A Spanish party !

After enjoying the raucous backing of over 85,000 fans at his home circuit, Valentino Rossi is looking forward to yet more passionate support in Barcelona this Sunday. Despite the recent success of local rider Dani Pedrosa, Rossi remains a firm favourite with the Spanish fans and always looks forward to performing for them, whether it be at Barcelona, Jerez or Valencia.

"Barcelona is always a great race for me and I've won there the last three years with Yamaha, so hopefully we can do it again," says Rossi. "I am lucky to have lots of fans in Spain, even though I have had some close rivalries with Spanish riders, and it is always a pleasure to ride in front of them. I got a fantastic reception when I won the race at Jerez earlier in the season so hopefully I can start the same kind of party in Barcelona.

"Dani Pedrosa will also have a lot of support this weekend and I expect him to be a difficult rival once again after such a good race at Mugello. Also Stoner will be strong, especially down the long straight, but Yamaha and Michelin have worked really hard to close the gap on our rivals and I think we are ready to battle with them at every track now. After Mugello we have three more races at three of my favourite tracks so hopefully we can continue with the good progress we have made recently and be back on top of the podium again!"

Gunning for six in a row at Mugello

Valentino Rossi has been imperious at the Italian Grand Prix since 2002 and the Italian goes for a sixth successive victory at Mugello on Sunday.

The seven-times world champion lies second in the MotoGP standings, 21 points behind Australian Casey Stoner after five races, but is the undisputed master of the twisting Tuscan circuit in the hills north of Florence.

Rossi has finished top of the podium at Mugello every year since the MotoGP class was introduced in 2002.“I’ve got a special relationship with Mugello. I’ve won many races there, in particular the last three years with Yamaha,” he told the official MotoGP site (www.motogp.com).

“It’s a track on which I’ve disputed the greatest races of my career. And even though this year there is another race in Italy, at Misano (in the San Marino Grand Prix in September), Mugello stands out because of the big crowds and the atmosphere.”

Rossi made a good start to the season, riding his Yamaha to second place behind Stoner in the opening race in Qatar before winning in Spain.

Since then, however, he has gone off the boil. Second place in the Chinese grand prix in early May was sandwiched between a tenth-place finish in Turkey and sixth place at a wet Le Mans circuit two weeks ago. Stoner, meanwhile, notched up two more wins and a third place to take control of the championship.

Rossi’s struggle to control his Yamaha on the slippery circuit at the French Grand Prix underlined the disadvantages of the Michelin tyres he uses compared to the Bridgestones used by Stoner.

“We stayed in France an extra two days and we’ve made some good steps forward, in particular on the tyres,” Rossi said.

“I’m expecting a good battle this weekend. This time the weather should be on our side.” Rossi’s Yamaha will have to be perfectly set-up at Mugello, where the 1.14km straight - one of the longest in MotoGP racing - should favour the raw speed of the Ducati ridden by Stoner. Stoner will be keen to erase the memory of his race in Italy last year, when he was flipped roughly off his bike at the fast Arrabbiata bend on the ninth lap.

“Mugello is one of my favourite tracks. It’s where I got my first pole in 125cc,” he said.

Rossi clinches pole in Shanghai

Five-time world champion Valentino Rossi claimed pole position for the China Grand Prix in Shanghai.
The Italian swept round the 5.281-km circuit in one minute 58.424 seconds on his 20th lap to claim his third pole position in four races this year. Suzuki's John Hopkins was second 0.891 seconds back while his fellow American and Rossi's Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards completed the front row. Ducati's championship leader Casey Stoner was fourth

1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1:58.424
2. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 1:59.315
3. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1:59.406
4. Casey Stoner (AUS) Honda 1:59.516
5. Dani Pedrosa (ESP) Honda 1:59.602
6. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 1:59.863
7. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 1:59.985
8. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 2:00.052
9. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 2:00.087
10. Shinyan Nakano (JPN) 2:00.157

Fright for 1st Turkey title

Valentino Rossi hopes to win for the first time at Istanbul as he bids to strengthen his place at the top of the MotoGP standings.

The Fiat Yamaha team rider has never won at the Turkish venue but aims to put that right on Sunday as he bids to pull further away from Ducati Marlboro's Casey Stoner in the championship standings.

Rossi does not favour Istanbul or the following venue in the championship, Shanghai in China, but has set his sights on a first win in Turkey.

