Round 15: Japan
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The MotoGP circus travels to Japan on 2 October for round 15 of the championship at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit near Mito and Utsunomiya, just a few hours’ drive from the Tokyo headquarters of Bridgestone Corporation. The original date was set for 24 April but the natural disasters and subsequent crisis in Japan forced the postponement so the event now lies one week before an overseas back-to-back pair of races on Australia and Malaysia.
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Hard. Rear (asymmetric): Soft, Medium
The date change puts the race at the same time of year as it was held last season, the first weekend in October, so the weather conditions are expected to be similar – around 25 degrees Celsius ambient. This means that the tyre compound options are unchanged, but with the addition of the third soft compound front slicks, although the rear asymmetric slicks have been modified slightly.
Compared to last year the left shoulders of the rear slicks are now one step softer for improved warm-up and safety in the opening laps, in response to rider feedback. The Medium compound rear has a soft compound left shoulder whereas the Soft compound rear uses Bridgestone’s extra soft rubber in the left side. This season the extra soft compound rubber will be used at a total of eight Grands Prix.
The 4.8km Motegi circuit features four long and fast straights, and its layout is characterised by hard acceleration followed by heavy braking. This places the emphasis on front tyre stability and a strong centre section, and good traction from the rear tyre. With eight right-handed corners and just six lefts, warm-up performance from the left side of the rear tyres is particularly important hence the use of softer compounds this year to improve rider safety in the early laps and in the instance of cold conditions.
The fastest and most committal corner of the circuit is turn six, the 180+kmh 130R, which leads into a fast and flowing left-right section through which absolute confidence in the bike and tyres is critical.
The MotoGP field will turn-out at Motegi in force, with the addition of two more bikes from Honda supplied for HRC test riders Shinichi Ito and Kosuke Akiyoshi. Ito will compete as a HRC wildcard, whereas Akiyoshi will ride alongside Toni Elias for the LCR Honda squad.
Hiroshi Yamada – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department
“There has been much talk about Japan this season because of the events earlier in the year but I am honoured and proud to see so much support for our nation and for the Japanese GP within the paddock. Motegi has always been an important event for Bridgestone and one at which we have reached many milestones so I am looking forward to going, enjoying what I hope will be a great race, and doing what we can to show our support for Japan.”
Hirohide Hamashima – Assistant to Director, Motorsport Tyre Development Division
“Being held at the same time as it was last year, at the start of October, we can expect the conditions at Motegi to be similar and therefore we have not revised our tyre options this season, but we have made one change based on rider comments. We have made the left shoulders of the rear asymmetric slicks one step softer, meaning that we are also using our extra soft compound for the first time at this circuit. This will give the riders improved warm-up performance and safety around the left-handers, which are fewer than the rights, in the opening laps, like they asked for.
“We saw in Aragon that warm-up performance was very good and tyre wear was relatively high, but Motegi is cooler and the surface less abrasive so durability should be better. Motegi has a stop-and-go nature featuring some heavy braking and hard acceleration points which traditionally tend to bunch the field and provide close racing, like last year’s thrilling battle between Valentino and Jorge. There are eight rights and six lefts but many of the corners are quite tight and slow and this staccato nature places a lot of emphasis on braking stability from the front tyres and edge grip from the rears.”
source: bsmotorsport.com
MAHINDRA RACING READIES FOR RESCHEDULED MOTEGI
The Mahindra riders and senior team staff took the long flight to Japan for the rescheduled Japanese GP – with temporary engineers replacing absent mechanics, and high hopes of grabbing a second consecutive double-points finish.
The Motegi circuit is less than 120 km from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, and although declared safe from radiation danger by all agencies, there has been a great deal of paddock debate about the safety of travelling to Japan. Conscious of its responsibility to its employees, Mahindra Racing amassed as much information as possible, presented the facts to the staff, then allowed each team member to make a free personal decision on whether to attend the race.
While the majority of pit staff elected not to attend, riders Danny Webb and Marcel Schrötter will be there, along with the Mahindra team’s senior staff: Team Principal Mufaddal Choonia, Manager Nicola Casadei and Engines Engineering Managing Director Alberto Strazzari. Experienced freelance mechanics and a race engineer have been hired from the team’s base in Italy to take the place of the absentees.
“It was difficult, but we felt it right to offer the choice to our team members and we have to respect their decisions,” explained Mufaddal Choonia. “While the information that Dorna has circulated has been very reassuring, it did not seem fair for us to force the guys to head out there if they had their own personal concerns.
“Of course, it will not make the weekend particularly easy. Mahindra Racing is a slick operation. Each man has his role and they all know the bike inside out. With the temporary staff members we shall do the best we can and hope to carry on the great progress we have made this season.
“The riders are keen to race and we are delighted to support them.
“It is also important to be there to support Japan. We all watched in horror as the earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima disaster devastated the country. To be hosting a Grand Prix so soon afterwards sends out a very positive signal that our Japanese friends are returning to a sense of normality.”
The Japanese GP, round 14 of 17 for the 125 class, is the first of three flyaway races – with Australia and Malaysia – before the season finale at Valencia on November 6. The circuit, north-east of Tokyo, is 2.983 miles (4.801 km) in length, set amid tranquil mountain scenery.
Schrötter (18, from Germany) currently lies 16th overall with a tally of 23 points; Webb (20, from England) has 15 points and lies equal 19th in the intensely competitive smallest grand prix class. Both riders scored points at Motegi last year, and target yet another double scoring finish for Mahindra next weekend.
This is the giant multinational Mahindra Group’s first year in the motorcycle World Championships; and the Mahindra is the only machine on the 125 grid with both engine and chassis made by the team.
MARCEL SCHRÖTTER
Last year was my first at Motegi. It’s a tough track: really hard to learn. I hope we can go into the weekend more easily than last year. We can’t forget the terrible thing that happened in Japan. The big point is we are very happy now to go racing there.
DANNY WEBB
I like the track – good memories. In 2009 I led for more than half the race. Then the conditions changed and my tyres were wrong, but it was good while it lasted. Last year I was seventh. We got both bikes in the points at the last race. We’ll see if we can do it again.
source: mahindra.com