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German Grand Prix: Honda aims to keep Laguna success rolling at the 'ring

In MotoGP

16 luglio 2009

Dani Pedrosa travels to Germany determined to build on his dominant victory at Laguna Seca two weeks ago when he led the MotoGP pack from start to finish. The win was much-deserved for the Spaniard, who had been battered by recent injuries, and indicates that Honda’s 2009 RC212V has the speed to run at the front of biking’s most technically challenging championship.

Pedrosa’s hard-fought US GP success was backed up by encouraging results by satellite team riders Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and
Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) who rode to sixth- and ninth-place finishes.

Laguna and the Sachsenring would appear to have much in common – they are both anti-clockwise, undulating racetracks that require a physical and attacking riding style – so the four Honda MotoGP teams competing in Germany will be aiming for more success in round nine of this year’s 17-race World Championship.

Pedrosa is full of confidence going into the Sachsenring weekend because he has an impressive record at the track – he won the 2004 and 2005 German 250 GPs and scored a runaway MotoGP success there in 2007. Last year he was leading in treacherous rain-lashed conditions when he slid off. Pedrosa’s attacking style suits the twisting layout which only features one short straight.

Repsol Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso will be looking forward to this weekend’s race to turn his luck around after a couple of unlucky DNFs. The Italian, riding his first season for the full-factory HRC squad, slid off at Assen and Laguna, spoiling his impressive run of top-four results. His strong finishes in previous races mean that the 23-year-old still holds sixth place in the current points standings.

De Puniet aims to continue his impressively consistent season at the Sachsenring. The Frenchman, who has finished every race so far and usually in the top ten, has shown impressive speed at the German track in recent years. Last year he was fourth in the pouring rain. In 2003 he finished on the German 250 GP podium.

Elias can hardly wait to get back on track in Germany following his morale-boosting sixth-place finish in the United States. The Spaniard’s best result of the year so far followed weeks of hard work from the San Carlo Honda Gresini who now believe they are starting to uncover the RC212V’s real potential. They know there’s still more to come, however, because at Laguna Elias was using softer tyres than most other Honda riders which can compromise his performance in the latter stages of races.

Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) hopes that the Sachsenring will be his 2009 turning point, following a tough start to his season. The San Marino rider has had set-up issues at several races this year but believes he is on the verge of a breakthrough. De Angelis has a remarkable record at the German circuit – he finished on the podium every year from 2002 to 2007 in both the 125 and 250 classes.

Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) continues his fast-paced apprenticeship in biking’s fastest race series and is looking to score his first premier-class points at the Sachsenring, where he won the 2007 125 GP. Hungary’s former 125 World Champion only rode a MotoGP bike for the first time during Friday practice for the Catalan GP, just five weeks ago, so he’s very much in the early stages of his apprenticeship.

The Sachsenring is MotoGP’s second shortest racetrack with a lap length of just 3.67km/2.28 miles and features its most twisting layout, with the longest straight measuring just 0.87m/0.48 miles. Cornering performance is thus everything, with most of the corners turning left; Indeed the Sachsenring also features MotoGP’s longest one-way cornering sequence with seven consecutive left-handers making up the middle section of the lap. Turn 12 is the track’s most famous corner, a daunting 200-plus km/h blind right-hander that is crucial for any rider aiming to set up an overtaking move into the final two corners. The circuit is situated deep within Saxony (hence the name) which was once one of the world’s most famed regions for motorcycle production. Among Saxony’s greatest biking names are DKW and MZ. Both brands were once manufactured in Zschopau, a half-hour drive from the track.

Honda has a long and illustrious history of success at the Sachsenring, winning its first success on the original street circuit in July 1961, when Mike Hailwood won the 250 GP on his way to winning that year’s 250 world title, Honda’s first World Championship crown. That event was the first GP to be held behind the Iron Curtain; GP events continued at the Sachsenring under Communism until 1972. The Sachsenring returned to the World Championship calendar in 1998, when Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda) won the 500 race on his NSR500 two-stroke on the newly built short circuit. In all, Honda has won 13 elite-class GP events on German tarmac at Hockenheim, the Nurburgring and the Sachsenring street circuit and short circuit.

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