MotoGP returns from 3-week break

The start in 2012

After a three week break, the MotoGP World Championship restarts this weekend at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix and the top two teams in the series, Yamaha and Repsol Honda, are ready.

Repsol Honda riders, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa are currently first and second respectively in the Championship standings and arrive in America refreshed and ready to resume the fight. For Dani in particular, this Summer break has been gratefully received. Dani suffered a big crash in Germany in mid-July and the doctors would not allow him to race. However, he rode to a courageous 5th place in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix in Laguna Seca just before the break. Having had three weeks to rest and recuperate, Dani is now almost back to 100% and will be hoping to return to the podium at a circuit where he's won twice in MotoGP class (2012 and 2010).

Teammate Marc, inspired after his back-to-back GP wins in Germany and Laguna Seca, will be looking for another fine performance in Indianapolis where he has been victorious the past two seasons in the Moto2 class.

The break has been a short one for the Team with an early return to work for a private test at the Brno circuit last week. The test was a successful one with another step being made in the set up of the Yamaha YZR-M1 that should help both Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi as they challenge the remainder of the season.

The Indianapolis Grand Prix is a relative newcomer to the MotoGP calendar with the first race in 2008. Both Lorenzo and Rossi can claim one premier class victory each at the US circuit, Rossi’s in 2008 and Lorenzo’s one year later in 2009. With the exception of a fourth place finish in 2011, reigning World Champion Lorenzo has always finished on the podium. The Mallorcan has been training hard but is still not expected to be at 100% fitness for the weekend.

Lorenzo warns he is still not fully fit
"I was able to rest for some days after Laguna Seca and then we went to Brno to make a private test with Yamaha," he said.

"Those two days gave me an opportunity to check my physical condition. I'm a bit tired, especially because after two crashes in Assen and Sachsenring I couldn't recover so much and now we have to manage a long period with three races in a row.

"I feel better obviously than in Laguna but still need time to recover to 100 per cent and it is not going to be easy because the calendar is so busy and also we have to fight not to lose points."

Pedrosa not expecting collarbone issues
Dani Pedrosa believes his still-healing collarbone fracture will not be much of an issue in this weekend's Indianapolis MotoGP race.

"It's been a good summer break and I'm feeling much stronger physically," said Pedrosa.

"I've had time to relax with some friends and also have lots of physiotherapy on my shoulder to prepare myself for this second part of the season.

"I've had a medical check in the last days and we can see the bone getting stronger.

"It still needs a few more weeks to recover completely but my feeling is already much better than in Laguna."