From a press release issued by Alice Aprilia Racing Information:

PACIFIC GP/PREVIEW

EASTERN CHALLENGE

The Alice Aprilia Racing Team is ready for the triple travelling: three GPs one after another that within three weeks, will bring men and bikes to Japan, Malaysia and Australia.

The first overseas race is scheduled in Motegi from the 3rd to the 5th of October. The team has prepared with special effort this demanding race in order to score some good points. Because of chattering problems, a good result is lacking from the last races.

The racing department has studied some solutions to the chattering problem and is confident to give to Edwards and Haga two competitive bikes.

Motegi is a track characterised by violent plug chops and restarts. This configuration is favourable for the Aprilia RS cube.

Colin Edwards has remained with his family in Texas and is confident and ready for the new challenge: “I followed from here the work done by my team and I’m sure that we will solve the chattering problems that have slowed down our job in the last races”.

Nori Haga is much more motivated, he would like to score a good result in his home GP: “It’s very important for a Japanese to do a very good race here, it’s our home GP, it’s more or less the same feeling for an Italian rider in occasion of the Mugello GP”.

GIGI DALL’IGNA (Project Leader): “Motegi is a track that presents favourable characteristics for our bikes. For example, there are long curves, those one that trigger the chattering of our bikes. Moreover, the surface is smooth and this makes our bikes run better. I’m confident in a better result of our bikes. There are no big technical changes: there is no time for experiments with this calendar that foresees three races one after another. But we have continued to work to reduce the chattering: we have focused on the rear axle with particular attention to the mass and stiffness of the components (such as fork, leverages and discs) to avoid vibrations that create resonance.”

THE TRACK
Twin Ring- Motegi: length 4.801 metres, equal to 2.983 miles.
Lap Record: 1:49.947 Alex Barros (Honda 2002)
Pole: 1:49.052 Daijiro Kato (Honda 2002)