Zoom Dani Pedrosa

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa will be aiming to cement his World Championship points lead at the Sachsenring where last year he scored a dominant win and team-mate Nicky Hayden took third place to give Repsol Honda its first double podium of 2007.

Pedrosa retook the 2008 points lead with a fine ride to second place at the recent Dutch TT, while Hayden came close to completing the team's first double podium of the year.

This is the busiest time of year for the Repsol Honda Team – the German GP is the fifth MotoGP round in just seven weeks and is immediately followed by next weekend's US GP. Pedrosa, Hayden and their crews are thus working very hard. Pedrosa knows he needs to find a few extra tenths to strengthen him World Championship charge while Hayden is getting to grips with Honda's pneumatic-valve engine which he raced for the first time at Donington Park, the weekend before Assen.

The German GP sees the MotoGP circus switch from one historic race venue to another. The original Sachsenring street circuit was first used for racing in the late 1920s and hosted the first GP behind the Iron Curtain in 1962. The track regularly attracted crowds of 350,000 and was last used for World Championship racing in 1972. Following reunification a Sachsenring short circuit was constructed.

The venue hosted its first GP in 1998 and since then has undergone substantial upgrades. It is now a complex and challenging circuit, with an ultra-tight first section that leads into a rollercoaster series of high-speed left-handers that are its dominant feature.

Dani Pedrosa
“We are working very hard at the moment, trying to improve our performance. We will do our best to repeat my 2007 German GP win but we know it won't be easy. Sachsenring is quite a slow track, most of the corners aren't so fast. My favourite section is the final, faster part: the fast, downhill right-hander near the end of the lap and then the uphill run into the final corner. There is always a good atmosphere at this race with a lot of fans and overflowing grandstands. The track was resurfaced for last year's race which made it a lot better because before it was very bumpy. Set-up is always difficult at Sachsenring because it's a long race, so you need a harder-than-normal compound on the left side of the tyres. You use quite a static riding style here, riding more gently and making fewer movements than usual on the bike.”