FIM MotoGP World Championship Motegi, Japan September 22 Best Combined Practice Times: 1. Valentino Rossi (Yam YZR-M1), 1:46.981, Michelin 2. Shinya Nakano (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:47.315, Bridgestone 3. Marco Melandri (Hon RC211V), 1:47.449, Michelin 4. Colin Edwards (Yam YZR-M1), 1:47.581, Michelin 5. Nicky Hayden (Hon RC211V), 1:47.610, Michelin 6. Toni Elias (Hon RC211V), 1:47.646, Michelin 7. Loris Capirossi (Duc GP06), 1:47.731, Bridgestone 8. John Hopkins (Suz GSV-R), 1:47.915, Bridgestone 9. Randy de Puniet (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:47.982, Bridgestone 10. Kenny Roberts (KR211V), 1:48.002, Michelin 11. Casey Stoner (Hon RC211V), 1:48.059, Michelin 12. Makoto Tamada (Hon RC211V), 1:48.160, Michelin 13. Sete Gibernau (Duc GP06), 1:48.313, Bridgestone 14. Kousuke Akiyoshi (Suz GSV-R), 1:48.317, Bridgestone 15. Dani Pedrosa (Hon RC211V), 1:48.389, Michelin 16. Naoki Matsudo (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:48.722, Bridgestone 17. Chris Vermeulen (Suz GSV-R), 1:49.488, Bridgestone 18. James Ellison (Yam YZR-M1), 1:49.683, Dunlop 19. Alex Hofmann (Duc GP05), 1:49.761, Dunlop 20. Carlos Checa (Yam YZR-M1), 1:49.889, Dunlop 21. Jose Luis Cardoso (Duc GP05), 1:52.138, Dunlop FIM 250cc GP World Championship Motegi, Japan September 22 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Jorge Lorenzo (Aprilia), 1:52.123 2. Hiroshi Aoyama (KTM), 1:52.250 3. Shuhei Aoyama (Honda), 1:52.425 4. Yuki Takahashi (Honda), 1:52.737 5. Alex de Angelis (Aprilia), 1:52.846 6. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda), 1:53.125 7. Roberto Locatelli (Aprilia), 1:53.412 8. Ryuji YOKOE (Yamaha), 1:53.546 9. Hector Barbera (Aprilia), 1:53.884 10. Ratthapark WILAIROT (Honda), 1:53.986 FIM 125cc GP World Championship Motegi, Japan September 22 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia), 1:57.627 2. Sergio Gadea (Aprilia), 1:58.320 3. Mike Kallio (KTM), 1:58.336 4. Mattia Pasini (Aprilia), 1:58.598 5. Hector Faubel (Aprilia), 1:58.765 6. Julian Simon (KTM), 1:58.839 7. Fabrizio Lai (Honda), 1:58.878 8. Lukas Pesek (Derbi), 1:58.948 9. Tomoyoshi Koyama (Malaguti), 1:59.068 10. Gabor Talmacsi (Honda), 1:59.316 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: TITLE-CHASING ROSSI FASTEST AT MOTEGI AFTER DAY ONE On the first day of practice sessions for Sunday’s A-Style Grand Prix of Japan, the home fans got an indication of what could be both a successful date for the local riders and a pivotal moment in the premier class title chase. Continuing a recent trend in MotoGP, the premier class riders took to the track for the first day of practice today and finished off the session with a late burst on qualifying tyres on their bikes. It was another frenetic pair of sessions, one which Valentino Rossi took by the scruff of the neck with a scorching 1’46.981 lap to top the timesheets. It was inside circuit record pace, as were the top eight riders, but Rossi was the only rider able to break the 1’47 barrier, with home rider Shinya Nakano the best of the rest on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR. Marco Melandri was also on the pace fresh from his win last weekend at Phillip Island, just over half a second behind his fellow Italian. Camel Yamaha’s Colin Edwards joined his team-mate in the upper section of the leaderboard, with World Championship leader Nicky Hayden and Fortuna Honda’s Toni Elias rounding off the top six. Having been expected to do well at Motegi after Ducati’s dominant showing last season, Loris Capirossi could only manage seventh, ahead of this morning’s fastest rider John Hopkins, Randy de Puniet and Kenny Roberts Jr. Light showers are forecast for the next couple of days at Motegi, which could make tomorrow afternoon’s qualifying session particularly interesting. With 21 points separating Hayden from Rossi at the head of the MotoGP standings, every result is crucial, beginning with the chance to start from pole position on Sunday. 250cc Jorge Lorenzo spoiled the party for the home riders in the first 250cc qualifying at Twin Ring Motegi. The Spaniard snatched the provisional pole position from the two Aoyama brothers, Hiroshi and Shuhei, and their countryman Yuki Takahashi. The two siblings had been fastest in the morning session at the track, but a 1’52.132 lap from World Championship leader Lorenzo was just enough to prevent them from repeating the feat in the final moments of the afternoon outing. Alex de Angelis and title contender Andrea Dovizioso trailed the Japanese trio, still less than a second off Lorenzo’s provisional top spot. Ryuji Yokoe, a Japanese wildcard riding a Yamaha this weekend, clinched eighth place ahead of Fortuna Aprilia’s Hector Barbera, whilst the top ten was finished by Thai rider Ratthapark Wilairot on a Honda. 125cc Alvaro Bautista is still the man to beat in 125s. After setting the fastest time this morning in the opening free practice session at Twin Ring Motegi, the newly-crowned World Champion once again topped the leaderboard in qualifying and took provisional pole for Sunday’s 125cc A-Style Grand Pix of Japan. The only rider to break the 1’58 barrier, Bautista came in ahead of team-mate Sergio Gadea with a lap of 1’57.627. In third, Mika Kallio was the only rider in the top five not to hail from the Master MVA Aspar team, in front of Mattia Pasini and Hector Faubel. Julian Simon, Fabrizio Lai, Lukas Pesek, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Gabor Talmacsi complete the top ten. