With less than a week since the last round at Assen, the MotoGP riders head to Mugello for the 8th round of the 2011 MotoGP season. Casey Stoner leads the way to the Italian circuit, but a confident Ben Spies, a resilient Jorge Lorenzo, a determined Valentino Rossi and a returning Dani Pedrosa will be fighting for the race win this weekend.
Ben Spies heads to the Italian circuit this weekend after claiming his first career MotoGP win at Assen.
“We're thinking about (the race win) and using that confidence and morale coming into this weekend,” Spies said. “But tomorrow is also the start of a new weekend. I'll give 100% and try to stay in the positive atmosphere the team has created.”
Spies had a slow start to the 2011 racing season, and even with his recent race win, he is still more than 70 points behind the points leader, Casey Stoner.
“I feel good and am ready for this weekend,” said Stoner, who has won three of the last four races. “The team and the riders have been extremely strong this year so we’ve done a fantastic job as a whole team.”
Stoner will be rejoined on the grid this weekend by his teammate Dani Pedrosa. Pedrosa has been out for the last month due to a fractured collarbone. Pedrosa is still recovering, but said that he is ready to start racing again at Mugello.
Valentino Rossi is still looking for his first win of the 2011 seaon. If it’s going to happen this year, it’s probably going to happen this weekend. Rossi has an unmatched record at Mugello. Rossi took 7 consecutive wins at the Italian circuit.
"This track is fantastic and this weekend is something special compared to the other races, for personal reasons,” Rossi said. “The track is one of the best, the atmosphere during the weekend is always very exciting.”
Jorge Lorenzo took a small step backwards in the points last weekend after an incident with Marco Simoncelli caused him to miss the podium. Lorenzo is now 28 points adrift of Casey Stoner.
