace was good, in fact I started to push and I was able to overtake Pedrosa and arrive very close to Loris who was riding so fast. Unfortunately during the race, the asphalt became to dry and I start to have some difficulties. Maybe the Bridgestone front tyre we chose was too soft and didn’t help me to ride well, but on the contrary, the rear became increasingly better and gave me an important help. To race with these conditions is always difficult, but I gave my best to obtain the best possible result.”

Alex Hofmann :
“If I look at my result I’m satisfied, the ninth position is not so bad for us, but if I consider the whole race, there are certainly areas which we can work on further in the future. I made a good start to recover four positions, but I could not succeed to attack the other riders that were in front of me. After some laps, I started to have a good race pace and I could see my team-mate Alex Barros and Dani Pedrosa were not so far from me, but I wasn’t able to overtake them because I made a mistake in the last turn and I lost precious time.”

MARCO MELANDRI : "We tried a few set-up modifications in the warm-up and improved the feeling on the front but couldn't do the same on the rear. When the track was really wet I struggled because the bike was sliding a lot. Then as it started to dry out the situation improved because the bike felt more balanced. The lap times show that because I went from doing a 1'46.4 to a 1'41.4 on the last lap."

TONI ELIAS : "It's been a difficult weekend and it hasn't ended as we wanted. I struggled in the race because I couldn't get the tyre up to temperature and find grip. I had a problem in braking and ran wide a few times, which made me lose time and this meant I couldn't recover positions as I wanted. When the track began to dry I was able to set the fastest lap of the race. The positive thing is that we've gathered a lot of information in the wet which we'll be able to use together with Bridgestone and try to solve some of the problems we've had this weekend

[mickey]

CHECA:
“After four laps I had a better feeling and was able to pass Melandri and was hoping to improve my lap times and gain some confidence. But I lost the front at turn eight just as I was starting to push and I’m not sure why, maybe a little too much front brake. It’s a pity, in the dry I was competitive, but today it rained and I want to forget this race.”


Randy De Puniet

“That was a hard race and I was very happy to see the flag! The first few laps felt a bit slow but I found it difficult to improve as I didn’t want to make a mistake. Tyres were a problem at the end, with the track becoming dry, and it was difficult to control the machine. Grip wasn’t good but it was the same for everybody and, overall, the bike worked well in the difficult conditions. I finished in sixth position and, for me, it was my best race because it was so, so hard, so I’m very happy. It’s great for me and the team to continue to do well after the result in Barcelona.”

Anthony West

“I felt really strong in the wet and it didn’t feel like I was pushing too hard. Nicky Hayden crashed right in front of me in the same place a few laps before and there was no grip there. I’d struggled with it all weekend. But the rear came round so quickly and I don’t really know what happened. After that, when the track started drying out, I found it hard to get any traction and couldn’t lay the power down. Later, it started to feel better but by then it was too late to make a move back on Melandri. I’m disappointed I crashed because I wanted to get a good result for these guys but I’m happy I finished and got some points

Shinya Nakano
“With the conditions changing so much that was a difficult race. I think my start was not so bad, but then during the first lap I had a slide with the rear tyre and I had to catch it before I fell down, this meant I lost a couple of places. For the first 10 laps things were OK, but then the conditions began to change and the track started to dry out. This meant that I could not push hard as I would have liked, as when the track began to dry, the tyre would slide more. When this began to happen I decided to hang on and get some points for the overall championship positions.
KURTIS ROBERTS
I fell this morning in warm-up, and I'm still pretty sore, so it took me a lap or two to get the confidence back. When I started catching guys -(Shinya) Nakano and (Marco) Melandri, I felt good. Went around them pretty easy. Then maybe four or five laps after, when a dry line was
developing, the bike started moving around a lot on full lean, and was getting worse and worse. The track was so dry in some places, and wet in others. I was searching for water to cool the tyre down.

[mickey]

Makoto TAMADA : « C’était une course difficile. En sortie de virage, je n’avais pas trop de patinage, mais la roue arrière dérivait vers l’extérieur. Au freinage, je manquais de feeling dans le train avant. Dans ces conditions, il était difficile d’espérer quoi que ce soit. »


Sylvain GUINTOLI : « Ce fut une course frustrante. Je n’ai pas eu l’occasion de me battre, je passais mon temps à regarder derrière pour ne gêner personne.

Nous manquions cruellement de grip, et dès que j’essayais de forcer le destin, je risquais la chute, comme ça m’est arrivé vendredi. Dommage, car traditionnellement je vais vite dans ces conditions, comme je l’ai montré en 250. »

[adrien]

Les courses de Donington et l'avènement de Stoner...

Plus les 250 sous une pluie battante et les multiples arsouilles des 125

Donington : les vidéos intégrales des 3 courses, les wallpapers et les comptes rendus

[davidpiole]

mes photos de Donington ici:

http://www.forum-motogp.com/forum/sh...290#post233290