Jorge Lorenzo proclaimed himself as a danger in MotoGP with pole location at his initial premier class Grand Prix in Qatar last season and the excellent youthful Spanish star has carried on his fine QP record in 2009 with four poles at current. Certainly, the Fiat Yamaha youngster has not yet been able to commence a race off the front row this year.

Whilst he has made an easy transition to meet the criteria on Bridgestone wheels, his great results so far this year have placed Lorenzo at the top of the BMW M Award standings for top qualifier in the high class – however his renowned colleague Valentino Rossi is hot on his tracks!

Rossi is the front man on the general MotoGP World Championship class by 25 points from Lorenzo following ten series rounds and the Italian trails the Spaniard by just five points in the BMW M Award table, also claiming four pole places – two of them in the final two rounds at Sachsenring and Donington.

An extra 28 points following Rossi sits 2008 BMW M Award champion Casey Stoner who has attained only one pole position so far this year, however he has only skipped the front row two times. With seven rounds remaining the Ducati rider has a very good chance of repeating his ’08 victory and improving his vehicle collection.

Dani Pedrosa has one pole position also to his credit this year, however beginning the championship injured, delayed his chances of himself a new BMW M as he placed below in 14th and 11th in the beginning two rounds in Qatar and Japan. The Repsol Honda champ has achieved the front row four times now this year but follows Lorenzo in the qualifying rankings by 75 points.

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The joy of the coming year's MotoGP event is ensuring a huge positive benefit on the race’s viewing figures as the British Grand Prix this prior weekend enjoying very large numbers.

Numbers issued have made for enjoyable reading, as the MotoGP event at Donington Park claimed record BBC spectator figures which reached at 2.9 million viewers, the UK’s worldly presentation reported a run of the mill viewing share of 23%.

The BBC’s reporting of Andrea Dovizioso’s first win, also viewed a sturdy performance from home town rider James Toseland with a sixth placing, gave in an average spectator viewing of 2.8m – this is a 50% increase on the BBC normal Grand Prix audience, plus an increase on the last favourite average audience documentation by a million viewers.

Over in Spain, world wide broadcasters TVE reported 2.34 million viewers tune in for Sunday’s event, allowing them a 22.9% audience part as MotoGP claimed more viewers in Spain than the last day of the Tour de France, victorious this year by Spaniard Alberto Contador, and the Hungarian Formula 1 race.

German television DSF, claimed an audience of 410,000 for the Donington Park race, an important increase on the 270,000 viewers who tuned in last year for the British Grand Prix in Germany.

In Italy, they recorded viewing figures for the recent MotoGP events as home town champion Valentino Rossi pushes forward in the championship, have also been welcomed.

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An improbable third placing for Randy de Puniet saw the French star carrying LCR Honda their second stage finish at the British Grand Prix. De Puniet has constantly been a dangerous competitor which has sometimes concluded in extra DNFs than win results, however on Sunday his more traditional methods following the race saw him gain the benefits of a great start.

“It’s like a dream for me and the team! It was a very stressful race and I was very nervous on the grid as the conditions were pretty bad. I took a good start on slick tyres and was very aggressive in the first laps,” he states.

“I got sixth place, but the gap to the front riders was too wide and I thought it best to keep my pace without taking any risks. (Toni) Elías crashed in front of me and (Dani) Pedrosa did not seem very confident on his machine. When he started to lose time I took my chance to pass him and we battled for several laps. I could overtake him as my machine was a bit faster and suddenly realized that I was holding the third position.”

Drops for the leaders left De Puniet in an excellent position, but he also had a competitive Colin Edwards to challenge with on the concluding laps. Eventually he came off course to finish second to the American, but was still elated with a first platform since the Japanese Grand Prix in 2007.

“After (Valentino) Rossi’s crash I took second, remaining focused as the surface was very slippery. Then Edwards came up quickly giving me the chance to reduce the gap on (Andrea) Dovizioso, but it was too late and too dangerous so I kept my position and we battled for second place until the last corner.

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Another victory for Andrea Dovizioso in the highest class has arrived at an even better time for the Italian competitor. After three races without maintaining World Championship points, the champion gave a promising display when a few of the extra experienced riders fell short of the Donington Park conditions.

The sole fresh MotoGP racewinner apart from the prior year’s Portuguese race, Dovizioso now has lifted a massive burden from his shoulders. Whilst he may have seemed very positive when in the lead at the British Grand Prix, times were still rough for ‘Dovi’ on Sunday.

“This race was very difficult. With these conditions the temperature of the tyres was too low, and the light rainfall for the whole race meant that it was probably the worst scenario for riding on this tyre. We couldn’t change the bikes either, so it was really difficult to manage,” he stated following a surreal celebration on stage.  Dovizioso held the lead since lap nineteen, when current World Champion Valentino Rossi went in far too heavy on the Fogarty Esses, but the need of a close opponent did make the final eleven laps much tougher for the final winner.

“Before Valentino crashed it was easy, because I just followed him; after that I needed to understand the track better,” he says. “Wearing a light visor also meant that I couldn’t see clearly which lines were the driest.At the end Randy (De Puniet) and Colin (Edwards) were riding at 100% and catching me, which was difficult to manage. I think maybe for the last two laps I was pushing so hard that they couldn’t risk reaching me.”

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The customary visit to London prior to the British Grand Prix occurred on Wednesday with a press conference and photo shoot at the British Library close to Euston Station.  In attendance was Jorge Lorenzo, Nicky Hayden and a foursome of English competitors.

The only British contendor in the upper class was James Toseland, he joined alongside his team mates in the 125cc class, Bradley Smith, Scott Redding and Danny Webb.

Toseland had a tragic homecoming at Donington on his debut showing as a competitor last year, crashing out on the first corner and placing 17th. Nevertheless he is still excited as he gears up for his best race of the season, saying, “I want to make amends for last year and I’m really looking forward to it. I have heard that the weather might be a bit more consistent this weekend which will be good for the fans, for the riders and for everyone involved.”

Toseland explains, “I am fully fit for this race and can’t wait to get started, because we have had a mixed season with results. The inconsistency has been frustrating for me and for everyone supporting me, but the potential is there to have a really good result.”

Bradley Smith, who is currently placed third in the 125cc class has fallen behind colleagues Julián Simón and Sergio Gadea in Germany, when he smashed out at Sachsenring, is determined to come back strong in his home town, as the World Championship formulates its final visit to Donington and then continuing on to Silverstone next year.

“There is definitely going to be some sort of emotion around it,” Smith states. “Donington is a great track, a natural track where you are going up and down the hill, that’s the nice part of it. That is the true feeling of Donington. Craner Curves are world famous and such a strange bit of track, but great at the same time. Silverstone is closer to home for me so I will have less of a journey to make! It is also a world-renowned track and the facilities are fantastic. I think the new project and the new circuit they are doing there will really come together well.”

One of Smith’s two usual citizens in the 125cc class, Scott Redding also incurred a DNF in Germany but would truly enjoy repeating his awesome home win from last season which produced the youngest GP winner ever. “After the result I got last year I would like to get a similar result this year, top three would be great. We are just trying to get focused, we have been training really hard”, Redding explains.

He continues, “I had a few suspension problems earlier in the year and in recent races we have had some problems with our engine, with getting the bike to last for the whole race. It is a shame that I couldn’t finish the race in Germany because that would have got me well set-up for Donington.”

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