From a press release issued by Dorna Sports:

Motegi the first stop for MotoGP’s orient express

The MotoGP World Championship stopped off at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Japan today in preparation for the first of four ‘flyaway’ races in five weeks across Asia, the Middle East and Australia. The trip across the orient represents a crucial stage in the season for the MotoGP teams and riders, with a maximum haul of 100 points on offer before the final round at Valencia in Spain and titles up for grabs in all three of the Grand Prix categories.

The Camel Grand Prix of Japan sees current MotoGP World Champion and series leader Valentino Rossi return to the home of Honda, the factory he turned his back on at the end of last season in favour of a switch to their great rivals Yamaha. The Italian today admitted it would be a tough task to overcome a legion of six regular Honda riders, plus wildcard Tohru Ukawa, at their own private testing ground as he looks to extend a 29-point advantage over Sete Gibernau at the top of the standings.

“It will be difficult, like always, maybe more,” said Rossi, who finished fourth here last season after running off track. “Last year there were four Hondas in the top four, it was a great battle – not only with Biaggi and Gibernau, also Tamada and Hayden. Last year also Melandri had a good race with Yamaha, he finished fifth, so maybe our bike is not so bad here. The weather is good today, we just have to hope it stays like this all weekend.”

Gibernau took time to relax today, joining fellow MotoGP rider Nicky Hayden, who returns to action after injury, and 125cc series leader Andrea Dovizioso on a visit to the Fun Fan Lab at the circuit, home of Honda’s humanoid robot Asimo. Whilst Gibernau will be desperate to make up points on Rossi after finishing fourth at the last round in Portugal, the man on form at the moment is local hero Makoto Tamada. The Japanese rider, who finished second to Rossi at Estoril after starting from pole for the first time, is currently in the best form of his career and made no secret of his intentions today.

“To be honest I think I am in perfect shape,” declared Tamada, who was disqualified from the race last season for colliding with Gibernau after finishing third. “The tyres suit the track and so does the bike. I have come here to win and that is exactly what I intend to do. Valentino had too much fun with me in the last race – this time I plan to have fun with him.”

Tamada is not the only Japanese rider looking to make an impression this weekend, Shinya Nakano making his first appearance on home soil with Kawasaki. Like Tamada, Nakano is running Bridgestone tyres and is placing his optimism in the Japanese rubber manufacturer. “I went to the Bridgestone factory yesterday and they promised me they have a special Motegi tyre,” commented Nakano. “I know the fans are excited about this race and I want to show Kawasaki’s potential here.”

Also looking to please the home crowd will be former 125cc favourite Youichi Ui, set for his MotoGP debut with the WCM team as a replacement for the departed Michel Fabrizio. The second WCM place has been rented out to Japanese chassis manufacturer Moriwaki, who will run former 250cc World Champion Olivier Jacque on the MD2211VF prototype, his first start since the end of 2003. “I am very happy to be back and to be involved in such an ambitious project,” said Jacque. “It would be great if my performance this weekend gave me a chance of a full-time return to MotoGP in 2004 but there is no pressure on me and I am just planning to enjoy myself.”

In both the 250cc and 125cc classes the onus is also on challengers from other factories to confront Honda riders at their home circuit. Dani Pedrosa defends Japanese factory honour in the quarter-litre class alongside the in-form Toni Elías, Roberto Rolfo, Hiroshi Aoyama and wildcard star Yuki Takahashi, whilst Randy de Puniet and Sebastian Porto lead an army of Aprilia riders trying to haul in the Spanish youngster at the top of the championship.

In the minor class Dovizioso will be joined on a Honda by Manuel Hernandez this weekend, replacing the injured Julián Simon, as he also looks to hold off an Aprilia challenge to his championship dominance from Hector Barberá and Roberto Locatelli.


From a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki:

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2004
JAPANESE GRAND PRIX – MOTEGI
16TH SEPTEMBER 2004 – EVENT PREVIEW

SUPER SHINYA HAPPY TO BE RACING AT HOME

The Twin Ring Motegi track, venue for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, holds special memories for Fuchs Kawasaki rider Shinya Nakano.

It was at Motegi in 1999 that Nakano, in a superb rookie performance, won his first Grand Prix with victory in the 250cc Japanese GP.

Five years on and 26-year-old Nakano is established at the top echelon of MotoGP, and is now enjoying his first season with the Fuchs Kawasaki factory squad; spearheading the Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP campaign.

Adding to the significance of the Motegi race is its status as a home Grand Prix, not only for Nakano, but for motorcycle and industrial powerhouse Kawasaki and their tyre partner Bridgestone.

As usual Nakano is joined at Motegi by Fuchs Kawasaki team-mate Alex Hofmann, who is in his first full season of MotoGP competition.

The emerging 24-year-old German rookie will be returning to the compact Motegi circuit after an absence of three years. His last race at this track was in the 250cc category.

The Motegi race week will be a busy one for both Kawasaki riders, especially the popular Nakano, with additional demands from fans, media, corporate activities and personal appearances.

The Twin Ring Motegi track is located 100km north-west of Tokyo. At 4.1km in length the track comprises 14 turns with a longest straight of just 760 metres; features which combine to provide just a once-per-lap opportunity for a flat-out burst in sixth gear for the 990cc MotoGP bikes.

Stop-go in nature, Motegi places significant demands on stability under braking and then acceleration. Both of these performance criteria have been an important part of the Kawasaki development programme in recent months.

The Japanese GP signals the beginning of a demanding end-of-season schedule of five races. The Motegi race is followed in quick session by flyaway GPs in Qatar, Malaysia and Australia prior to the final race at Valencia in Spain, all in just six weeks.

Shinya Nakano: #56
“Motegi is always a special race for me because I’m competing in front of my local fans and, of course, it is the home race for Kawasaki. This is important, because I have just moved to Kawasaki this year and I can sense that Kawasaki supporters are very enthusiastic and are anticipating good results. Motegi is a stop-go circuit; hard braking followed by short straights, but I have a lot of experience at this track and some very happy memories from my first win in 1999. So far acceleration has been our weak point, but the factory has been concentrating on improving power delivery, so I know everyone is working very hard to find a good set-up for this race. Even though I have been busy in the lead-up to the race, I am enjoying being at home.”

Alex Hofmann: #66
“I’m sure racing at Motegi will be a motivating factor for everyone in our team, and there will be a lot of additional focus on our efforts from Kawasaki and the fans. It is three years since I raced here, but the track is not a difficult one to remember. The past couple of races have been a little disappointing for me, although I made a lot of progress at the Estoril test after the Portuguese GP. I will have to wait and see how this track suits the ZX-RR, but my real focus is to race closer to Shinya’s pace over race distance. He was faster than me earlier in the season but, overall, I think I’m closing the gap, and for sure, I want to beat him at least once this season, even if it’s at his home race.”