Looking forward to the second round of the season in the pre-event press conference at Motegi on Thursday the 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner spoke of the track’s unknown quantities as he previewed the weekend’s action.
The Polini Grand Prix of Japan pre-event press briefing was attended by Stoner, Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and MotoGP newcomer Yuki Takahashi (Scot Racing) at 5pm local time as the riders faced local and international media.
Unlike Qatar -the venue for round one- and Jerez -the scene of the third race of the year- there has been no winter testing at Motegi, meaning the riders will have to quickly reacquaint themselves with the Twin Ring circuit on their 2009 Bridgestone tyres, as Stoner pointed out.
“We haven’t tested our new tyres here so we have to see how things will work out,” commented the Ducati Marlboro man. “I think Bridgestone will have done their homework. We have been pretty happy with the way our bike is working this year but now we have to make sure it is suited to the characteristics of this circuit on these new tyres. This is like the real start to the season where any small mistakes will show out.”
Having wrapped up the 2008 title at Motegi last year, Rossi stated, “Coming here brings back a lot of great memories for me and my team after our last visit just a few months ago. It was so good last time, not just for the championship but also it was a great race after I had struggled in practice and then went very, very fast on the Sunday. We will work from Friday to understand the track, because the temperatures could be different to our last visit and it could rain this weekend too.”
Pedrosa, meanwhile, won at Motegi as a 250cc rider in 2004 and was on the podium last year behind Rossi and Stoner, although he is still battling back from preseason knee and arm injuries. He remarked; “This is a track where I normally go quite well and I will try to go as fast as I can”
He continued; “We know we will have to work hard on the setting because the weather conditions could be quite mixed. Of course I would like to be on the podium again but we just have to wait and see.”
Confident Stoner taking nothing for granted
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Australian refuses to rule out non-Rossi rivals in title chase.
A victory in Qatar and confidence in the setup of the Ducati Desmosedici GP9 have made for a happy Casey Stoner heading to round two in Motegi, but the former MotoGP World Champion has reiterated that he is taking nothing for granted.
Stoner has set his sights on a stronger start to his 2009 season to that made in 2008, and thus far things appear to be going according to plan. Motegi represents something of an unknown for the new ‘big red bike’, however, and the Australian is assured but cautious in his approach to the Polini Grand Prix of Japan.
“We haven’t tested here in preseason whereas we had in Qatar, so we’ll see how we get on starting from zero, with less practice time available. I’m fairly confident, the set-up we found in testing has worked well at different kinds of circuits so we should have a decent base setting to work from at Motegi,” states Stoner. “In any case, we won’t take anything for granted - we’ll keep working hard together and stay focused.”
Early signs show that reigning titlist Valentino Rossi will be the key man for Stoner to beat in 2009, although there has been no ruling out of any rider yet by the Ducati Marlboro man.
“At this stage Valentino has been the hardest rival in testing and we know that Valentino will always be there, but people should always expect the unexpected,” he warns. “You don’t know what other riders are capable of, so we will see how the beginning of the season goes during the first few races and understand who is going to be competitive and who is not, and then focus on the toughest challenger.”
Stoner’s second place at last year’s Japanese round was his first podium in the premier class at Twin Ring Motegi.
| Fiat Yamaha heads to happy hunting grounds |
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| |  | Fiat Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo head to Japan this weekend for the second Grand Prix of 2009 at Motegi. In the past the race has always come close to the end of the season and last year it was the scene of victorious celebrations for the squad as Rossi wrapped up the World Championship with a stunning race win and Lorenzo finished fourth, helping to secure the Teams' and Manufacturers' titles to give Yamaha the coveted Triple Crown. With just one race run so far this season there will be no repeat of last year's championship-winning party, but the Italian and the Spaniard will be keen to keep the momentum high after finishing second and third under the Qatar floodlights. The pair were happy to open their season account with a podium apiece but will be hoping for an even better result in Yamaha's home country. Both riders will make a stop in Tokyo on the way, where they will be helping Yamaha to launch a new R1. Prior to last year's winning bonanza, Rossi had taken just a single victory at the Twin Ring Motegi, back in 2001 before the advent of four-stroke MotoGP machinery. Lorenzo has scored only one podium before at the track with a third in 2006 on the way to the first of his two 250cc titles. MotoGP tyre 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. Designed in 1997 as a test venue, Motegi features a somewhat geometric track 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. Valentino Rossi - "Incredible memories""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." Jorge Lorenzo - "Hoping to close the gap""This is my second year with Yamaha in MotoGP and the second time going to our home! I feel very motivated about racing in Japan. Qatar was a huge beginning for us although I couldn't keep the same pace as Valentino and Casey. I will try to be much closer to them in Motegi; that is the main aim for this race. Last year