The Spanish star, who has a good record at Valencia, was just under half a second off pace man Casey Stoner’s hot lap of 1’32.813 in the hour-long opening practice and also trailed fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo on the timesheet. He later explained that a race victory in front of the home fans to end the season would mean more to him than overcoming Stoner in the standings at the final round of the 2009 season.

”For a first practice session, this was OK today and we completed some valuable laps to familiarise ourselves with this circuit again,” said the man from Barcelona. “It was really windy out there and this affected the machine more in some corners than others – like in the third sector where it was quite difficult to control the bike. Still, we have time to solve this tomorrow. Also, it’s good that we got used to the windy conditions because it looks like we’ll have them for the whole weekend.”

“The track surface was not totally clean,” Pedrosa continued. “But actually the grip was good and the Bridgestone tyres were working well. There’s a gap to the riders in front and we need to make some improvements for tomorrow so that we’ve got the best chance of qualifying well. I really want to win this race – it’s more important to me than finishing third in the championship – so we need to work really hard to give us a good chance on Sunday.”

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Source: MotoGp

Italian racing fans had a chance to meet Repsol Honda MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso when they went to fill their tanks at the first garage to be completely designed and built by Repsol Italy.

The small town of San Bellino, halfway between Bologna and Venice in the north-east of Italy, became a congregating point for a host of Italian racing fans yesterday as they had a chance to meet Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso in person. The Italian attended an inauguration event at which he and Repsol Italy officials were welcomed by the local authorities, and then went to the opening of the Spanish multinational company’s new service station in San Bellino.

Dovizioso met and greeted the fans who had turned out in their numbers to see him, before climbing onto a Honda Fireblade CBR 1000 RR – which was decorated in a similar manner to his MotoGP machine – and riding to the new service station.

There, Dovizioso became the maiden customer and posed for photographs with fans while signing memorabilia, after which he cut the traditional red ribbon to signal the official opening of the service station, the first to be completely designed and built by Repsol Italy and which adds to the more than 150 already operating in the country.

“I am impressed by the number of fans that have come to see me and it is always good to meet them face-to-face,” said Dovizioso, who currently lies fifth in the MotoGP World Championship standings after a seventh-placed finish in Estoril at the weekend.

“I would like to thank them all for their warm reception, and Repsol and the local authorities for this event. I was already aware that the company was growing in Italy as more and more service stations are opening. There is even one near my home town, in Forli, and I am proud to be a small part of this project,” he concluded.

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Source: MotoGP