The fifteenth round of the MotoGP Championship, will take place Sunday September 26th at the circuit of Twin Ring Motegi. The plant built in 1997 and owned by Honda, consists of two circuits, an oval of about 2.5 km and the road circuit of 4801 metres, which will challenge JiR Team Scot this weekend. Riders Andrea Dovizioso and Yuki Takahashi, of JiR Team Scot are ready and motivated to collect another good result on their way to the end of the season. The last race at Indianapolis had different endings for both riders. Andrea Dovizioso took an excellent fifth place in the flooded conditions, and he wants to continue this series of positive results that currently place him in fifth position in the championship rankings. Yuki Takahashi, was ready for an attacking race, but bad weather forced the cancellation of the 250cc event, and he wants to redeem that situation this weekend at his home race.
Gianluca Montiron – Director – JiR Team Scot:
“The Japanese Grand Prix for our riders will be an incentive to show to Honda at their ‘home’ race both riders’ full potential. Both can aspire to the podium. Andrea needs to continue the series of successes he’s had to consolidate his position in the championship, and Yuki too must earn points for his place in the standings. The track is technically a mix of slow corners and hard acceleration, which means the skills of both the riders and performance of the motorcycles are paramount.”
Cirano Mularoni – Team Manager – JiR Team Scot:
“The Grand Prix of Motegi is a significant event for the Team, because it runs on the circuit owned by Honda, in a picturesque setting and with a very positive ambience. Also our riders will want even more, to do well in front of Honda. Looking forward, we are confident that we can obtain good results in both categories. Andrea and Yuki will both have to maximise their skills and machine set-up, and for both the determining factor could be tyres.”
Andrea Dovizioso – Rider – JiR Team Scot MotoGP – HONDA RC212V:
"At Motegi we have always gone well, I found myself comfortable at the track from the very first time. It is a circuit that reflects the characteristics of the chassis of my Honda, but we could find ourselves in difficulty thanks to the frequent acceleration out of the slow corners. I think we could make a good race and get another good result, as we have in recent races. We are competitive and we have to stay in front with the best. As always we will never give up at this track and a good result has an important meaning here for us as it’s Honda’s home circuit.”
Yuki Takahashi – Rider – JiR Team Scot 250GP – HONDA RS250RW:
"This will be my home Grand Prix and I am even more motivated to make a good race. At Motegi I have already got onto the podium, but not with my current team, so I wish this to be a gift to them this year! The track is not the best for our bike, as there are many slow corners that go onto a straight, and it is almost continuous braking and acceleration, but in recent seasons I have collected fourth places here and the team will do its utmost to improve. After the second place at Misano, I was ready for a nice race at Indianapolis, but the rain stopped that. We could make amends this weekend.”
Motegi Circuit Circuit length: 4801 m (2.983 miles)
Straight: 762 m (0.473 miles)
Width: 12-15 m
Pole Position: Left – Right corners: 8 – Left corners: 6
MotoGP Lap record: 1'47 "288 V. Rossi 2006 (Yamaha)
Pole Position: 1'45 "724 L. Capirossi 2006 (Ducati)
Grand Prix of Japan 2007 - Results:
1st Loris Capirossi (Ducati) - 2nd Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki) - 3rd Toni Elias (Honda)
250GPLap Record: 1'52 "253 S. Nakano 2000 (Yamaha)
Pole Position: 1'51 "327 S. Aoyama 2007 (Honda)
Grand Prix of Japan 2007 - Results:
1st - Mika Kallio (KTM) – 2nd Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) - 3rd Hector Barbera (Aprilia)
