McCoy clocks up MotoGP century.

Refreshed after a mid-season holiday, Red Bull Yamaha rider Garry McCoy is determined to kick-start his injury-interrupted season at his 100th MotoGP start in this weekend's Czech Republic Grand Prix.

A five-week European summer break in the 500cc GP calendar has proved a welcome bonus for McCoy, who expects to be close to 100 per cent race fit after a frustratingly long recovery from a broken wrist.

McCoy will be joined by Red Bull Yamaha teammate Nori Haga for the Brno encounter, traditionally one of the fastest and toughest races of the season.

Japanese star Haga returns to Grand Prix racing after his most recent outing with the factory Yamaha Superbike team in the famed Suzuka Eight Hours. The recent holiday period was welcomed by Haga, one of a number of riders who punished themselves with a combination of GP racing and travelling and test sessions for the classic Suzuka four-stroke race.

Haga is now determined to improve on his impressive fourth placed finish in the British GP at Donington, his best result in the opening nine races after making the switch from Superbikes.

During the GP vacation McCoy has completed an intensive training schedule at his alpine retreat in Andorra, on the border of Spain and France, as a platform for his campaign in the final seven races of the 16-event world championship season. McCoy now just wants to "try to win some races" to make up for the disappointment of his long time on the sidelines.

The traditional heat-wave conditions of Brno (45-degree track temperature in 2000), is an ideal starting point - with McCoy having finished third to Valentino Rossi after a breathtaking battle last year.

Brno also marks McCoy's 41st 500cc race start from which he has scored three victories over the past two seasons with the Red Bull Yamaha team, the first of which was last year's season-opener in South Africa. McCoy also won the Portugal and Valencia GPs in a purple-patch of form in the second half of the 2000 season.

Of McCoy's 51 starts in 125cc GPs, from 1993 to 1997, he took two wins in Malaysia in '95 and his home GP in Australia in '96.

"The championship is over for me this year but there are still seven races to go and I'm aiming to get some good results to finish the season on a high note," McCoy said. "There are some tracks coming up that suit me and the Red Bull Yamaha and the warmer summer weather seems to work in our favour, especially with tyre endurance."

In 2000 McCoy followed his podium finish at Brno with consecutive victories in the Portuguese and Valencia GPs.

"When the temperature stays really hot I have a good set-up with tyres and chassis and we have a good base to build on from last year at Brno," McCoy said "It was a fun race with Valentino a year ago and hopefully we will both be up the front again.

"The 500 class is now so competitive experience really counts, so hopefully I've got a good starting point right from Friday morning practice. The hot weather and the fast track make Brno pretty hard work but good fun.

"The best part is that the 500s are wide open on the throttle for most of the lap and you really have to concentrate on getting everything right with the bike and tyres."

After McCoy's tyre-smoking battle against Rossi into third place at Brno last year the Italian superstar, who is this season's world championship leader, paid McCoy the following compliment: "It's very funny to be racing with Garry, he is so spectacular. It is such a good show following him that you would pay for a ticket to watch this and, if finally you are able to pass him, it is even more amazing!"

Rossi, Honda's crown prince, is set to resume his battle with fierce Yamaha rival Max Biaggi, who is regarded as a Brno specialist. Biaggi won this race last year and goes to the Czech Republic full of confidence, having beaten Rossi in two of the three most recent GPs this season in Germany and Holland.

After nine weeks on the sidelines McCoy made his return to racing with an exhausting 11th place in last month's German GP.

"I felt really bad after the German race," McCoy said. "It was a bit of struggle even to finish as I was probably only 70 per cent fit, because I couldn't do any proper training with my broken wrist. "But the doctors say the fracture has healed according to plan and I've been able to do a lot more training in the break, so I'm keen to get back to racing."

Only three riders have won GPs this season - Rossi (5), Biaggi (3) and Brazilian Alex Barros (1).

Sunday's race at Brno will be 14 weeks since McCoy crashed and fractured his wrist during practice for the French GP at Le Mans. Since then McCoy has completed just one GP (Germany at the Sachsenring), a race distance of 30 laps.

Nori Haga is currently 13th in the world championship with 39 points just one place ahead of McCoy (who missed five races) with 26 points.