Mamola previews Mugello
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ByEurosport
Published 01/06/2006 at 14:44 GMT
Eurosport commentator and former Grand Prix rider Randy Mamola has predicted a barnstorming race at Mugello this weekend as a quartet of riders attempt to take a stranglehold on the championship, including the Italian trio of Valentino Rossi, Marco Meland
2005 Mugello Honda Gibernau
Image credit: From Official Website
The main talking point this weekend has to be Valentino Rossi. The Doctor lies 43 points adrift of championship leader coming into the pressure cooker that is Mugello, he has turned down the possibility of driving in Formula One and has now announced a new one-year deal with Yamaha.
The question, however, that everyone is asking is whether or not he can get his championship campaign back on track at Mugello. "It's not do or die for Rossi but he definitely has to be on the podium in Mugello," Mamola explains.
"He needs a good run of results, and when you look at the championship, we have four races coming up in quick succession - Mugello, Barcelona, Assen and Donington - where he has dominated in recent years so the championship can turn around very quickly.
"Okay, he is 43 points behind but when you think about it, he won last year's championship by 147 points so the championship is still young and there are a lot of points still on offer," he added. "Also, Rossi is quite lucky by the fact that there is not one rider who is consistently winning - the Honda riders are taking points off each other."
Of the five races so far this season, Capirossi, Pedrosa and Rossi have taken one victory while Marco Melandri, after a slow start to the season, has come to the fore with two wins in Turkey and France. Had one rider been dominant at the expense of Rossi, then the 27-year old could have been facing a much tougher challenge that just 43 points.
"Marco is coming on strong, he has now won four Grand Prix races - two recently and two from last year - and he is getting to know his new Honda, while Ducati will also be strong at Mugello because it is their test track - Capirossi knows the place inside out and with Bridgestone making huge steps forward, they could also dominate.
"Rossi can't really afford anymore DNFs this season, and when you think about his results so far, it's not as if he has fallen and lost the points but because of problems that were out of his hands," Mamola explains. "He was running great in China and France and therefore he should be confident going into the next few races because his bike is clearly working well in race conditions.
"It will be interesting to see how the race pans out in Mugello because if he is on course for a podium then will he think about the championship and settle for the points, or will he go for the win knowing fine well that this his home circuit, but that may also depend on who is leading!"
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