To Donington Park, for the last time

Ciao, Donington. What a pity.
The next GP of the UK, at Donington Park, will be the last one. At least for several years: from 2010 on, it will host F.1 races, thus evicting the bikes of the World Championship. What a pity; it's a circuit loved by riders - fast, flowing, technical, which offers always exciting battles and a great show.

Donington is not too far away from Derby, Nottingham, Leicester. The heart of the area where the first industrial revolution took place. And you can see quite clear signs of it in the house typology, and in large industrial buildings cast-off and recently transformed to a different use.

The aeroplanes taking off from the nearby airport fly low over the circuit, and legend suggests that the track is slippery because of the fuel from their tanks.

Hiroshi Aoyama lands in the UK leading the 250cc class, and having performed a great race in the previous GP, at the Sachsenring, in Germany, last Sunday, skimming the podium by 0,338 seconds. He was already on the rostrum twice, here, in 2006 and 2007.

Gabor Talmacsi (MotoGP): "I went to Donington straight from Sachsenring, without a diversion at home, in Budapest. The team did the same - reaching the UK from Germany, and we had a technical meeting to discuss how to approach the next race. I never was too much lucky, in the past, here in Donington Park. Today, the crux of the matter is to find a good feeling with the bike and to take a step forward".

Hiroshi Aoyama (250cc): "Donington is my favourite track. It is technical and difficult. It has a layout with flowing parts and hard braking that seems cut out for our Honda. I'll try to get a great result. The weather always plays an important role, here: I hope it will be constant: always sun, or always rain".

Raffaele De Rosa (250cc): "I love Donington Park. I made here my debut with Honda. I believe it is a circuit fit for our bike. The weather can cause some trouble: it rains frequently, and as I am at my first season in 250, I would prefer a weekend on the dry, which would allow me more time to test".

Emanuele Ventura (Technical Director): "As far as the 250 machine is concerned, we are at a good point. As always, obviously, we must improve as much as possible. In MotoGP, we are analysing the data to decide, together with Gabor, whether we are proceeding in the right direction, or we have to re-think a part of the decision taken".