Antonio Cobas, technical director of the Camel Pramac Pons team, describes the challenges that will face the MotoGP teams at this weekend's Valencia Grand Prix...


"We come to the final round of the World Championship at Cheste in Valencia.

"This is one of the best designed circuits for spectators, in fact it could be considered as the 'Stadium of Motorcycling' because from nearly every point in the stands the spectators can follow one rider throughout an entire lap, something which is impossible at any other circuit in the World Championship.

"From a technical point of view it is a very twisty track with only two relatively fast corners. The most important consideration in the set-up work is to ensure that the bike is manoeuvrable. The corners come one after the other with hardly any straights between them to accelerate, so the power of the engine does not have such a strong outcome on the result of the race.

"Ninety per cent of the circuit is taken in second or third gear so the ratio settings of these gears is crucial in getting the optimum performance out of the bike. As nearly all the circuit is taken with a relatively light throttle we must apply ignition settings to allow for clean lineal accelerations to make the most of the few metres of straight available between corners.

"There do not tend to be too many problems for suspension settings and tyre choice if it remains dry for the race. The track surface is not bumpy and tyre choice is not too tricky either."