Deutschland Grand Prix Preview - Showdown Set for 'The Ring' -ozzy go- speedtv.com

After a short one and a half week break, MotoGP action returns
on July 15th when the World Championship arrives at the
Sachsenring circuit in Germany. The Alice Motorrad Grand Prix
Deutschland is set to be a thrilling encounter if previous races are
anything to go by, with the first half of the 2007 season having
provided nine races of edge-of-your-seat excitement.

MotoGP World Championship leader Casey Stoner is entering
uncharted territory in the premier class, having never raced at
Sachsenring in the premier class. Last year he qualified eighth on
the grid in Germany, but a crash in the Sunday warm up left him
without medical clearance to take part in the race itself. The
Australian was taken to hospital to check for concussion and
bruising of the hands, and was thus unable to gain the experience
of racing at the undulating circuit, which would have held him in
good stead this year.

It is a more mature Stoner who arrives in Germany this year;
currently 21 points clear at the top of the MotoGP World
Championship classification. The Ducati factory man has been on
top form so far in 2007, with five wins and seven podiums from
the opening nine races. A lowest finish of fifth shows that Stoner
has outstanding consistency this year, something that he will look
to continue at Sachsenring.

Last year’s race winner Valentino Rossi managed to trim five
points off Stoner’s lead with victory at Assen, and is well aware
that he has to be at the top of his game to knock his Australian
rival off his perch. Luckily for the five-time MotoGP World
Champion, on his day he is virtually superhuman, as evidenced
by his spellbinding fight through the field in the Netherlands.

Rossi has been on the top step of the podium for the past two
years in Germany, last year celebrating the win by donning a
t-shirt of the Italian national football team. That win was made
all the more remarkable by the fact that Rossi had qualified
down in eleventh place, as he did at Assen, and had to hold off
the challenge of three riders in the closest ever top four finish
in the premier-class, with just 0.307 seconds covering Rossi,
Marco Melandri, Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa.

click on ozzy go to the full story on SPEEDtv.com