Lorenzo Needs Magic to Close Gap on Stoner

Laguna Seca, California - MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo has long been inspired by Laguna Seca and its infamous Corkscrew turn and he will be banking on that special spur when he defends his US Grand Prix title this week.

With nine races left this season, the 24-year-old Spaniard trails Australian Casey Stoner by 15 points in the overall standings and would dearly love to trim that deficit further with another triumphant display on Sunday.

Lorenzo made up some ground on Stoner when he snatched second place for Yamaha at last week’s German Grand Prix, one place better than the Australian.

“We are very strong at the moment and we will try to continue to reduce our gap behind Casey,” Lorenzo said on Friday.

“I have had great moments at Laguna Seca, above all last year when I won but also in 2009 when I got pole position even with a big crash and at the end got a podium.”

Two years ago, Lorenzo took pole position despite crashing and partially dislocating his collar bone in qualifying. He finished the race third behind winner Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi after a gutsy performance.

Twelve months ago, the Spaniard again started on pole but this time he benefited from a spectacular crash by compatriot Pedrosa on lap 12 before powering across the finish line 3.517 seconds ahead of Ducati’s Stoner.

“That win was very special,” Lorenzo said of his 11th MotoGP triumph. “Winning at Laguna Seca was something I’d always dreamed of.”

Lorenzo is certain, though, to face heated competition on Sunday from 2007 US Grand Prix champion Stoner and Pedrosa.

“It’s a circuit I’ve always enjoyed quite good results at and we’ve always been naturally quite fast on it,” said Stoner, who has finished on the podium in his last seven races. “We’ll be looking to improve our results from the past three weekends. Podiums are great but I’m here to win races.”

Pedrosa, who sealed his return from injury by winning the German Grand Prix on Sunday, is another long-time fan of Laguna Seca, which is scenically laid out in rolling hills overlooking the Monterey Peninsula.

“The atmosphere there is special and I’d like to close the first part of the season with a good feeling,” the 25-year-old said. Reuters

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Stoner Eyes Repeat of  2007 Czech Win

Brno, Czech Republic - Australia’s Casey Stoner is looking to extend his lead in the MotoGP standings in Sunday’s Czech Grand Prix in Brno and add one more success to his five victories in this year’s 10 races.

Bolstered by victory in the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca on July 24, before a three-week summer break, Honda rider Stoner will seek to repeat his only Brno win from 2007, the year in which he won his only world championship title.

“It’s a circuit I’ve always enjoyed and I believe with the results we’ve had in the past years we can expect to have a good race there,” Stoner told the MotoGP Web site.

But he will face tough competition from last year’s winner, Spanish Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo, second in the overall standings, on the 5.403-kilometer circuit about 180 kilometers southeast of the Czech capital Prague.

“The fact that it’s very fast and flowing has helped the Yamahas in the past seasons and I think Jorge will be strong there, so I will be watching for him,” the 25-year-old Stoner said.

The Australian, who came in third in Brno last year behind his Spanish teammate Dani Pedrosa, is now on 193 points in the overall standings, 20 points ahead of defending world champion Lorenzo.

“After the long break we are going to Brno completely recharged and ready to fight and try to reduce the gap to Casey,” Lorenzo said.

“This is a track I like and where I won last year. I hope we can start the second half of the season on the podium.”

Italy’s Andrea Dovizioso of Honda is third overall, 30 points behind Lorenzo but with a solid advance on his teammate Pedrosa. Italian Ducati rider Valentino Rossi, fifth overall, will come to Brno as the rider with the best record from the circuit with five MotoGP wins here.

The Brno circuit named after Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, the first president of former Czechoslovakia, was opened in 1987 to replace an old nearby track that became too dangerous for riders. Agence France-Presse

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Rio Haryanto's Tire Gamble Pays Off in Wet GP3 Race

After struggling in the past four legs of the GP3 Series, Rio Haryanto returned to the spotlight over the weekend, braving the rain to take out Race 1 of the German event at Nurburgring.

It was an emotional result for the Marussia Manor Racing driver, who started third off the grid on Saturday. “It’s such a special moment and I’m honestly just a bit speechless,” the 18-year-old was quoted as saying on the GP3 Series official Web site. “I’m from Indonesia and there are not many racing drivers [from the country] so to win in these conditions, it’s such a special day.”

The race was full of drama as light rain fell when the drivers lined up on the grid.

Rio was the only driver who stuck with slick tires. MW Arden’s pole-sitter Mitch Evans, Status GP’s Antonio Felix Da Costa, who started second, and fourth starter Tom Dillmann from Addax switching to wet tires before the race.

The gamble paid off, as the rain stopped just after the race started, and Rio battled for the lead with Evans and Lewis Williamson of MW Arden.

In tough conditions, Evans was at one stage 1.1 seconds ahead of Williamson, with Rio dropping to fourth after being passed by Lotus Art’s Valtteri Botas. But Evans had to surrender the lead to Williamson as he was handed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for not having his wheels fitted at the three-minute race-start warning.

Rio had a three-way battle with Williamson and Botas in the last five laps, and the Indonesian managed to hold on to take his first win of the season, followed by Williamson and Botas. The win ensured Rio moved up to 11th place in the standings with 13 points.

