The MotoGP paddock reassembles this weekend for the San Marino GP at Misano with many of the riders out to prove a point.
The circuit is situated just one and half hours from Ducati’s HQ in Bologna, the team will be looking for a good result from the weekends activities with Casey Stoner looking to erase the memory of the previous round of the championship in Brno.

Casey is the inform rider in the paddock at present, managing to top most of the practice, qualifying and test sessions throughout this year and has amassed three victories and a second from the last five rounds of the Championship. Chasing down Valentino Rossi’s series lead will be no mean feat, but if there is a rider in the paddock that can achieve this then it is Casey.

Valentino Rossi will mount a strong challenge come Sunday and as Misano represents a home race for him, Casey will be hoping to spoil the party to help maintain sufficient pressure on Valentino over the remaining five races.

The Respol Honda duo of Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa will be hoping for a change of luck this weekend as they return to action after a series of injuries which have hampered their Championship progress. Misano will be the first time the two have been out on the track together since Friday’s free practice session in Laguna Seca over a month ago.

Dani’s progress was halted abruptly after his accident at the rain soaked Sachsenring circuit and he will be looking to reassert his authority over the field as he had done with some mercurial rides in the first half of the season.
Nicky will also be hoping for a strong performance. The plucky American battled bravely at Laguna Seca for a hard earned fifth place before missing the Czech Republic GP because of an injury sustained at the X games.

Two riders hoping to continue their recent run of form will be Kawasaki’s John Hopkins and Alice Ducati’s Tony Elias.
Tony was masterful in bringing the Alice Ducati home in second place in Brno and became only the second rider this season to place a Ducati Desmosedici home in the top three, the other rider, of course, being Casey Stoner.
John Hopkins will be looking to carry on from where he left off in the Czech Republic after continuing his return from injury. John was clearly overjoyed at Brno by the improvement of the Kawasaki on his first ride back aboard the ZXRR since his terrifying crash at Assen back in June, with a new chassis and slightly different engine mapping making for a stark change in ‘Team Green’s’ fortunes. John will be aiming to forge on with the development process of the bike over the remaining races as he chases the team’s first podium finish of 2008.

The Championship and the annual game of musical chairs between teams and riders is interesting poised, this weekend may prove pivotal in many of the outcomes in this years championship.

The MotoGP round at Misano gets underway at 2pm (CET)