I took my last pole position of 2008, but in the race I was fourth after a nice battle with Pedrosa, fighting until the last lap. I hope that this year I will be fighting right at the front." Davide Brivio - "The target is to remain consistent""This year Motegi comes at the start of the season, so it will be a very different race to last year, when we had the chance to achieve all of our season goals there. Of course we did that and we have wonderful memories in our team of that race. This year we go there with different targets and the first one will be to improve our setting in order to allow us to remain consistent for the whole race, which wasn't possible in Qatar. We will work hard in practice and hopefully we can give Valentino the tools to fight on Sunday." Daniele Romagnoli - "Building on a good start""We were very happy with the result from the first race, because to start the season with a podium shows that we are strong and have a good package, now we need to build on this. The gap to the leaders showed that we have some work to do to further improve Jorge's setting, so this will be our target in Motegi. Hopefully we can make some more steps forward and be at the front in the race. Japan is a very important race for Yamaha and we're looking forward to putting on a good show." Pedrosa claims “ten degrees more movement” for Japan date Monday, 20 April 2009 Spanish rider explains knee progress and reveals lingering elbow pain.  Dani Pedrosa’s road to recovery may have suffered a minor diversion when he collided with Alex de Angelis in Qatar, but the Spaniard believes that his fitness is steadily improving in the run-up to the Polini Grand Prix of Japan. The injured star suffered a knock to his elbow when hit by the San Carlo Honda Gresini man in the opening race of the year, but Pedrosa is claiming improvement in the condition of his recently-operated knee. “I’m looking forward to this weekend in Japan. My leg is improving all the time and the knee is gaining a little bit more mobility every day. I don’t have the full range of movement yet, but I think that by the time we get to Motegi I’ll have about ten degrees more of movement than in Qatar, which should make quite a big difference,” says the Repsol Honda rider as he previews the second race of the 2009 season. “My elbow is also getting better after the hit De Angelis gave me in Qatar - there’s still some pain and stiffness but I hope it won’t be a problem in Japan. My priority is still to reach full fitness so that I can ride at 100 per cent, and then we must focus on the machine because I missed out on quite a lot of winter testing and we’re still not at the level we’d like to be. It’s a case of taking things one step at time - first to get full fitness and then improve the bike step-by-step.” Pedrosa finished eleventh in the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar, his lowest placing since the 2008 Czech Republic round.
Capirossi looks to reward Suzuki with Japanese win Tuesday, 21 April 2009 Three-time MotoGP racewinner at Motegi wants first triumph for Japanese factory.  Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi will be starting his 20th season of Grand Prix racing afresh this weekend in Motegi, putting an early crash in Qatar behind him as he chases his first points of the year. The return to the land of the rising sun is a favourable move for the Italian veteran, who enjoyed three consecutive wins at the track from 2005-2008. "After what happened in Qatar, we now go to a track that I know well and have had lots of good times at. I was very disappointed at Losail but that race has gone now and we have had time to see what happened,” says a determined Capirossi, whose team have strong links with Japan. “I hope I can have a very good result in Japan for the Suzuki guys that have put in all the hard work in the winter to give us a bike that we can now be competitive on. I have won here before and want to do it again, so I will be making sure we get everything right for race-day to give us the best possible chance of achieving that!" If Capirossi can place on the podium on Sunday he will have rostrum finishes to show for each of the past seventeen seasons.
Hayden expecting full fitness for Japanese trek Tuesday, 21 April 2009 American to have stitches in chest removed on Thursday.  Left sore by a huge qualifying highside in Qatar, Nicky Hayden expects to be able to ride a more comfortable race when the World Championship arrives in Motegi. The Ducati rider will be competing in his first Japanese round since leaving Honda, and is keen to make a better impression on the final results than he did at round one of the 2009 season. Some big bruising to his back has all-but-completely gone down, and ‘The Kentucky Kid’ expects to have the only lasting momento of his tumble taken away before the opening practice session for the Polini Grand Prix of Japan. “Physically I’m okay – no doubt the race (in Qatar) was tough because I was pretty beaten up but I’ve recovered well and I don’t expect to have any problems in Japan. I’ll probably go to the Clinica on Thursday to have the stitches removed and that will be the end of the matter,” said the gritty American, who also acknowledged that even before his crash things were far from perfect. “My first GP with Ducati didn’t exactly go as I’d hoped but we took some positives out of it – I lapped quicker in the second half of the race than I had done all weekend and above all I felt comfortable on the bike. Hopefully this will help us work out what it is exactly that I need to improve my feeling with the bike because being so far off the pace in practice wasn’t cool! “I’m really keen to do well in this race and even though I’ve always had a kind of love-hate relationship with Motegi – with some good results and some bad ones – it is always a special Grand Prix.” Hayden –who celebrated 100 Grand Prix appearances at the Qatar race- earned his very first podium at the 2003 edition of the Japanese round.
