The Repsol Honda Team arrives at the Misano circuit in Italy this week in high spirits after Dani Pedrosa’s dominant win in the Indianapolis Grand Prix on Sunday. With the Spaniard’s consummate Indy performance showcasing both his outright speed and peak physical condition, plus the impressive all-round strength of the RC212V race bike, the factory Honda team will be satisfied with nothing less than another visit to the top step of the podium for Pedrosa or his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso this weekend.

Pedrosa is in confident mood as the MotoGP World Championship returns from the United States to Europe, his emphatic third victory of the season at Indianapolis having taken him past his record of two MotoGP wins in each of the four previous seasons. The 24-year-old now plans to take full advantage of the momentum he has established in the last few races by getting straight back on the pace from first practice at Misano on Friday afternoo n. Pedrosa led the first seven laps of last year’s San Marino Grand Prix before taking a podium finish, and this year he is determined to stay up front for the duration of the race, fight for victory this weekend and further reduce the 68-point gap to leader Jorge Lorenzo in the world championship standings.

Dovizioso too will be truly satisfied with nothing less than a win at his home Grand Prix. The 24-year-old Italian lives in Forli only 70kms from Misano and would enjoy nothing more than taking his second ever MotoGP victory in front of his many friends and fans, or and at least scoring a podium finish to add to the four he has already amassed this season. Dovizioso holds third place in the world championship behind his team-mate and has displayed front-running pace in the early laps at the last two Grands Prix. He and his crew are now looking for the final ingredient so that he can maintain that speed right to the chequered flag.

This will be th e fourth visit to Misano since the circuit made a return to the Grand Prix world championship in 2007 after a 13-year absence from the calendar from 1994 to 2006. Sunday’s 28-lap race, which is round 12 of the MotoGP series, begins at 14.00 local time (GMT + 2 hours) and marks two-thirds distance in 18-race 2010 season.