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Possible MotoGP title decider in Estoril |
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Posted by Staff
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Friday, 14 September 2007 |
Slightly earlier in the year than in 2006, the MotoGP World
Championship arrived in Estoril this morning for the bwin.com Grande
Premio de Portugal with excitement in the air.
The Grand Prix has the
possibility of playing host to a MotoGP title victory for Casey Stoner, and the
Ducati factory rider was on hand at the afternoon press conference to field
questions from the media. The Australian was as calm and collected as ever,
refusing to get too carried away despite some heavy odds in his favour.
The young Australian can walk away with his first MotoGP World
Championship if he scores fifteen or more points than his main title rival
Valentino Rossi. The combinations are numerous, but essentially a win versus a
sixth place for the Italian would send the title down under for the first time
since Mick Doohan's last win in 1998.
Stoner was joined by satellite
rider Alex Barros, who had a spectacular clean sweep on his last visit to
Estoril back in 2005 and faces an uncertain future in MotoGP when the season
ends. The Brazilian spoke frankly about his expectations for the remainder of
the 2007 season, and explained his options with the d’Antin satellite team and
further afield for next year.
Last year’s race winner Toni Elias, still
on the comeback trail from a broken femur, updated the press on his current
condition and recounted his experience in the spellbinding 2006 race, where he
took victory for the first time in MotoGP.
The second most successful
Australian rider in the premier class, Chris Vermeulen is one of the in-form
riders of the moment and, with his future at Suzuki already confirmed, was able
to focus on the task at hand in Estoril.
The final face in the press
conference line-up was Yamaha factory team Manager Davide Brivio, who was
quizzed about the future formation of his team to incorporate Jorge Lorenzo and
the current state of affairs with the pneumatic engine first used by Valentino
Rossi at Misano and which suffered a breakdown in its first outing.
The
weather in Estoril has been a mixed bag over the past few days, with abundant
sunshine during the day followed by evening showers. Clear skies, accompanied by
temperatures in the region of 26ºc, are expected for the Grand Prix
weekend.
Casey Stoner
“There are not too many races
left, so we’ll just see how many of those we can win…or lose. Valentino (Rossi)
will keep fighting, so it’s not as easy as people are saying, although we have
been helped by his bad luck at Misano."
"This is another new track for me
with Ducati, and I feel confident enough to just focus on our job. It’s one of
the most difficult circuits around."
"I’ve had good and bad races here,
but the weather has always been a bit unpredictable. I hope that coming here
earlier might make things a little more predictable."
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