2009 MotoGP Championship - Round 2 - Motegi, Japan

Photos and text courtesy Yamaha Racing, Ducati Corse, BMW Motorrad. 
Edited by webBikeWorld.

Yamaha Takes 1-2 at Motegi

After it looked at one point on race-day as if the Grand Prix of Japan would be a complete washout, the sun broke through the dark clouds and streamed onto the Motegi circuit as the Fiat Yamaha team enjoyed a clean sweep of the top two spots.

With qualifying having been cancelled yesterday due to the heavy rain, both riders started the race from the front row of the grid according to their times from Friday's free practice.

Following a stunning race, Jorge Lorenzo took the glory of standing on the top step of the podium, after coming through a brilliant scrap with his team-mate Valentino Rossi, who finished a close second.

Starting from third on the grid Lorenzo briefly lost a position on the first lap, but was soon back up to his starting spot as they crossed the line for the first time.

With a superior pace to his compatriot Pedrosa it seemed as though the Mallorcan was being held up, and sure enough on lap three the Spaniard edged into second place.

Once there he had the unenviable task of closing a two-second gap to his team-mate Rossi, but gradually edged nearer his colleague. The two enjoyed a good head-to-head fight, swapping positions at the V-corner before Lorenzo finally found a way past Rossi. From that point there was no looking back, and as Rossi was entangled in the battle with Pedrosa behind, Lorenzo sealed a glorious second victory in MotoGP.

Leading from the first corner, Rossi had opened up the gap on the Spaniards in the early stages, but once Lorenzo had found a way past, it was Pedrosa who caused the champion most problems.

With Pedrosa attacking on several occasions, the Italian was forced to keep his wits about him, but always seemed to have enough edge to keep ahead.  The killer move come heading into the tunnel at turn five, and the race was decided as Rossi pulled away from Pedrosa in the latter stages.

With Lorenzo leading the championship on 40 points, one ahead of Rossi, the MotoGP World Championship moves on to his home race at Jerez in just a week's time.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1stTime: 43'47.238:  "First of all I just want to thank my team, my Mum, Dad and whole family, my friends and all the team workers. 

Also Yamaha, as it is their home race, it was a difficult race because I didn't really get a very good start, I think I even finished the first lap in third or fourth.

After that I began to catch up the pace. I passed Valentino and opened up a little gap, about a second and a half, and he was following me very hard. I had to ride the best I can to get the victory."

Valentino Rossi - Position: 2ndTime: + 1.304:  "It was a great race, long, very difficult and also physical.  I got a really good start from the front row, but there was a part of the race that I wasn't quite able to ride like I wanted, there was some kind of problem and I wasn't fast enough to pull away.

I lost time from Jorge and then was involved in a battle with Dani and then in the last part of the race I was able to step up my pace and pick my lines, setting some good lap times . I tried to come back but unfortunately Lorenzo was too far away.

It's a good race, second place is not a victory but it's still twenty points for the championship.  I think the championship will become very interesting now because we have four riders ready to battle for wins at the end."

More:  2009 MotoGP Racing Schedule  |  2009 World Superbike Racing Schedule  |  wBW Motorcycle Racing Page (News and More Schedules)

---

Rain Shortens Motegi MotoGP Qualifying

Torrential rain flooded the Motegi, Japan track and forced the authorities to shorten the qualifying, which skewed the results for the grid for tomorrow's MotoGP race, round 2 of the 2009 season.

Race Direction decided to delay the session by 55 minutes with the deluge leaving several large patches of standing water scattered around the 2.983 mile circuit.

Circuit staff also placed sandbags on the perimeter at some sections of the circuit to prevent water flooding across the track, but with no let up in the downpour, a decision was taken to abandon qualifying at 15:00 local time.

Grid positions were then decided on combined practice times, with times posted in yesterday dry practice session counting.

Designed in 1997 as a test venue, the Motegi race track features a somewhat geometric layout.  The surface offers good levels of grip without being overly abrasive but the proliferation of second gear turns, linked for the most part by mini-drag strips, means braking and acceleration are the main prerequisite to a fast lap time.

MotoGP tire suppler Bridgestone has traditionally been very strong at the circuit and with all the riders now on the Japanese rubber, hopes are high for an entertaining race.

Prior to last year's winning bonanza, Valentino Rossi had taken just a single victory at the Twin Ring Motegi, back in 2001 before the advent of four-stroke MotoGP machinery.

Valentino Rossi:  "My memories of last year at Motegi are incredible, because it was such a special victory after two year's without the championship.  This year of course will be very different, it's only the second race and it will be quite strange going there so early in the championship.

In Qatar we had one or two small areas that could have been better, so we will be trying hard to improve our setting during the practice time so that we're able to run at the front on Sunday.

I expect that Stoner will be strong again, so we just need to reduce the gap to him so that we can put up more of a fight.  In the past Motegi hasn't been a great track for me and I've had some bad races there, but I think last year cancelled that all out so I hope it can be successful for us once again this year."

Motegi Race Circuit

Motegi: Record Lap
C. Stoner (Ducati) 2008, 1'47.091

Motegi: Best Lap
J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1'45.543

Grand Prix Results: Motegi 2008
1. V. Rossi (Yamaha) 43'09.599
2. C.Stoner (Ducati) +1.943
3. D.Pedrosa (Honda) +4.866
4. J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) +6.165

---

►Reader Comments and Owner Feedback

 

 

 

 wBW Home  |  Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy  |  Site Info - Contact Info  |