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW FOR NAKANO AT MOTEGI Shinya Nakano led the Kawasaki charge at Motegi today, storming to a sensational second place on the provisional grid during this afternoon’s hour-long free practice session. A problem with braking stability, so critical at Motegi, meant that Nakano finished this morning a disappointing eleventh fastest, but changes to chassis and suspension settings transformed the 28-year-old Japanese rider’s Ninja ZX-RR ahead of the second hour of practice. Nakano claimed provisional pole just five minutes into this afternoon’s hour-long session, and remained top five on the timesheet until the leading riders started switching to qualifying tyres with ten minutes left to run. Having dropped down to sixth place, as his factory rivals put in fast laps on qualifying rubber, Nakano underlined just how much Kawasaki’s Ninja ZX-RR has improved this season, by snatching second place on the provisional grid with a final flying lap that was almost half-a-second faster than his qualifying time for this race last year. And the Kawasaki pilot is confident that, with additional refinements to the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR overnight, he can improve his lap times further ahead of tomorrow’s all-important qualifying session. Randy de Puniet finished the opening day of practice in a creditable ninth place, but like his more experienced team leader, the 25-year-old Frenchman is confident that there is more to come during tomorrow morning’s final free practice session. De Puniet worked closely with his crew to refine the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR – fitted with the latest specification engine for the first time – during this morning’s practice session, before switching his attentions to evaluating two different tyres from Bridgestone. With rain forecast for tomorrow, de Puniet, like many riders, opted to try a qualifying tyre at the end of this afternoon’s session, and it was on this tyre that he set his fastest time. Also riding the latest specification Ninja ZX-RR for the first time was Kawasaki wild card rider, Naoki Matsudo. The 33-year-old Japanese rider made steady progress during both practice sessions, as he and his crew refined the set-up of the new engine, before switching to a qualifying tyre at the end of the afternoon, and recording the sixteenth fastest time. Shinya Nakano: 2nd – 1’47.315 “This morning we had some problems with braking stability, which made it very difficult to lap consistently. Between sessions we made some changes to the balance of the bike, which was a big improvement, and I was able to find a good rhythm very quickly this afternoon. Having said that, I think it’s still possible to improve things further, as I could still feel the rear hopping about when hard on the brakes this afternoon – and you’re hard on the brakes quite a lot at Motegi. Having the rear wheel trying to overtake the front on the brakes may look good on television, but it’s not so good for a fast lap time. We know what we need to do to improve this, so I’m confident that we can go even faster tomorrow.” Randy de Puniet: 9th – 1’47.982 “Overall, I’m happy with the progress we’ve made today. This is my first time at Motegi with the MotoGP bike, so I faced quite a steep learning curve this morning, but I think we’re almost there now. I tested a couple of different rear tyres from Bridgestone, and one definitely seems to offer an advantage here, but I still need to do more work on the set-up of the bike. At the moment I’m just over a second off pole position, but as we get the bike dialled in tomorrow, I think I should be able to close this gap significantly in qualifying.” Naoki Matsudo: 16th – 1’48.722 “This is the first time I’ve ridden the latest specification engine, so we knew we would have to spend some time this morning working on set-up. At first I wasn’t too comfortable with the engine braking, and the bike had a tendency to wheelie out of the turns, but now the set-up is much better. This is my one and only MotoGP race appearance this season, so this morning I was a little bit nervous to start with. But, once I’d settled into the practice session, and we’d made improvements to the set-up, I really enjoyed myself, and I’m looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Marlboro: DUCATI MARLBORO MEN SET FAST PACE IN RACE TRIM Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau ended today’s first two Japanese GP practice sessions seventh and 13th fastest. But the timesheets are somewhat misleading because neither the Italian nor the Spaniard used super-soft qualifying tyres today, unlike many of their rivals. Indeed both men are satisfied with their race pace, last year’s Motegi winner Capirossi the only man to run consistently inside 1m 48s and Gibernau certain that he is starting to get to grips with a circuit that he has always