From a press release issued by Pramac Honda:

Tough sentence for Makoto Tamada’s pass on the last lap of the race: disqualification

The Japanese rider of the Pramac Honda Team finished the race on the third step of the podium today, but the race commission deemed Makoto Tamada’s overtaking of Sete Gibernau on the last lap to be too aggressive, and the punishment was disqualification. The team and its sports director Gianluca Montiron consider this penalty both unfair and harsh, and immediately made their appeal against it.

This is what happened: Makoto Tamada ended the first lap in sixth place and then, pushing his “client” Honda RC211V to a good race rhythm, made a dogged ascent up through the pack in an attempt to reach the rostrum by the end of the contest. After catching up with and overtaking Hayden, and fighting off his attacks, Makoto made his final onslaught against Gibernau in order to get a foothold on the podium. Makoto knew there were two places where he could slip past the Spaniard: the S-bend where he made his first attempt, but where Gibernau got past him again, and in deceleration before the 90-degree right-hander. And it was here that Tamada delayed braking to the absolute limit and, after seeing that he was already ahead of the Spaniard, went first into the corner and reached the finish line in third place.

This is how Makoto Tamada commented on the pass:

“In some parts of the circuit I was faster than Gibernau, and in others he was faster than me. So it looked as though I had all I needed to make a fight for the third place on the podium. The first opportunity was the S-bend: I got in first but Sete overtook me on the way out. This meant that the second and last opportunity would be in deceleration and braking into the 90-degree right-hand corner. It was like a battle of wits to see who would be the last to put on his brakes. I know what I can do when braking and I’ve got a front tyre that I can trust, so I decided to play all the cards I’d got. When I saw I was on the inside and half a length in front of him, I started taking the corner. I’m sorry that Sete took exception to what I consider to be a normal race manoeuvre, and I’m also upset about the sentence that I feel is exceptionally harsh.”

“I think the penalty inflicted on Makoto Tamada today is too harsh and rigid”, added sports director Gianluca Montiron. ” It was quite clear that Tamada had no intention of obstructing Sete Gibernau or putting him out of the race. It was a normal race manoeuvre. We’re appealing and just trust that the commission will review its ruling. I’d like to thank Honda and Bridgestone for all the great work they’ve done to make us competitive this weekend. It was one of the finest and most sporting races I’d ever watched.”


MAKOTO TAMADA (PRAMAC HONDA TEAM): disqualified



More, from another press release issued by Pramac Honda:

Motegi, 8.oo p.m.

The race direction confirmed the isqualification of Makoto Tamada in today’s Pacific Grand Prix, overruling an appeal that had been lodged by Pramac Honda team after consulting all parties and persons involved.

The rider accepted the final decision of the jury and declared that he was now looking forward to the next race in Malaysia. After the unfortunate events of today, he considers it better to set his mind on the next goals, with the 14th round of the MotoGP championship coming up in only one week’s time.