As the MotoGP season heads to Mugello for the Gran Premio d’Italia we take a look at the riders looking to make their mark in Italy...
Mika Kallio (Finland) – Ducati
Kallio is determined to do well on his Pramac team’s home track, in what will be his 20th MotoGP grand prix. However, he is currently battling a shoulder injury picked up in Saturday free practice two weeks ago in France that hindered his performance as he finished 13that Le Mans. Kallio is currently unable to lift or bend his arm but remains confident it will be better come Sunday.
Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) – Honda
Dovi heads into his home GP full of confidence after snatching a podium place from team-mate Dani Pedrosa on the final lap at Le Mans. That result also pushed the Italian above Pedrosa in the overall standings into third. And the 23-year-old rider believes that with a better performance in qualifying, he will be able to challenge the Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo and claim his first victory of the season.
Gold & Goose/Red Bull Photofiles
Dani Pedrosa (Spain) – Honda
Pedrosa has a strong record at the Mugello track, having finished on the podium five times across all classes – including a 250cc win in 2005. The Spaniard also set the track’s highest maximum speed last year with a blistering 349.3 km/h. Pedrosa looked set for a podium place two weeks ago at Le Mans before he was caught by team-mate Andrea Dovizioso and Ducati’s Nicky Hayden on the last lap. He will want to put that right on one of his favourite tracks this weekend.
Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) – Yamaha
After back-to-back wins Lorenzo heads to Italy as the man to beat in this season’s MotoGP. Those two wins have helped the Spaniard amass an impressive 70 points from three races – the best start in the premier class since Rossi’s in 2005. Lorenzo has a chequered history on the Mugello track though. He crashed here on his premier class debut back in 2008, but banished that memory by finishing second last year. He will hope he can go one better this time around.
Gold & Goose/Red Bull Photofiles
Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) – Honda
The MotoGP rookie made some big steps with the set-up of his RC212V machine at Le Mans two weeks ago. The 28-year-old battled for eighth place for much of the race before a small mistake meant he finished 11th. However, the Japanese rider will be out to prove he has made significant strides with the set-up of his bike and will be gunning for a better finish and more world championship points in Italy.
Valentino Rossi (Italy) – Yamaha
Reigning world champion Rossi has been made to play second fiddle to Jorge Lorenzo so far this season and currently sits nine points adrift of his team-mate in the championship standings, after finishing second in France. The 31-year-old has a formidable record on his home track though, having won here seven times in a row between 2002 and 2008. He will want to improve on last year’s third place.
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