Story ProgressBack to home
Gibernau, Biaggi pose threat to Rossi
MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi is hoping to bounce back from a rare disappointment in this weekend's German Grand Prix.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:07 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Sachsenring:
MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi is hoping to bounce back from a rare disappointment in this weekend's German Grand Prix. Rossi made an uncharacteristic error in the last race in Brazil, crashing out of the race after 12 laps for his first retirement of the season. The three times world champion was fortunate to see title rival Sete Gibernau also retire and he still heads the points standings, albeit it by virtue of winning more races with the pair tied on 126. Gibernau, winner last year in Germany, will be looking to regain the lead at a circuit where he pipped Rossi by just 0.060 seconds in 2003 when both were riding Hondas. Rossi leads by virtue of having more wins and is confident that he can be lord of the ring despite it being his first visit to the twisty German circuit on the Yamaha M1 after switching from Honda at the end of last year. "Maybe our bike is quite good on this circuit, but we don't know exactly. Here we've had a lot of problems and we've not been able to fix the settling of the bike. We hope the bike will give me a better feeling," said Rossi. With hot summer weather forecast for the weekend, organisers expect attendance will top last year's record total of 204,000 as the championship arrives at its halfway point. The race will also be a chance for Honda rider Makoto Tamada, who started out in MotoGP only last year, to build on his first win last weekend. Suzuki's former champion Kenny Roberts could be more of a threat as well after his pole position in Brazil. Nicky Hayden, the young American who took third place on a Honda in Rio, could also press the leaders even if his prospects of outright victory appear limited by the experienced riders ahead of him. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
Formula 1
Get the Latest IPL 2024 Updates, check out IPL 2024 schedules and IPL points table at NDTV Sports.Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more sports updates. You can also download the NDTV Cricket app for Android or iOS.