Japan ‘make or brake’ race for Elías Wednesday, 22 April 2009 Spaniard seeks braking improvement for Honda home GP  Toni Elías is back representing Honda at their home race, following a year on Italian Ducati machinery. The Spaniard has a factory-spec RC212V at his disposal for the Polini Grand Prix of Japan, making him one of the chief focal points for his manufacturer this weekend. Unfortunately for the San Carlo Gresini Honda man, one of his strong points has been tempered during preseason, and he is keen to solve the problem before Sunday’s race. ”Motegi is a circuit with lots of heavy braking and I have always been good on the brakes, which I think is why my record is so good there, but this is an area we’re struggling with at the moment. So it is fundamental we fix that particular problem because braking is a weapon we really need here,” emphasises the 2007 podium finisher at the track, who is keen to gain another good result for two distinct reasons. “I have always loved Motegi and to race there for HRC gives you an extra motivation to do a good job. We have to be realistic and keep our feet on the ground in terms of our expectations because the situation we’re in at the moment demands it, but hopefully we can get a little bit of help and with it being a track I like so much we can improve on the performance from Qatar – this is the principal objective.” Elías finished sixteenth –not high enough to collect World Championship points- in the 2008 Japanese race.
Rizla Suzuki pledge support for Australian bushfire auction Wednesday, 22 April 2009 MotoGP team donate items to aid victims of 2008 disaster, including signed leathers from Chris Vermeulen.  As their stars prepare for the Polini Grand Prix of Japan, Rizla Suzuki have nonetheless had time to indulge in some philanthropic activity to support a worthy cause. The MotoGP team have put a selection of exclusive memorabilia up for grabs as part of the Suzuki Victorian Bushfire Charity Auction, set up to help victims of last year’s natural disaster in Southern Australia. Three ‘Rizla Suzuki MotoGP experiences’ are being offered, in which the winners will spend time with riders Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi. Suzuki's Australian star Vermeulen has also donated a pair of signed leathers that he used in preseason testing to the auction, whilst Suzuki Germany have donated a fairing panel from a GSX-R1000 MotoGP replica signed by both stars. Bidding opens at 20.00hrs local time (10.00hrsGMT) on Thursday 23rd April, with five-minute intervals scheduled between each listing to make it easy for enthusiasts who want to bid on more than one item.The first item will close 10 days later, at 20.00hrs Australian time (10.00hrsGMT) on Sunday 3rd May, with the final item and auction scheduled to end at 22.15hrs Australian time (10.15hrsGMT). "It was such an awful event that the least I can do is to put my support behind Suzuki Australia's auction to raise money for the Bushfire Appeal,” says Vermeulen of the auction. “There were many terrible stories that we heard about the fires and if we can help in any way then we will. I think this is a great idea by the people at Suzuki Australia and they have put a lot of work into making this happen. I have donated some items to the auction and Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has also put its weight behind the auction by supplying some amazing items for anyone to bid on. I hope it raises a lot of money to help those affected by the fires - I will certainly be keeping an eye on how much everything goes for!"
and the funniest story of all Canepa goes in cold to Motegi weekend Wednesday, 22 April 2009 Pramac Racing rider suffers minor setback in quest to learn Japanese circuit.  Niccoló Canepa is the only entrant in the premier class race at Motegi with no prior experience of the track, and has already suffered from incompatibility of sorts in the lead-up to the Polini Grand Prix of Japan. Luckily for the Italian, the irreconcilable difference is not between his Ducati Desmosedici GP9 satellite machine and the far eastern circuit, but rather in his planned preparation for the event. ”The Japanese weekend hasn’t started too well; I brought my Playstation to learn the Motegi circuit on the MotoGP game, but unluckily my system is different compared to here and I am not able to play. Therefore I will have to learn all the secrets of the track on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning's free sessions,” reveals the Pramac Racing rookie, who rides at an untested track for the first time in 2009. ”It’s a pity. Anyway, from what I have seen on television it doesn't seem like a technical circuit and this can help a new rider like me. To start from zero is never easy but I will try to do much better compared to my debut in Qatar, where I didn't perform too well." Canepa made his MotoGP debut at the opening round of the season last Monday, but was left dissatisfied after finishing seventeenth in the postponed night race. I guess no one told him that he can get another play-satiation in Japan, or at least an adepter. And if he cant afford to buy one, cant his team buy it for him?
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