Uttalanden från Hondaförarna.
Dani Pedrosa
“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. 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. Motegi is a track I like though, and I’ve won races there in the past so I’m looking forward to getting the best result possible at Honda’s home track”.
Andrea Dovizioso
“It’s important to arrive in Japan after the experience of one race. I’m happy we raced in Qatar as we have understood more about the bike. During the race some new issues arose and so we have had the time to analyze them. I think during the race we could have done a bit better. We have collected important data and we had time to do auto critica (to analyze the issues in a critical way) and for me it was an important experience. I look forward to the Japan GP. The GP of Japan is the home Grand Prix for Honda HRC, so I’d like to have a good result there. I like the atmosphere on Sunday; there are many Japanese fans supporting Honda and the Honda riders so I look forward to going there. This year Honda celebrates their 50th anniversary of involvement in motor racing and it’s an honour for me to race for the HRC factory in this important year”.
Alex De Angelis
“Motegi is quite a technical circuit and I like it a lot. The section after the tunnel, which is a series of fast corners, is my strong part. Over the years in 250cc I made so many passes there. It won’t be an easy race for us because there are so many hard acceleration points coming out of slow corners and last year we had a really tough weekend, struggling to find a comfortable setting despite the best efforts of the team. We had a good start to the season in Qatar two weeks ago, so hopefully the base setting is useful here too. If we can work well from the first session and make quick progress with the set-up then we should be able to put in a strong performance”.
Toni Elias
“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. 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 good braking is a weapon we really need here”.
Randy De Puniet
“Despite the delay of the race I think that our first round at Losail was not so bad. Basically, I expected a better result-maybe between 5th and 8th places-but the top ten is an amazing start for us. We still have to fix the problem with the front tyre, but I do not want to lose too much time on it. We must focus our efforts on the next round. I like the Japanese track and think is more suitable to my riding style. Despite last year’s result due to my wrist injury, I still have good memory about this circuit: I obtained my first MotoGP podium here! Thanks to the base set-up we developed in Qatar, I am sure I will enjoy racing there. The straight is shorter than at the Losail race track and the I like the stop-and-go braking points”.
Yuki Takahashi
“Motegi is my home race and I have my fans here. So you can imagine how important a good race will be for me. We used to come to Japan later in the season when it is warmer. I hope the meteorological condition will be good - not too cold. In Qatar I understood several things about my Honda. If you add to it the fact that I know very well this track, you can understand why I'm confident of having a good race”.
Hiroshi Aoyama
“My family will be at the race track as well as my friends and fans. I want a great performance. I'm convinced we can do a good job, as I know the track very well, I can understand the bike in any condition, and this will help us with the set-up. I'm pleased with the result we got in Doha, and I want to progress even further to get precious points. By the way, this will be not only my home race, but also a family race: My brother is going to take part in it as a wild card. Let's see who will be in front of the other”.
Ratthapark Wilairot
“I have arrived in Japan happy and satisfied by the results in Qatar. Japan is a place that I know. Here I took some steps before going to the World Championship. It is a territory of Honda and I believe it will be a good race. I know that all my team and Honda will make a big effort to be ready for the race. I still have the satisfaction of the last Grand Prix, where I had a good start and it allowed me to fight with the top riders. I learned many things that I hope will help me to do better here in Motegi. Since arriving in Japanese, I’m spending my time relaxing and preparing for the race”.
Hector Faubel
“I arrived in Japan wanting badly to go out on the track and be in the front of the field. I still had a bad flavor from the last race in Qatar, where it was difficult to do anything but ride for as many points as possible. I’ve arrived in Motegi strong and with much energy. I’ll put out 110% on the track and I’m sure that I will put me among the leaders. In the days leading up the race, I’ll continue my training to prepare for Friday’s first free practice”.
Raffaele De Rosa
“I like this track and I like Japan: so quiet; so green. I will take a careful look at my teammate (Aoyama) to learn from him; he's very strong here. The bike is good, the team knows it perfectly and they are able to quickly get the best set-up. In Doha, I lost the podium by a hair. But it's all water under the bridge. We’ll try again here”.
Shoya Tomizawa
“I like Motegi, having raced there a number of times already. Unfortunately, I have not always been lucky. I have done wild cards in 125cc twice, but crashed both times. In 2007, I have a good memory of winning the 125cc All-Japan Championship race at Motegi. My best memory is from 2008 when I was a wild card in the 250cc class. I was able to score two points and have the opportunity to race among the regular 250cc GP riders. For this coming GP My target is a top ten finish, but I know it is going to be hard. As always, I want to make progress and learn to ride differently and with a different mental approach compared to last year. Last year I wasn’t in the championship and this is different, this is his championship and I want to go faster. I know I have to improve my riding style and learn how to go faster lap after lap”.
Utalanden från Ducatiförarna.
Casey Stoner
”I’ve finished on the podium in every class at Motegi (2nd in 2003 in 125, 3rd in 2005 in 250 and 2nd in 2008 in MotoGP) but there have been other times when things haven’t gone so well. I have always thought that the track is more suited to car racing than bikes, with so many hard braking and acceleration points, but in general I don’t dislike it and if you have a good set-up it can be really fun. 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. In any case, we won’t take anything for granted - we’ll keep working hard together and stay focused.”
Nicky Hayden
“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! Physically I’m okay – no doubt the race 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. 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.”
Uttalanden från Suzukiförarna
Loris Capirossi
"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. 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!"
Chris Vermeulen
"It is really important to get back on the bike as soon as possible and try to rectify the issues we had in the race at Qatar. The bike was working well all weekend, but it seemed to feel very different in the race. The Factory has been working hard since then and there will be a lot of extra staff at the race in Motegi so we won't be short of a helping hand! I really want to give Suzuki a good result at its home Grand Prix and I am sure that we will this year. I am looking forward to going there as I really enjoy racing in Japan and will be doing my best to get the bike on the podium!"
Uttalanden från Yamahaförarna.
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."
Jorge Lorenzo
"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."
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