MotoGP fever rising at Mugello

Eager anticipation surrounding the Gran Premio Alice d'Italia rose hand in hand
with the temperatures today as warm sunshine greeted the MotoGP World
Championship paddock to Mugello. With the team trucks, tents and pit garages
resplendent beneath the clear blue skies, some of the most famous sporting
personalities in the land came face to face ahead of what promises to be one of
the most intriguing contests of the season.

Valentino Rossi has won his home Grand Prix for the past three seasons and,
after an electric start to his latest MotoGP title defence, is eager to repeat
the incredible scenes of his victory celebrations here last year. "I was unlucky
in my first two seasons with the 500 here but since then I have won some great
races - especially last season," commented Rossi, who took victory one year ago
by just three tenths of a second from Sete Gibernau.

"I have a lot of good memories from here but seeing the crowd underneath the
podium last year is one of the best of my career. I have never seen so many
people at a MotoGP podium before. Hopefully we will see the same thing on
Sunday. The weather today is fantastic, like summer is here for real, and I hope
it stays that way all weekend."

Whilst Gibernau will again be hoping to be Rossi's main challenger this weekend
as he continues his recovery from a disappointing start to the season, three
Italian riders with past successes at this track will also be gunning for home
glory. Marco Melandri, in particular, has his sights set on the top step of the
podium.

"This is a special race for all of us but I will try to put the pressure onto
Valentino and concentrate on my job," commented Melandri, who lies second in the
championship just four races into his first season with Honda and has had four
previous podiums here in the 125cc and 250cc classes. "I competed in my first
ever race at this circuit in the Italian Championship so it is the track I know
best and I will be looking for my best ever result in MotoGP."

Loris Capirossi also knows this track better than most, having become the first
Italian ever to win here five seasons ago and having racked up the kilometres
during hours of winter testing with Ducati. "The Ducati factory is only 60
kilometres from here so the test team have done a lot of work at this track and
the setting of the bike should already be good for tomorrow morning," said
Capirossi, who has now fully recovered from a cracked bone in his ankle. "I feel
100%, the bike improved in a recent test at Le Mans and I'm ready."

The other rider in search of home glory this weekend is Max Biaggi, who has also
made the most of an extra week between races to rest and recover. "I had a big
crash in the warm-up in Le Mans and rode through the pain in the race but I was
unable to test afterwards," explained Biaggi, who has taken three wins here in
the 250cc class. "Luckily we had the extra week off and I'm feeling okay now. I
have a lot of fans here and I hope they will be celebrating with me on Sunday."
Meanwhile, Kawasaki rider Alex Hofmann was back in the paddock after a
seven-week absence since breaking his wrist in a pre-event accident at the
second round in Portugal. Hofmann will test the injury in tomorrow's first free
practice but his replacement for the past two rounds, Olivier Jacque, is on
standby.

"I've done everything possible to make sure I'm fit for this race, but racing a
MotoGP bike at a track like Mugello is physically demanding, and I'll only
really find out if all the preparation has been successful when I take to the
track on Friday morning. I'm fairly confident that everything will be fine, and
I'm definitely looking forward to racing the bike again after such a long lay
off," said the German.

250cc World Champion Dani Pedrosa is predicting a tough weekend as he faces up
to the challenge of Honda colleague Andrea Dovizioso, in the hunt for his first
quarter-litre victory on home soil, and a fleet of Aprilia riders defending a
strong record at a traditionally favourable circuit for the Italian factory.
"It's going to be a hard race and Dovizioso won't be the only rider out there
with plenty of motivation - I'm sure Sebastian Porto, Randy De Puniet and Casey
Stoner will all be at the front too," commented Pedrosa. "At Mugello it's
difficult to get away because there is a long straight where the Aprilias could
have an advantage, and a lot of fast corners. I don't know why but I've always
found it difficult here."

Local representation in the 125cc class is as plentiful as always, with Mattia
Pasini returning from injury to join Marco Simoncelli as the main contenders for
home glory. Both riders are looking for their second win of the season as they
chase early series leader Mika Kallio, whilst plenty of watchful eyes will also
be on the traditionally strong wildcard list as a host of youngsters look to
follow in the footsteps of the current crop of Italian MotoGP stars.

INFO 2005/61. 2-06-2005
DORNA COMMUNICATIONS
www.motogp.com