MotoGP Preview - GP Of Catalunya - June 11, 2009

THE AMERICANS: U.S. riders Colin Edwards (Houston, Yamaha Tech 3) and Nicky Hayden (Owensboro, Ky., Ducati Team) will compete in this race. Edwards is seventh and Hayden is 15th in the MotoGP standings after five races this season.

•Colin Edwards: “Going into the corner (at Catalunya), you need just about everything to be balanced. Weight distribution, front and rear. That’s pretty much the 800s, summed up. Barcelona, for sure, you have long-radius corners where you’re leaned over for a long time, so you can’t have too much crazy transfer on the front or the rear. You just have to have it settle pretty evenly.”

•Nicky Hayden: “Barcelona is a track I like a lot, with some really hard braking areas, like Turn 1, but also with some really fast and technical sections. We can’t do much in terms of preparing for the Grand Prix, and this obviously isn’t an easy period for me, but I have to think positive and continue to give it everything. That is my way of dealing with things, and that is what I’ll continue to do alongside my team. I’m looking forward to getting out there and racing again, but I’m also looking forward to the test afterward. I really need some testing and more time in the saddle. This year I’m really feeling the testing ban that has been brought in, and I know it’s the same for everybody. But for me, in particular, I know I’d really benefit from some test time, so hopefully we can get some good work done in Barcelona that will help me take a step forward.”

THEY SAID IT: “Being leader of the championship at this stage means absolutely nothing. My rivals are very clever, mature and capable of winning races, so we have to stay focused, do our best to be competing for the top step of the podium again, and if that’s not possible, then make sure we are bringing home the maximum number of points.”– Ducati Team rider Casey Stoner about leading the points entering this event

FAST FACTS: Over the last seven years, the only MotoGP rider to win this event from pole is Valentino Rossi in 2006 … Last year, Dani Pedrosa became the first Spanish rider to win this event since Alex Criville in 1999 … Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa are the only riders to have won at the Circuit de Catalunya in all three classes, MotoGP, 250cc and 125cc … World Championship contender Jorge Lorenzo has beaten teammate Valentino Rossi three times this season in races in which both riders have finished. Since 2002, Rossi has lost to a teammate three times in a season only one other year, in 2006 … Jorge Lorenzo will compete at this event on a Yamaha featuring the colors of his favorite soccer team, 2009 Champions League winner FC Barcelona. Lorenzo’s helmet also will feature an image of him wearing an FC Barcelona jersey with his name and number 99 … American standouts Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards have best finishes of second and fifth at the Circuit de Catalunya during their respective careers … This is the 18th consecutive year that the Circuit de Catalunya has played host to a MotoGP World Championship round. Only Jerez (Spain), Mugello (Italy), Donington Park (United Kingdom) and Assen (Netherlands) have been on the schedule more successive years … One of the rare in-season MotoGP test sessions will take place Monday, June 15 at Catalunya … American Stevie Bonsey will make his 250cc World Championship debut at this event aboard an Aprilia for the Milar-Juegos Lucky Racing Team. Bonsey, from Salinas, Calif., will race for the team for the rest of the season. He was scheduled to race the entire 250cc schedule in 2009 with the Aprilia Madrid team, which encountered financial problems during the offseason and has not raced. Bonsey, 19, competed in the 125cc class the last two seasons and is the first full-time American rider in 250cc since Kurtis Roberts in 1997 … American Cameron Beaubier will continue his first season in the 125cc class at this event. Beaubier, 16, from Roseville, Calif., is 26th in the World Championship standings this season for the Red Bull KTM 125 factory team.