"The next two races, Turkey and China, are ones that I don't like so much and I have never won at Istanbul, but it's a great circuit with some very fast corners," said Rossi.

"If the bike works well then it will be great fun I think. Last year I made an error early in the race and it cost me the chance for a podium, but I won't be making the same mistake this year.

"We are leading the championship but it's a long season and we have to aim to get on the podium at every race."

Rossi knows Stoner's Ducati will have the edge in the next two GPs as the layout favours his bike's superior top speed.

"The difficult thing over the next two races is going to be horsepower, because both Istanbul and Shanghai have very long straights," said Rossi.

"We tried some new things at the Jerez test to improve this and I know that Yamaha have been working very hard in Japan so hopefully we will have a little bit of improvement in this area when we get to Turkey."

Putting the record straight

Istanbul Park is one of only three circuits on the current calendar where Valentino Rossi has yet to take victory in the premier-class of MotoGP, the others being Laguna Seca in the USA and Misano in Italy, which will this year host a Grand Prix for the first time since 1993. It is a figure the 28-year-old is looking to reduce as he aims for his first back-to-back victories since Mugello and Catalunya last year."

"The next two races, Turkey and China, are ones that I don't like so much and I have never won at Istanbul, but it's a great circuit with some very fast corners," says Rossi. "If the bike works well then it will be great fun I think. Last year I made an error early in the race and it cost me the chance for a podium, but I won't be making the same mistake this year! We are leading the championship but it's a long season and we have to aim to get on the podium at every race."

"The difficult thing over the next two races is going to be horsepower, because both Istanbul and Shanghai have very long straights. We tried some new things at the Jerez test to improve this and I know that Yamaha have been working very hard in Japan so hopefully we will have a little bit of improvement in this area when we get to Turkey. The other question is for the tyres, because it's the first time this season that we're going to be racing at a track that we haven't tested at. With the new restrictions it's going to be very important to make the right choices and also we don't know what the weather will do."

Bounce back

Valentino Rossi has warned his rivals that they should fear his new-look Yamaha M1 this season after claiming that he and his team are fully motivated by the defeat they suffered last year.

The Italian was pipped to the 2006 title by Honda's Nicky Hayden, but feels that his team are in much better shape heading into the new season than they were this time last year.

"I think we must be feared because we've transformed the sour taste of a defeat at the last race into a great motivation," he was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport at today's official Yamaha launch.

"We are confident and concentrated, we'll be very strong......

"The bike is enjoyable to ride and is incredibly quick. The design is one and we don't need to patch it anymore like in 2006. We have been competitive on every track during winter testing.

"It's too early to feel like winners; it will be a tough fight, but we're ready for it." Rossi has again singled out Hayden's teammate Dani Pedrosa as his main challenger for the crown - although admits there remains some minor concerns about Michelin's race pace.

"The main rivals? Everyone, but certainly Pedrosa and Honda more than the rest. The rivals on Bridgestone perhaps still have some problems. The only thing that still needs some sorting out for us is the race tyres from Michelin, as they aren't at their best yet. We have given them lots of data, now we hope they'll bring us some good material in Qatar."

New Powerful M1

Seven-times world champion Valentino Rossi reckons the secret to Yamaha’s brilliant winter testing performances has been the smooth power delivery on his new factory YZR-M1 800.

Several of Rossi’s rivals have commented on the Yamaha’s power delivery advantage when they’ve followed the Italian and American team-mate Colin Edwards in testing.

And Rossi said it had been one of the focal points of development for Yamaha engineers during the pre-season campaign: "I am happy about my engine delivery. We work a lot with the engineers and I think we have some good ideas with this engine and the bike. We don’t have the maximum speed compared to the other guys but the throttle is easy to use and I think this is so important for the race.”

The Italian said power delivery was essential, not least with the new fuel consumption rule coming for the 2007 season, with tank capacity slashed from 22 to 21 litres. Rossi again insisted the huge importance fuel consumption will play when the new season gets underway in Qatar on March 10 by adding: “For sure the fuel consumption will be the big issue, maybe the biggest one. Some tracks we will have less problems and some with more.

Qatar is one of the worst and I think for everybody it will be difficult to make 22 laps with 21 litres. This means it’s not possible to use all the power of the engine for the race. I hope we are all in the same situation because it is difficult.”