From a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati:

PACIFIC GRAND PRIX – PREVIEW
Twin Ring Motegi
October 3/4/5 2003

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM BACK IN JAPAN WITH HIGH HOPES

The MotoGP circus continues its globetrotting tour this weekend at Twin Ring Motegi, the 2003 championship’s second visit to the Land of the Rising Sun. Last time The Ducati Marlboro Team visited Japan was for its debut MotoGP event – April’s season-opening Japanese GP at Suzuka – when Loris and Troy made history by scoring a podium finish and a fifth place first time out on the team’s brand-new Desmosedici.

Six months later the Ducati Marlboro Team is a fully established MotoGP force, with Ducati riding high in the constructors’ World Championship, holding second place in its rookie season, ahead of all but one of the Japanese factories that have dominated the premier Grand Prix class for so long. Which means that much is expected of Capirossi and team-mate Troy Bayliss when the pair once again confront Japan’s motorcycle industry in its own backyard on Sunday.

After Sunday’s racing the paddock heads to Malaysia for next weekend’s Marlboro Malaysian Grand Prix, the middle event of three back-to-back ‘flyaway’ GPs. The following weekend the action moves to Phillip Island in Australia, before the circus returns to its European heartland for the season-ending Marlboro Valencia GP at Valencia on November 2.


MOTEGI IS LAST NEW TRACK FOR THE DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM

The 2003 MotoGP World Championship was always going to be a learning year for the Ducati Marlboro Team, but it’s turned out to be some apprenticeship. Although the Bologna factory had been out of GP racing for more than three decades before returning last spring, it has already won its first GP, taken three pole positions and scored seven podium finishes. And all this despite the team having to compete at many racetracks of which it has no previous knowledge. Happily, this weekend’s Pacific GP is the last event that the team goes into ‘blind’. Loris Capirossi may have raced at Motegi since it joined the series calendar in 1999, but most of his team colleagues, including Troy Bayliss, have never seen the track before.

“We are quite happy that this is the last track of the season that we don’t know,” says Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli, who has already tested with his crew at the three season-ending GP venues – Sepang, Phillip Island and Valencia. “We have already achieved some good results at circuits that are new to us, but the less you know about a track, the harder it is for the riders and everyone else in the team, and however well you work during the weekend, you still lack something. But we always knew it would be like this in our first MotoGP season, and we are enjoying discovering new circuits so that we can gather data and information for next season. In theory Motegi should be good for us”.

Ducati Marlboro Team director Livio Suppo is also confident that his riders can once again go well in Japan. “Last year Loris rode an unbelievable race at Motegi, making the podium even though he was on a two-stroke, so he obviously goes well there,” says Suppo. “And he really enjoyed getting third in our first race at Suzuka, so we go to Motegi with the added motivation of repeating or improving upon that result. It’s always a special emotion for us at Ducati if we can achieve good results in Japan. The weekend will be another challenge for Troy because this is another racetrack that he’s never seen, but then again he’s proved on many occasions that new tracks aren’t a problem for him. On the positive side, Motegi will complete his knowledge of current MotoGP tracks because he already knows the tracks which host the final three GPs of the season.”


MOTEGI FAN CAPIROSSI AIMS FOR SUZUKA REPEAT
Loris Capirossi comes to Motegi this weekend determined to repeat his stunning ride to the podium at Suzuka in April. Winner of the Ducati Marlboro Team’s first GP at Catalunya, Spain, in June, the hard-riding Italian is confident he can once again use his Desmosedici’s speed to devastating effect at Motegi, a circuit he really likes.

“Last year I rode a 500 at Motegi, but I had some good fights with the faster four-strokes, so I think I can go very well this weekend,” he says. “I was just a tenth off pole position last time, which made me very angry, so I’d like to make amends for that this weekend. I really like the track, it’s not very technical, but you have to put a lot of effort into your braking and corner-exit speed. Our bike has fantastic acceleration and its braking stability is also good since we made some chassis improvements a few races ago. Every race the bike is coming better. We had some minor problems at Rio, but our speed in qualifying once again proved that we can be fast at circuits which are new to us. Motegi is particularly important because it’s in Japan, which gives us another chance to show off our speed to the Japanese!”

Capirossi has scored three third-place finishes at Motegi – in the 1999 Japanese 250 GP, and in the past two 500 Pacific GPs.


PAPA BAYLISS RELISHES BACK-TO-BACK RACES
Former World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss went to Rio three weeks ago as a father of two children, this week he comes to Motegi as a father of three! Wife Kim gave birth to the couple’s third child – a baby boy named Oliver – in Monaco during the Rio GP weekend. The current series of races is thus turning out to be a rollercoaster ride for the tough Aussie who is currently the highest-placed MotoGP rookie, holding fifth place in the points chase.

“It was great to get home from Rio and see Ollie for the first time!” beams proud father Bayliss, who shed a tear or two in the Rio pits when he heard about the birth from Kim immediately after the race. “It was a shame I couldn’t be there, but I don’t think they would’ve rescheduled the race to make things easier for us! This is a busy time for everyone in MotoGP, but I’m looking forward to the three races in a row – you can get your head down and keep going, plus you get a lot of races done in a short time. Motegi is another new track for me, but that shouldn’t be a problem, I’ve got used to learning new places this year. To me, all tracks are pretty much the same, you’ve just got to get round them as quick as you can. Most places are easy to learn, but it’s squeezing the last little bit out of them that really counts.”


THE TRACK
Twin Ring Motegi is stop-and-go in character with few high-speed corners, unlike fast and flowing Suzuka, venue for April’s Japanese GP. Motegi features plenty of slow turns linked by medium-length straights which put the emphasis on braking and acceleration performance. Unlike Suzuka, most riders don’t feel the track tests their riding skills to the limit. Motegi’s location and this event’s autumn date make for unpredictable weather conditions. The venue’s inaugural World Championship round, the 1999 Japanese GP, was run in pouring rain. Since then Motegi has hosted the Pacific round of the series.

The circuit, christened Twin Ring Motegi because it features both a Grand Prix track and an Indy oval, is one of the newer circuits on the GP calendar. Constructed by Honda to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary in 1998, at a cost of US$350 million, the venue is located in the hills to the north west of Tokyo, between the cities of Mito and Utsonomiya. Motegi’s construction entailed a massive civil engineering project that included the razing of seven hills and the filling of two valleys.

Twin Ring Motegi: 4.801km/2.983 miles

Lap record: Alex Barros (Honda), 1:49.947, 157.199kmh/97.679mph (2002)

Pole position 2002: Daijiro Kato (Honda), 1:49.052