“I just tried to drive as smoothly as possible and find the driest lines on track,” Rio said. “We were just trying to be gentle and not make any mistakes. It’s so easy to run off the track and miss your braking point or to lock up your wheels. But in the end I managed to hold on.”

In Race 2, Rio finished in 10th place. Bottas secured his maiden win, followed by Alexander Sims and Nigel Melker.

Last year, in his debut season, Rio finished with a win in Turkey and was fifth overall in the final standings.

Rio was the first Indonesian to test a Formula One car, driving for Virgin Racing in November. (Wimbo Satwiko)

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Horner warns of Red Bull attack

Given the considerable cushions Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel hold over their rivals in the Constructors' and Drivers' Championships, it would be easy for team and driver to play the percentage game.

Although McLaren and Ferrari have made strides in playing catch up, it seems inconceivable the Milton Keynes-based marque and the 24-year-old German will not retain their titles this year.

Mistakes will have to be made if Red Bull and Vettel are to be denied, yet from Horner's perspective, there will be no let up.

"If you look at Sebastian's 11 races this season he's had six wins, four seconds and a fourth," said Horner.

"That isn't a bad run of results, so the target for the team is to continue that kind of scoring.

"We've seen Ferrari and McLaren are competitive, and not just in recent races, but this year has been deceptive in many respects.

"It's just that we've been able to maximise our opportunities, and the intention is for us to continue like that in the remaining eight races.

"These next two events (Belgium and Italy) have historically been our weakest venues in terms of our package given the horsepower emphasis that is placed upon them.

"But we're looking forward to the final eight races, and we intend to attack them, just as we have the previous 11 so far."

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Vettel: Anything is possible

Vettel clinched his ninth pole position of the campaign at Spa on Saturday afternoon, easily quicker than the chasing pack in the wet conditions. Vettel's best was a 1:48.298, 0.432s up on McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

"It was a difficult session all in all," he said. "Q1 and Q2 with the tricky conditions, and the circuit drying up very quickly and it being tricky on inters - the main target was to get through.

"I didn't feel comfortable right in the beginning, but in Q2 we made a big step forward. I rediscovered Spa in a way and found some better lines than all weekend and in Q3 we were quite sure it was dry (enough for dry) tyres but also quite sure if it didn't rain it would be down to the last lap."

But while Saturday may have yielded Vettel's ninth pole, it wasn't an easy outing for the reigning World Champ, who admits his lap time was also down to getting the timing just right for when the track was at its best.

"I wasn't really happy yesterday or this morning, but we did the right steps to come back and especially when it was drying up. If you would put your money on that around here, all in all we got the timing right, especially in the last qualifying session it was feeling good and we got it together all the time.

"I was trying to make my way around in the last two laps [in Q3], trying to get temperature in the tyres, trying to push as hard as I could.

"Lewis was right in front of me a couple of seconds ahead and I saw him locking up, last thing. I was happy with the car towards the end in the dry and it seemed to get quicker and quicker.

"Not an easy session with conditions changing and right after it finished it started to change again, but here, as we saw today, anything is possible."

Looking ahead to the 44-lap Belgian GP, at present the forecast is for a dry afternoon, however, at Spa the weather is known for changing rapidly.

And it's because of that factor that Vettel reckons a lot could happen come Sunday afternoon.

"It is one of those races, anything can happen from start-to-finish, we will see. The best forecast around here is to look up and see what is happening!

"We had a good balance in the end in the dry, the beginning of qualifying I didn't really feel comfortable. Even in the wet we found direction and it should be ready for tomorrow, it is a long race so I am looking forward to it."

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Schumi: Only way left to go is forward

Celebrating 20 years in Formula One at the track where it all started, Schumacher had hoped for a good performance in Saturday's qualifying, giving him the platform to achieve a solid result come Sunday's race.

But it was not to be.

Less than two minutes into qualifying, Schumacher, on his out-lap, lost his rear right wheel, leaving the German unable to control his W02 and crashing into the barriers.

The seven-time World Champ, though, is still positive about his chances in Sunday's 44-lap Belgian GP.

"Well, obviously I would have wished for a different end to today's qualifying, but it is difficult to drive on three wheels - even if I should have the experience to do so in Spa.

"Seriously, this is certainly something that should not occur, but then this is also Formula One; we are working at the highest level but still things can happen.

"At first, I wasn't sure what had happened, as I just felt myself lose the back end suddenly which is why I instantly apologised to the team. But then I saw the wheel off the car and understood the reason why I had lost control.

"Trying to find the good in the bad, I'd probably say that I still have some fresh sets of tyres left, and that there is only one direction to go tomorrow: forward."

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The Jak's office moves to GBK

Die-hard fans of Persija soccer club Jakarta, known as “The Jak Mania”, have a new office in the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Center, Central Jakarta.

Previously the soccer fan club’s secretariat was situated in the Lebak Bulus Sports Center, South Jakarta.

“Mahfudin Nigara, director of Gelora Bung Karno’s development and management, allocated a place in the sports center for the Jak with some conditions,” Persija Jakarta chairman Ferry Paulus said Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.

One condition included a guarantee from The Jak members to maintain security around the GBK stadium.

“I only expect a commitment from the Jak. It has also been included in the contract,” said Nigara.

The Jak had to move out of the Lebak Bulus Sports Center because it will be converted into a mass rapid transit terminal, the development of which will start later this year.

Sumber: http://www.thejakartapost.com
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