Honda Worldwide | Repsol Honda Team | Repsol Honda Team heads to Sachsenring with Championship tied

2012 Grand Prix of Germany - Sachsenring - Preview - 03/07/2012

Date : 03/07/2012

Repsol Honda Team heads to Sachsenring with Championship tied

With no time to take a breath and just five days after the challenging race at Assen, the Repsol Honda Team follows the Championship to Sachsenring for this weekend's Grand Prix of Germany, the eighth round of the season.

After the double podium in the Netherlands, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa will aim to maintain this momentum and take another step forward in the World Championship, where Casey is now equal on points at the top of the standings with Lorenzo (140), while Dani (in third position with 121 points) has seen the gap to the leaders reduced to 19 points.

The Sachsenring track, the second shortest on the calendar after Laguna Seca, is a much slower circuit than Silverstone and Assen, but again it will be very demanding on tyres: 13 turns -10 left and only 3 to the right - means a lot of stress on the tyres and the track layout requires a very accurate set up of the bikes.

Casey has four podium finishes in Germany, including a victory in 2008, while for Dani Sachsenring has been like a talisman circuit in the past, with five victories (three in MotoGP, including the last two years) and six podiums in total.

CASEY STONER –World Championship Position: 2nd with 140 points

"I hope we can go to Sachsenring and get another good result especially after our tough, but rewarding weekend in Assen. We were quite competitive there last year, but in the long corners we are struggling a little more with our bike at the moment so we're going to need to work hard on Friday and Saturday, try to find more grip from the edge of the tyre and also see if we can reduce the front chatter. It's a very interesting track, maybe not one of the greatest on the circuit but has one of the best corners coming down the hill which is a little scary with spending so much time on the left before switching to the right side of the tyre. It's a good atmosphere there though with all the spectators so close to the track, it feels like a Coliseum ! There's always an interesting race there as we saw last year so we'll see what this weekend has in store".

DANI PEDROSA –World Championship Position: 3rd with 121 points

"Sachsenring has been a successful track for us in the past, we've got some very good results there and it's a circuit where I always enjoy racing. Every race counts and we have to keep working hard and our time will come. We had a very good weekend in Assen and we have to repeat it in Germany; hopefully with the first win of 2012 that we are chasing so much. Sachsenring is a short track where the performance of the tyres will again play a big part, because you are leaning on the left a long time and the fastest corner is to the right. We need to set up the bike the best we can and give our best on Sunday".

Championship standings

1	Jorge Lorenzo	140 pts	SPA	YAMAHA	Yamaha Factory Racing Team
2	Casey Stoner	140 pts	AUS	HONDA	Repsol Honda Team
3	Dani Pedrosa	121 pts	SPA	HONDA	Repsol Honda Team
4	Cal Crutchlow	77 pts	GBR	YAMAHA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3
5	Andrea Dovizioso	76 pts	ITA	YAMAHA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3
6	Valentino Rossi	61 pts	ITA	DUCATI	Ducati Team
7	Nicky Hayden	59 pts	USA	DUCATI	Ducati Team
8	Alvaro Bautista	58 pts	SPA	HONDA	San Carlo Honda Gresini
9	Stefan Bradl	51 pts	GER	HONDA	LCR Honda MotoGP
10	Ben Spies	48 pts	USA	YAMAHA	Yamaha Factory Racing Team
11	Hector Barbera	46 pts	SPA	DUCATI	Pramac Racing
12	Aleix Espargaro	20 pts	ESP	ART	Aspar Team MotoGP
13	Randy De Puniet	19 pts	FRA	ART	Aspar Team MotoGP
14	Michelle Pirro	16 pts	ITA	HONDA	San Carlo Honda Gresini
15	Mattia Pasini	12 pts	ITA	ART	Speed Master
16	Danillo Petrucci	9 pts	ITA	IODA	Ioda Racing Project
17	James Ellison	9 pts	GBR	ART	Paul Bird Racing
18	Ivan Silva	5 pts	SPA	BQR-FTR	BQR
19	Yonny Hernandez	4 pts	COL	BQR-FTR	BQR
20	Colin Edwards	4 pts	USA	SUTER	NGM Mobile Forward Racing
21	Karel Abraham	4 pts	CZE	DUCATI	Cardion AB Motoracing
22	Chris Vermeulen	0 pts	AUS	SUTER	NGM Mobile Forward Racing

Circuit information

First race	1961 (Modified 2003)
GPs held	26
Laps	30
Race distance	110.130km / 68.430miles
Track length	3.671km / 2.281miles
Track width	12m
Longest straight	0.780km / 0.485miles
Corners	13 (10 left, 3 right)
Pole position	Left

Circuit records

Pole position	1m21.067s (163.020Km/h) Casey Stoner (Ducati, 2008)
Race lap	1m21.846s (161.469Km/h) Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2011)
Race time	41m12.482s (160.352Km/h) Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2011)
MotoGP Wins	4 (Valentino Rossi 2002, 2005-06-09)
2011 Winner	Dani Pedrosa (Honda)

RELEASE