MotoGP riders enjoy Viennese adventure

An exciting gathering organised by Austrian national broadcasters ATV and witnessed by thousands of local fans saw a demonstration ride through the heart of the Vienna, on Wednesday, with Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha), Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro), James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Racing) all taking part.

在週三奧地利國家電視台(ATV)舉辦了一場刺激的街頭表演，當地的上千名車迷見證了各家賽車展示性的騎過維也納市中心街頭，參與的有Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha), Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro), James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) 和 Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Racing)。

Although MotoGP has visited Vienna before this was the first time in history that the riders were allowed to take their prototype machines along the famous Ringstreet, the main boulevard in the city.

儘管在先前GP賽車已有造訪過維也納，但是這是第一次車手可以駕著自家賽車在市中心著名的Ringstreet上路。

Local government welcomingly treated the event like a state visit, with the Austrian police riding ahead of the World Championship stars on a 5.2km loop through the city centre. The route commenced at the Burgtheater on Josef-Meinrad-Place, along Ringstreet, past several important buildings such as the State Opera House, the most famous historical museums and the Austrian Parliament and eventually returning to the Burgtheater.

當地政府以高度規格看待這次活動，在這些明星車手前有奧地利警車作為前導，在市中心繞了一圈約5.2公里。從 Josef-Meinrad-Place(廣場)的Burgtheater(劇院)出發，沿著Ringstreet前進，經過幾個重要的建築，如:State Opera House最有名的歷史博物館，還有奧地利國會大樓，最後再繞回Burgtheater。

The riders stopped for several minutes at the Parliament building so that press photographers and fans could take photos of them at such an iconic venue.

車手們在國會前停留了幾分鐘，讓攝影記者和車迷可以拍照。

Czech 250cc rider Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) and three 125cc competitors - Spaniard Marc Marquez (Red Bull KTM), Austrian Michael Ranseder (CBC Corse) and Swiss rider Randy Krummenacher (Degraaf Grand Prix) – were also present at the event, which included interviews with ATV presenters Mark Michael Nanseck and Rudi Moser. There were then further interviews with additional media and autograph sessions with the fans.

捷克籍的250CC車手Karel Abraham(Cardion AB Motoracing 車隊)和三位125CC車手西班牙籍的 Marc Marquez (Red Bull KTM 車隊), 地主車手 Michael Ranseder (CBC Corse 車隊) 和 瑞士籍的 Randy Krummenacher (Degraaf Grand Prix 車隊)也有在表演中出現，並且接受ATV主持人Mark Michael Nanseck和Rudi Moser的訪問。之後是其他媒體的更多訪問和車迷的簽名時間。

Ahead of the closest race to his home nation of Hungary, Talmacsi stated, “This kind of event is fantastic because you feel the support from the fans and there are a lot of Hungarians because it’s very close. We also did a big promotion in my country, on Monday, so I expect a lot of fans in Brno. I like the track so much, it is good for my riding style but in MotoGP this is my first time there. Of course I’ll try my best and now I have more feeling with the motorcycle and I feel stronger personally.”

面對接下來的比賽地點就在他的國家旁，Talmacsi表示"這樣的比賽是很奇妙的，因為你感覺到車迷的支持，因為地理位置靠近所以有很多匈牙利來的人。我週一在自己國家也有參加宣傳活動，所以我預期在Brno會有很多車迷。我很喜歡這條賽道，很符合我的駕駛風格，但是在MotoGP這是我第一次在這比賽。當然我會盡我所能，我對我的車有更深的了解而且我覺得我更進步了。"

Former World Champion Hayden, who is popular with the public wherever he goes, added, “It was a great opportunity for the fans to get close to the bikes and to the riders, and hopefully for us to show them a bit of our sport. Perhaps we can get a new audience that have not seen our bikes before and I think it’s a good build up for the weekend. Last year I missed the race but Brno is a great track, fast, flowing and a lot of long straight aways so I am looking forward to the weekend now.”

不管到哪都受到大眾歡迎的前世界冠軍Nick Hayden補充說，"這是一個讓車迷近距離接觸賽車和車手的機會，也但願我們可以藉此向大家宣傳這個運動，或許我們可以吸引到之前沒看過賽車的新觀眾，我想這是擴大周末活動的好點子。去年我錯過這一場，但是Brno是個很棒的賽道，高速、流暢還有很多長直道，我很期待周末的到來。"

Meanwhile, giving his thoughts on the championship battle on the return to action, after the summer break, Lorenzo commented, “Dani (Pedrosa) is currently more than 70 points behind but you can not rule him out, because in this championship a thousand and one different things could happen. It looks like there are two riders with a real chance, especially Valentino (Rossi), but mathematically you can’t rule any of the top guys out.”

同時，在經過夏季休兵後，Lorenzo對於重回比賽的想法評論說，"Dani(Pedrosa)目前落後超過七十分，但是你不能從競爭行列中排除他，因為在比賽中什麼事都有可能發生，目前看來有兩個車手有機會奪冠，特別是Valentino(Rossi)，但是數學上你不能把其他頂尖對手的可能性排除掉。"

After the event the riders headed across the border to begin their final preparations for the first round since the short summer pause, with the action at the Cardion AB Czech Republic Grand Prix in Brno set to begin on Friday afternoon.

在這活動後，車手們開始為夏季休兵後第一場比賽作最後準備，Cardion AB Czech Republic GP站將在週五下午開始登場。