GP of Japan: Ducati Team begins overseas transfer with Twin Ring Motegi race

The Ducati Team is gearing up to tackle Sunday’s Grand Prix of Japan, round 15 of the 2014 MotoGP World Championship and the first leg in a tough overseas end-of-season triple-header, which will continue with two more rounds in Australia and Malaysia in the next two weekends.

The Twin Ring Motegi circuit, which has been the venue for a round of the premier category in Japan since 1999 (called the Pacific GP from 2000 to 2003), has a very unusual layout, with a series of long straights followed by tight corners that are a tough test for the brakes of the bikes and their performance in acceleration.

In recent years the Ducati Team has scored some excellent results at this circuit; in particular the four victories obtained by Loris Capirossi and Casey Stoner, who won his first world title with Ducati in 2007 at Motegi. Andrea Dovizioso likes the Japanese circuit and has appeared on the podium in all three categories, winning the 125cc race in 2004, while Cal Crutchlow qualified on the front row in 2012 but last year was unable to go any higher than seventh place in the race.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04)

“Motegi is a track that I like, especially because I am a hard braker and this is an advantage, due to the characteristics of the track. I think that our GP14 can again be competitive in Japan, because in the last four races we have always been competitive at circuits with completely different characteristics. So for sure we’ll be going to Motegi very motivated! Here I’ve scored some good results in MotoGP, especially in 2010 when I set pole position, my only pole so far in MotoGP, and then finished the race with a great second place.”

Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35)

“With a good result at Aragon under our belt, we are looking forward to going to Japan, where I’ve got a lot of fans, and hopefully we can keep improving. I’m pleased with the work the guys in the team have done with me recently, and obviously now we are in better shape than what we were before. Motegi is a bit of a strange track because of its hard braking, but that’s good for me and it will be interesting to see how we go there.”

The Twin Ring Motegi

Located in a vast area of natural beauty, the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Japan consists of a 2.5 km banked oval and a classic 4.8 km road course constructed to international standards. Built by Honda as a test facility in August 1997, the road circuit became home to MotoGP in 2000. Twin Ring Motegi, which is around 100 km from Tokyo’s Narita airport, 40 km from Utsunomiya and 30 km from Mito, is the venue for the Honda Collection Hall museum, as well as a safety and riding school, dirt-track and go-kart tracks, a hotel, a restaurant, shops and event halls.

Fastest lap: 2012 Pedrosa (Honda), 1’45.589 (163.6 km/h)

Qualifying: 2012 Lorenzo (Yamaha), 1’44.969 (164.6 km/h)

Track length: 4.801 km

Race length: 24 laps (115.2 km)

Corners: 14 (6 left, 8 right)

Race start: 2 pm (GMT +9)

Andrea Dovizioso

Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP14

Race number: 04

Age: 28 (born on 23 March 1986 in Forlimpopoli, Italy)

Residence: Forlì (Italy)

Races: 218 (120 x MotoGP, 49 x 250cc, 49 x 125cc)

First GP: 2001 Italian GP (125cc)

Wins: 10 (1 x MotoGP, 4 x 250cc, 5 x 125cc)

First win: 2004 South African GP (125cc)

Poles: 14 (1 x MotoGP, 4 x 250cc, 9 x 125cc)

First pole: 2003 French GP (125cc)

World titles: 1 (1 x 125cc)

Cal Crutchlow

Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP14

Race number: 35

Age: 28 (born on 29 October 1985 in Coventry, UK)

Residence: Isle of Man

Races: 65 (65 x MotoGP)

First GP: 2011 Qatar

Poles: 2

First pole: 2013 Assen TT