found difficult to master. Loris Capirossi, Ducati Marlboro Team, 7th fastest, 1m 47.731s “I’m very happy with what we’ve done today and with my race pace. I think we’ve been the best because I’ve done a lot of fast laps on race tyres. This afternoon I tried two new Bridgestone rears. The first I used for only a few laps, but I did a lot of laps on the second. My rhythm was very fast with that tyre, there’s no doubt I’m the only one who has done 1m 47.7s with race tyres, so my seventh place doesn’t reflect my real potential. I don’t understand why everyone is in such a hurry to use qualifying tyres! I hope the weather stays fine because I know we can improve our settings some more. I want to say a big thank you to my team. We have such a good relationship – they quickly understand what I say and understand what I need to go faster. We started today with two different set-ups, this afternoon mixed the positive aspects of each. The bike is good, the tyres are good and I’m ready to really use them!” Sete Gibernau, Ducati Marlboro Team, 13th fastest, 1m 48.313s “This is a track where I’ve never felt too confident, so today I just tried to stay out on race tyres to learn and to see what kind of direction we need to go in. Both sessions went okay, I feel like I’m starting to understand what I’ve got to do to go fast here, I just needed laps and it seemed like a waste of time to try a qualifier, even though it seems like that’s what everyone does these days. What I need to do for this track is adapt my braking, I think I am using the bike quite well but I think my braking is a little too long, so I need to brake for a shorter time. Braking is very important here. We tried different set-ups in both my bikes today and now we are trying to use half of one set-up and half the other for tomorrow. I think that should be pretty good, we’ll se what happens…” Afternoon session temperatures. Ambient: 24 degrees Track: 29 degrees More, from a press release issued by Pramac D’Antin: THE TEAM PRAMAC D’ANTIN MOTOGP IS WORKING CONFIDENTLY AT MOTEGI After the good performance in the animated race of Phillip Island, the PRAMAC D’ANTIN MOTOGP starts the last appointment of this long intercontinental travel with the right determination. ALEX HOFMANN obtained the 19th time at the end of the first free practice sessions of the fifteenth GP of the season, while JOSE LUIS CARDOSO is 21st. Both riders, determined to confirm the progresses showed in Australia here in Motegi, dedicated themselves to the tires selection and the definition of the ideal set-up for their DUCATI DESMOSEDICI GP06 “Sat” in view of Sunday’s race. Tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. (7:00 a.m. in Italy), there will be the MotoGP Official Practice session. ALEX HOFMANN #66 (19th – 1’49.761): “I’m enthusiast and confident after the good performance we made in Phillip Island. The Team is going on working very good, following my instructions and putting me in the best conditions to be able to push at the maximum. Unfortunately, today we tested some race tires and the best we found is a soft one that wouldn’t have enough duration to end the race in good conditions. Tomorrow, let’s hope that DUNLOP will bring us more tires that will be more effective for this unexpected meteorological conditions”. JOSE LUIS CARDOSO #30 (21st – 1’51.138): “This afternoon, the sensations improved from this morning. We worked with the tires we had at our disposal but as we found different temperatures than we expected we couldn’t make it any better today, we already are at the limit. Tomorrow, we will test more tires and I hope to make a good session of qualifying practice. I’m very determined in this final part of the season and in this GP, I want to obtain a good result!”. EMANUELE MARTINELLI Track Engineer of Alex Hofmann: “DUNLOP brought us hard tires as the temperatures should have been higher. Unfortunately these tires didn’t allow the motorcycle to be effective as we wanted. Anyway we’re confident for the race. The work we made today has been very useful to select the tire we will use tomorrow and on which we will work to define the final set-up for the race. Right now, the general balance of the motorcycle is effective with soft race tires. Tomorrow we will look for a set-up evolution to allow HOFMANN to make a good race and get some more points”. More, from a press release issued by Camel Yamaha: ROSSI AND EDWARDS ON THE PACE AT MOTEGI Camel Yamaha Team racers Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards began their preparations for the Grand Prix of Japan in ideal fashion today, lapping at the top end of the time sheets throughout both free practice sessions and ending the day with the first and fourth fastest laps overall. Both riders were able to work on their race setting, adapting the machine configuration from the fast and flowing demands of Phillip Island to the stop-start nature of Motegi, before fitting a softer compound rear tyre in a trial run ahead of tomorrow’s crucial qualifying practice. Rossi was on the pace in both instances, running second fastest in the morning free practice and stepping up the tempo with a string of fast and consistent laps in the afternoon. His best time