MotoGP 2003 - Round 15 - Repsol Honda Previews Phillip Island

With leathers barely dry from last weeks champagne celebrations in Sepang, 2003 MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi returns to a favourite Phillip Island circuit with on-form team mate Nicky Hayden, to do battle with the rest of the MotoGP pack in the penultimate race of the all-action season.

Rossi’s attitude to racing was perfectly summed up with his performance in Sepang. He only had to follow fast starting Sete Gibernau (Honda) home in second spot to secure his fifth word title but that never looked on the cards. If there was a possibility of a win then it had to be taken and taken it was; his 57th career GP victory. On his way to his 31st premier class win he secured his 20th consecutive podium finish. He is now just two short of Giacomo Agostini’s run of 22 consecutive podiums and with two races left this season, few would bet on Rossi not achieving this remarkable feat.

Rossi’s two-year contract with Honda is up at the end of this year and there is much speculation about his future. Repsol Honda Team’s Sporting Manager, Carlo Fiorani, flew straight back to Italy from Kuala Lumpur after the race for a series of high-level meetings with Rossi’s management team, key Honda personnel and representatives from existing sponsors.

Hayden has been quite happy that all the attention has been focused on his team mate. The hugely talented 22-year-old American has been learning fast. From a season’s mid way low of 11th place he’s surged up the riders standings to a heady sixth spot with a string of fantastic rides over the last six GP’s (a 5th, 6th, 9th, 5th, 3rd and last week 4th). He now lies a tantalising five points behind Ducati mounted Troy Bayliss.

Both riders are relishing the prospect of riding at Phillip Island. Rossi has won four memorable GP’s there and holds the lap record for both MotoGP class and the 250cc class from 1999. Hayden visited the fast and challenging circuit south of Melbourne on the shores of the wild Bass Strait last February during testing and fell for its charms very quickly.

The fine joint efforts of both riders helped secure the 2003 Team Title for the Repsol Honda Team for the second consecutive year.

Valentino Rossi - “It is sometimes difficult to restart after such a great weekend – especially as we have no break really before the next GP but I love Phillip Island. I have had very good experiences there and we try to make the best result. I love to race there and the bike works very well at the moment. We look to have real fun for the rest of the season. I would be very happy to make the podium for every race in the season. We win the title and the team championship now this could be the target to keep the motivation.”

Nicky Hayden - “When I tested at Phillip Island back at the beginning of the year I really enjoyed it. The track, the atmosphere, and the ocean in the background; makes for a real good settin’. The track lay out is great too. The big left handers and the last corner is real fun. I’ve waited since February to get back there and I can’t wait. I’m hoping for a good result from the last two races; here and at Valencia, back in Europe, to finish my first MotoGP season off on a high. I’m feelin’ great at the moment and just want to up the momentum.”

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The strongest man in the 250cc right now is Toni Elias. The Repsol rider has set four poles in a row and clinched three victories in the last four races. He is 25 points behind the leader in the overall standings, but there are 50 still at stake, and the maturity and consistency shown by Elias in the last races show that there are still mathematic possibilities to get the title, and Aspar’s pupil is eager to fight until the end. His teammate Fonsi Nieto, far from the title chase, became in Malaysia Elias’ most loyal ally. In the two remaining races, which will be held on circuits where Nieto has always proven to be very fast, Elias’ teammate may take away important points from Poggiali if he manages to finish in front of the San Marino rider. And whilst Elias and Nieto join their strength to get the title, Sebastián Porto will keep on fighting for his first podium finish of the season, and both Héctor Faubel and Joan Olivé will try to finish among the top ten.

In the minor category, a rejoicing Dani Pedrosa arrives in Australia relaxed after clinching the world championship in Malaysia, but he has already declared that he does not want to relax on the track and that he still wants to enjoy new victories. Héctor Barberá and Pablo Nieto, with technical and setting problems in Malaysia, will have in Australia one of their last chances to get back on the podium.

Fonsi Nieto: “I like very much both circuits we’re going to visit now, Australia and Valencia. Phillip Island is one of my favourite tracks because most of the corners are very fast. You always ride to the limit on this track but it has also the inconvenient of being a bit bumpy and the asphalt lacks a bit of grip. I’m more motivated after the podium finish in Malaysia. It was a pity to miss the second place by thousands of a second. Finishing in front of Poggiali was very important both for Toni and for me. Last year I made a good race here, in Phillip Island. I feel comfortable on this circuit and I think that we’ll be able to do a good job. We’ll follow the same working line as we did in Malaysia to try to improve the setting of the bike.”

Toni Elias: “After the victories in Motegi and Malaysia I’m in high spirits and I feel very comfortable on the bike, and I want to finish the season repeating these results. I’ve always been good on this track, it’s very fast and entertaining, but we need to have a good setting and the right tyres if we want to win and keep the chances for the title. I wasn’t very lucky last year because I suffered a heavy crash on Saturday leaving me quite sore and I also felt physically very bad due to flu. We have to keep our feet on the ground because the championship is still very contended, but there are fifty points at stake and anything can happen. I’ll try to make things difficult for Poggiali until the last race. I now that it will be complicated because Manuel is fighting very hard, but we still have many possibilities to get the title.”

Dani Pedrosa: “I’m still on a cloud; what happened last week in Malaysia is something indescribable, I don’t know how to express what I felt that moment. It’s been the crowning point and a reward for the work of all those who have been supporting me these years: Telefónica, Alberto Puig, my family, Repsol, my team.., They have all made it possible that I finally became World Champion. Now we arrive in Phillip Island, and we’ll have to concentrate to fight for a new victory, because there are two races left and in Australia I’d like to enjoy the race and win without pressure. And in Valencia obviously as well. It would be great to celebrate the title with all the Spanish fans winning the race in front of them!”

The Phillip Island circuit according to Héctor Barberá

There is usually strong wind here and you can never follow the same line twice because the wind blows you off the line in the corners.

Problems with the bike’s settings and the strong wind hindered Héctor Barberá from achieving a good result in Australia last year. However the young Spaniard enjoys racing on this circuit he considers to be very complicated. “There is usually strong wind here and you can never follow the same line twice because the wind blows you off the line in the corners, which are also quite fast. It’s a dangerous circuit because you get a fast pace and there are two or three spots where the wall is very close to the corners. In addition, the race is usually made up by groups of five to six riders because it is a relatively short track favouring agglomerations.

With regard to the asphalt, it is very abrasive and it has good grip, like in Brno. It is a very spectacular circuit in general, there is a lot of vegetation around it and along the straight, and when you start going downwards you can even see the sea. You can feel the humidity here; it affects the carburetion and changes the bike’s technical setting a little bit. The corner at the entrance to the straight where you can open the throttle completely on the 125cc bike, is especially nice. And in the afternoon, when everything is over, there is a fair outside the paddock, where we use to go sometimes. Although the circuit doesn’t have much grandstands, there’s usually a nice crowd of people and Australian fans are good at cheering.