The seventeenth round of the season will this time be a farewell for various reasons, with many things set to change when the curtain comes down on Sunday evening.

The Movistar Honda MotoGP team arrive in Cheste with Sete Gibernau ready to make the most of his final chance to score his first victory of the season. The Spaniard can leave Valencia with a brand new car by hanging on to his advantage in the BMW Trophy, which rewards the best qualifier of 2005. Sete’s cushion currently stands at two seconds over Valentino Rossi but his true target for this weekend is to sign off from a tough season on the top step of the podium.

Marco Melandri is in line to clinch the runner-up spot in the championship after savouring his first victory in Turkey. The Italian’s success in Istanbul made him the second youngest rider ever to win a MotoGP race, at the age of 23 years and 77 days – just 23 days older than Valentino Rossi. Melandri, Rossi and Hayden are the only three riders who have won in the current format of the premier class below the age of 27. With confidence sky-high, Melandri will race for the championship at the Ricardo Tormo as he targets second place overall, an unthinkable scenario at the start of the season.

Dani Pedrosa, who became a triple World Champion in Australia three weeks ago, also wants to sign off with a victory after missing out by a fraction of a second in Istanbul. Hiroshi Aoyama is targeting third place in the championship and will complete his objective if he can score thirteen points more than Andrea Dovizioso in this final round.

This will also be Dani Pedrosa’s final race in 250cc, a category he has dominated with an iron fist for the past two seasons. He also has the opportunity to break his own record for wins in a season, which he set last year with seven. Dani wants to end a brilliant era in the category in the best possible way, in front of his home fans, before taking the step up to the premier class. His first MotoGP test with Honda will be on Wednesday and Thursday at the same circuit.

RIDER QUOTES

Sete Gibernau:
“At last the end of the season has arrived. It has been a hard year for us because we started out with hopes and objectives that have not been realised. Valencia is our final chance to end the season with a good result and I will give everything from my side to make sure it happens. It won’t be through lack of effort but there is no use feeling sorry for ourselves because we can’t change anything in the past. I hope that with the help of the fans I can have a good weekend and finish it with the result we have been looking for all year.”

Marco Melandri:
“The season ends this weekend in Valencia but I would give anything for it to continue. My victory in Turkey was incredible, a dream I have been chasing for a long time and which came in the best possible way – controlling the race and controlling Valentino in the manner he usually does to others. My confidence has grown a lot and I want to enjoy Valencia and the last race of a season that has been very important for me. Now I have achieved my first MotoGP victory I will race at Cheste with the championship in mind. At the start of the season it was unrealistic to target the runner-up spot but now the dream has turned into my main objective. I’m already missing the bike, I can’t wait for Friday morning and the first free practice, to start making preparations for the race. It will be a very special weekend for me.”

Dani Pedrosa:
“Since I got back from Turkey I have been receiving constant messages of support and congratulations from everybody.  It has been a tough and stressful end to the season and when you are so focused on things you don’t realise what you have achieved or the support you have been getting until you come home and see it for yourself. I can just imagine what Valencia will be like this weekend! Hopefully I can have a good race and repay the fans for all their support. It will be a very special Grand Prix for me because it is the end of an era – my final race in 250cc – but I don’t want to think too much about that or let it affect me. I want to enjoy it as much as possible, finish as well as I can and then on Monday rest a little and start thinking about the future.”

Hiroshi Aoyama:
“A very important season for me comes to an end at Valencia. I have grown as a rider this year in an incredible team, where I have felt at home. I want to thank them with a good result and I know that we can do well at this circuit. Last year we had a great race, the team worked really well all weekend, and we were all very upset when I was disqualified after finishing third. I hope to bury that memory by fighting for the podium again, as we did in Turkey. I would also like to finish third in the championship – I think that would be a great result for me and the team.”

THE VENUE

VALENCIAN GP
Circuit: Ricardo Tormo
Grand Prix: Gran Premio Betandwin.com de la Comunitat Valenciana
Inauguration: 1999
Latest modification: 1999
Length: 4.005 m.
Width: 12 m.
Right corners: 5
Left corners: 9
Main straight: 876 m.

MOVISTAR RIDER RESULTS AT RICARDO TORMO 

THE CIRCUIT ACCORDING TO:

SETE GIBERNAU:
Very special
What can I say about a circuit where I scored my first victory and the last for any Spanish rider in the 500cc category? It’s a small and difficult track for the MotoGP bikes but the party atmosphere is incredible and the motivation of riding at home, in front of our fans, makes it a really exciting GP. It’s one of my favourite circuits. Also, with it always being near the end of the season, one of the titles is usually decided there and that is an added motivation.

MARCO MELANDRI:
No straights
Ricardo Tormo isn’t a circuit that is well suited to MotoGP because the corners are very slow and all linked together without straights. It’s a circuit that you have to know well to be able to get a good result. You have to be fast in the direction changes - it’s not a very exciting track but the atmosphere makes up for that.

DANI PEDROSA:
Miniature
Cheste is a miniature circuit but in general I find it to be good for setting the bike up. It’s very flat and that’s great for the fans because you can follow the whole lap from anywhere. With it being the last round of the championship, and in Spain, the atmosphere is always really good for us.

HIROSHI AOYAMA
Japanese style
The Ricardo Tormo circuit is another one of those tracks where the layout favours the Japanese school of riding. There are some good braking points and I enjoy it there. The fans are also incredible in Valencia. It’s the perfect place to end the season.

 THE 2005 SEASON SO FAR FOR THE MOVISTAR RIDERS 

LAP RECORDS:

MOTOGP
Circuit record: 1’33”317 Valentino Rossi (2003)
Pole 2004: 1’32”815 Makoto Tamada (Honda)
Podium 2004:1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), 2. Max Biaggi (Honda), 3. Troy Bayliss (Ducati)

250 CC.
Circuit record: 1’36”398 Shinya Nakano (2000)
Pole 2004: 1’36”367 Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
Podium 2004: 1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda), 2. Toni Elías (Honda), 3. Randy De Puniet (Aprilia)

125 CC.
Circuit record: 1’40”252 Steve Jenkner (2002)
Pole 2004: 1’39”927 Andrea Dovizioso (Honda)
Podium 2004: 1. Héctor Barberá (Aprilia), 2. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda), 3. Álvaro Bautista (Aprilia)

SUNDAY TIMETABLE
11.00h. 125cc race (24 laps, 96,12 kms.)
12.15h. 250cc race (27 laps, 108,135 kms.)
14.00h. MotoGP race (30 laps, 120,15 kms.)