on a race tyre of 1’48.044 was just a fraction outside lap record pace and is a positive reflection of his potential in Sunday’s race. Edwards, meanwhile, was delighted to follow up his positive progress in Australia with another impressive practice showing. The Texan topped the timing screens for lengthy spells in the afternoon as he also lapped in the low 1’48s before settling for the fourth fastest time overall as other riders also experimented with a qualifying tyre. VALENTINO ROSSI (1st 1’46.981; 44 laps) “I am very happy with today; we’ve made a really good start. The track has a good grip and also Michelin have made great progress since this race last year, especially with the front tyre. They have a new front tyre here which gives me much better grip when braking and so I was able to ride the bike at the maximum straight away today, which meant that I had great fun! My pace is okay, although there are many riders with a similar rhythm so I think it’s going to be a hard battle on Sunday! My best time today was done with the qualifying tyre and once again my bike worked perfectly in this situation, so this is good news for tomorrow. Colin was fast too today, as he was last weekend, which shows what good work we’ve done on our M1 over the last few races. This race is very important for the championship so it’s nice to start off on the right foot with this good result. Now we wait to see if we can continue in this way tomorrow.” COLIN EDWARDS (4th 1’47.581; 41 laps) “We found something in Phillip Island which seems to have made all the difference; we pulled the bike out this morning and it felt good straight away. We’ve basically just softened up the setting and it’s since felt like a completely different bike. Obviously Motegi is a very different track to Phillip Island but what we used today was pretty much the same bike with virtually the same setting just a few modifications that we thought would help us here. The crew have done a great job and we’ve still got another day to work on improving the setting ahead of the race. We used a qualifying tyre today, which we don’t usually do on a Friday, and I was really pleased with the lap time. Now we have to keep going, make sure we don’t take a single step backwards and head into Sunday’s race with confidence of a top result.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “For a start we are very happy to see Colin on top, more or less throughout the whole session today, so we have to keep going with him improving his feeling with the bike and continuing to give him a good package to work with. Valentino has also made a good start and it is always an advantage when both riders feel comfortable from the first moment because they can push hard and give you lots of valuable data to work from. It means that we have a good setting now on both bikes so even if it rains tomorrow, as they say it might, we can be confident for Sunday. As far as using the qualifying tyre in free practice is concerned, we had actually already started to do this before Malaysia, to provide some information for the qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. However, I don’t think there is any doubt that it is in the back of teams’ minds now to set a good lap time, just in case there is a similar situation with the weather to the one we had at Sepang.” More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda: GREAT START FOR MELANDRI AND ELIAS AT MOTEGI 3rd and 6th time for the Fortuna Honda Riders the first day of the Japanese GP The Fortuna Honda riders had a positive start at Motegi in the first day of the Japanese GP. With the third and sixth lap time, Marco Melandri and Toni Elias look confident to the race weekend. Marco Melandri, after the incredible race in Phillip Island, started with the set up that last Sunday allowed him to score his third win of the season. Marco worked on the set up of the bike, making only some small modifications. In the afternoon he tested the qualifying tyre in order to be ready for tomorrow qualifying session, finishing with the third best time. Very good start for the Spaniard Toni Elias who finished 6th. Thanks to the work done on the chassis and suspension, the bike was well balanced and Toni could ride with a good feeling. MARCO MELANDRI (3rd, 1’47″449): “I’m very satisfied of this first day of testing. Despite the track of Motegi presents different characteristics, we started here with the same setting we had last Sunday in Australia. The feeling with the bike was good and I think that we have found a good set up in the final part of the session. In the afternoon I tested a qualifying tyre because this has been so far my weak point. I scored the 3rd time. Honda is helping me to improve the performance of the bike and the team who is doing a great job.” TONI ELIAS (6th, 1’47″646): “I’m very happy because today the bike was well balanced and I could ride in the way i like. This morning we worked on chassis and suspensions and we found a good base. We still need to improve my feeling with full tank because I’m still struggling a lot in the first laps because I don’t have enough traction.” During the Grand Prix of Japan, Marco Melandri’s Honda RC211V will carry the