By Paul Kelly
indianapolismotorspeedway.com
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Live Timing | Event Schedule | IMS Tickets
EVENT: Grand Prix of Valencia
WHERE: Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, Spain. Circuit is 2.489 miles (4.005 km), with 14 turns. Race is 30 laps.
WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 26. It is the 18th of 18 events this season.
2007 RACE WINNER: Dani Pedrosa, by 5.447 seconds over Casey Stoner
2007 POLE WINNER: Dani Pedrosa, 1 minute, 31.517 seconds
U.S. TV: 6-7 p.m. (ET), Sunday, Oct. 26, SPEED
THE AMERICANS: U.S. riders Nicky Hayden (Owensboro, Ky., Repsol Honda Team), Colin Edwards (Houston, Tech 3 Yamaha) and John Hopkins (Ramona, Calif., Kawasaki Racing Team) will compete in this race. Hayden is sixth, Edwards seventh and Hopkins 16th in the MotoGP standings after 16 races this season.
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•Nicky Hayden: "One more try at 'em! I really love Valencia, and I love the atmosphere. It's always special to race in front of a Spanish crowd. I don't want to sound soft, but it will be an emotional weekend. This team has been family the last six years - I was 21 years old when I showed up in Europe from Kentucky. We've had a good run together. I'm really grateful for the opportunity Honda gave me. Not a lot of people can say they rode factory Hondas for nine years. From the RC51 on, I've ridden some of the baddest bikes ever and worked with some great engineers. We'll be hoping we can go out strong. Valencia has got a special place in my heart, for obvious reasons. I like the way they built the track inside a natural bowl. I like big, fast, flowing tracks, too, but I like how Valencia is all right there. You really feel the energy. It's the last race of the year, so everyone goes all out. On the map, it looks like a go-kart track, but it doesn't feel like that riding it. You need a bike that gets round corners better than it goes in a straight line, and you've got to be aggressive."
•Colin Edwards: "This place is a lot of momentum running here. It's just being smooth. This place, you can't get too jerky. Just being smooth and carrying lots of momentum and trying not to destroy the left side of the tire. Everything here is just about left, left, left, with a couple of rights thrown in. You've just got to take care of that, really."
•John Hopkins: "I'm looking forward to Valencia, as I seemed to click with the circuit last year and finished the race on the podium. It's been a long season, with a lot of ups and downs, and the injuries have held us back a lot. But I want to finish my first year with Kawasaki on a high, so I'll be pushing hard for a good result this weekend although the podium may be slightly out of our reach this time around. The Valencia circuit demands a lot of a bike and rider, so setup will be critical this weekend. If we can get the bike working well during practice and qualifying, I think we can be confident of a top-10 finish in the final race of the season."
THEY SAID IT: "Valencia is the last race of the season, so we go there with a twin objective - to win the race and to party! Of course, it has been a tough few weeks on the road for the team, with a lot of traveling involved. But honestly, when you are winning, you don't feel the stress. Even so, it will be nice to be back in Europe, and we will be focusing on ending the season on a high. Whatever the result, we'll be partying on Sunday night!" - Fiat Yamaha Team Team Manager Davide Brivio
FAST FACTS: This is one of three races this season in Spain and the seventh consecutive year that the MotoGP season finale has taken place at the Ricardo Tormo circuit … Reigning MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi needs to score just 11 points - a fifth-place finish - to set a record for the most points scored in a season. Rossi has 357 points after 17 races this season. He scored 367 points in 17 races in 2005, while Casey Stoner scored 367 in 18 races last season … Rossi is winless at Valencia since 2004, the only circuit on the 2008 schedule at which he is winless during that span … American Nicky Hayden clinched the 2006 MotoGP World Championship at Valencia … Two-time MotoGP runner-up Sete Gibernau of Spain will return to the series in 2009 after a two-year hiatus. Gibernau, second to Rossi in series points in 2003 and 2004, will ride a Ducati for the Onde 2000 team … The 250cc and 125cc classes also finish the season this weekend. Marco Simoncelli of Italy and Mike Di Meglio of France already have clinched the 250 and 125 titles, respectively. American Stevie Bonsey, from Salinas, Calif., is 14th in the 125cc standings for the DeGraaf Grand Prix team … The 2008 Red Bull Riders Cup competition for elite riders from age 13 to 16 will finish this weekend at Valencia. The competition pits the top 10 riders in the European-based Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and the North American-based Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup. The MotoGP Rookies Cup team won the first round during the Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sept. 12-14 at IMS.
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2009 Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets: The second annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 30, two weeks earlier than this year's date.
A three-day event ticket for a reserved seat or general admission can be renewed online at the Tickets section at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com. Fans also can request an upgrade of their reserved Race Day tickets at the Tickets section.
Ticket applications for new customers also are being accepted. New customers are encouraged to order early to secure the best available seats.
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