PEDROSA HOPES TO BURY AUSTRALIAN NIGHTMARE WITH VICTORY

Daniel Pedrosa left Malaysia on Monday with another 25 points in his suitcase thanks to his sixth victory of the season at Sepang. An authoritative 13 second gap separated him from Sebastián Porto and Toni Elías, stretching his advantage in the championship to 48 points and meaning he needs just three points more to secure the title. However, Dani had other things on his mind as he flew to Melbourne, one year after the worst moment of his career. This time Dani wants to close the chapter and return home with a smile.

Safety updates to the Australian circuit have been made in that time and Pedrosa is sure that the ghosts will be buried in a couple of months. First of all, he’s looking forward to paying a visit to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne to pay his thanks to the medical team who carried out the operation on his broken ankles. The team won’t head on to the island until Wednesday, when preparations will get underway for the fifteenth Grand Prix of the season.

Sete Gibernau is also planning to take time out in Melbourne and recharge his batteries before arriving at Phillip Island. The team studied telemetry data in the wake of Sunday’s disappointment and have got answers to the problems suffered just one week after his dominant victory in Qatar. The championship is difficult again but Gibernau is not the type to throw in the towel. Despite the fact that Valentino Rossi’s seventh victory of the season stretched his advantage at the top of the MotoGP World Championship to 30 points, Sete is hanging on to the fact that things can change dramatically in a week and will do everything he can to make sure that is the case.

For Colin Edwards the trip to Australia is like returning home, as his father lives there and a huge army of fans are awaiting his arrival. The American suffered the same chattering problems in Malaysia as his team-mate and crossed the line in eleventh place.

THE RIDERS’ OPINION

SETE GIBERNAU (15)

“It is surprising that we had so many problems in Malaysia after the great result we had at Qatar but I guess that is racing. I am looking forward to getting to Australia to get back to top form. If I went from winning one week to not having a chance the next, why can’t the situation be reversed again at Phillip Island? After the race we stayed on with the team to analyse what had happened and we left Sepang with some answers. I want to be fighting for victory again. This is one of my favourite circuits and I know it well because, as with Sepang, we tested here in the winter. It is an ideal circuit for working on the set-up of the bike, which must be perfect at Phillip Island. I am sure it will be a close race because it is the typre of circuit which Rossi loves, it’s one of his favourites and he has always done well in Australia. I think it is one of the circuits which benefits him in particular but we’ll try to be up there fighting to win again.”

COLIN EDWARDS (45)

“Phillip Island is like my home Grand Prix because my family live there, my dad to be exact, and he always comes to watch me. When I go to Australia it feels the same as when we used to go to Laguna Seca with the Superbikes, although there is also more pressure. It is my favourite circuit and I don’t have strong or weak points. There is a good combination of fast and slow corners, changes in direction... a bit of everything. The atmosphere is perfect – there are a lot of people there and the welcome they give you is extraordinary. Any excuse to go out and celebrate with friends is a good one – hopefully I will have good reason.”

DANI PEDROSA (26)

“Things couldn’t have gone better in Malaysia  - I did what I had to do and I can’t ask for any more. We were really focused all weekend and that is how I want to continue this weekend in Australia because we all saw what happened last year. Even though you’ve just won the title, if you take your eye off the game for a second you can end up in a bad way. So it is important to sep the concentration and don’t think about anything other than the race. I had a really bad time there last year and I’m looking forward to putting it behind me. I’ve got memories but I suppose after a couple of laps they’ll be gone. Also, I know they’ve made modifications to the track. I hope everything goes well this year.”

HIROSHI AOYAMA (73)

“Phillip Island is a fast circuit and it is quite long, so I’ll really have to concentrate hard in practice to get some reference points. I know that I can do that like I did at Sepang, although hopefully the result in the race will be different. The one thing I am worried about is the weather because I’ve been told that it’s windy, cold and can rain every day. In my case, it will be really important to make the most of the four hours of practice.”

THE SEASON SO FAR FOR THE TELEFÓNICA MOVISTAR RIDERS