image of Honda Italia’s 35th anniversary as a sign of collaboration and mutual respect. MARCO MELANDRI: “It’s a great satisfaction for me to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Honda Italia. When I was a child and I went to races, I was always dreaming of becoming famous. Now I’m the only Italian to ride a Honda MotoGP and I’m proud to represent Honda Italy in this special occasion.” FAUSTO GRESINI: “It is a great honour for us to be able to celebrate this 35th anniversary with Honda Itaia “We are an Italian team and with 3 victories and 6 podiums this season we are delighted to carry the image of the anniversary.” More, from a press release issues by Bridgestone Motorsport: STRATEGIES SPLIT AS NAKANO FLIES ON HOME GROUND Bridgestone Motorsport enjoyed a positive start to its home race preparations at the Twin Ring Motegi today with each of its teams adopting different strategies in free practice for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix. Shinya Nakano, participating in his and Kawasaki’s home GP, used a late qualifying simulation to good effect to go second quickest but the Japanese rider has already completed a race distance on one of Bridgestone’s selected compounds and was among the frontrunners on race tyres throughout the day. The Ducati duo had strong pace in race trim masked by other riders’ late runs. Loris Capirossi was quickest on race tyres this afternoon, some three-tenths-of-a-second faster than the rest of the field. His time of 1m47.731s represents a 0.2s increase over his race-winning best lap from last season. He and team-mate Sete Gibernau ended the day in seventh and 13th place respectively having not run on qualifying tyres. Randy de Puniet made a late lap on qualifying tyres to secure ninth place, just a fraction behind Suzuki’s John Hopkins who laid down the gauntlet in this morning’s practice session by posting the quickest time. He ended the day in eighth position also on qualifying tyres. Hopkins’ Australian team-mate Chris Vermeulen, fresh from his first MotoGP podium at his own home GP last weekend, made his Motegi debut today in 17th place. There are two new additions to the MotoGP class this weekend with wildcard riders Kousuke Akiyoshi and Naoki Matsudo taking part in their home GP on Bridgestone tyres. The Japanese men acquitted themselves well on the opening day finishing 14th and 16th for Suzuki and Kawasaki. Bridgestone tyres will also be seen in the 125cc and 250cc categories this weekend as six wildcard entries compete alongside the established riders. After the first day, 250cc riders Ryuji Yokoe, Ratthapark Wilairot and Seijin Oikawa have made their presence immediately felt with encouraging results finishing in respective eighth, tenth and 13th positions in this afternoon’s qualifying practice. SHINJI AOKI – Assistant Manager Motorcycle Race Tire Development: “This afternoon’s practice results will need to be treated with some care as it seems many riders used the opportunity to simulate a qualifying run in the closing stages of the session. Looking at the detailed lap times, though, it would appear that Bridgestone tyres are performing well after the first day of practice. Loris and Sete did not complete a run on qualifying tyres, so their times today are a good indication of what we can expect in dry race conditions. The fact that Loris was 0.3s clear for most of the afternoon shows that Ducati can be strong contenders in Motegi this weekend. Kawasaki and Suzuki have also performed well preparing for their home GP. “Shinya conducted a long run in race conditions today and the tyre he used showed the required level of performance and durability. We evaluated five different compounds today and quickly found a good race rhythm in these weather conditions. Kawasaki and Suzuki also tried qualifying runs with satisfactory results. Friday afternoon has become a good time to simulate qualifying runs because conditions are more representative of those we will encounter during the actual qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. After day one, I think we are looking in good shape and can hope to perform well in our home GP on Sunday afternoon with all three of our teams.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Solid start for Rizla Suzuki MotoGP in Japan Rizla Suzuki MotoGP made a steady start to the A-Style Grand Prix of Japan, with all three riders getting through a lot of positive work in readiness for Sunday’s race. John Hopkins (P8, 1’47.915, 49 laps) was the quickest rider on the circuit during the morning session and found a dry setting that worked well. This enabled him to spend the afternoon’s hour long session to try many other settings on his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R to find additional performance. Hopkins and his crew learnt many things in the session and now have a clear direction for Sunday. Chris Vermeulen (P17, 1’49.488, 49 laps) is at Motegi for the first time and spent both sessions learning the Japanese track. He improved on his times dramatically over the day and is well placed to take huge steps tomorrow in the final free practice session and qualifying. Suzuki Wild-Card rider Kousuke Akiyoshi (P14,1’48.317, 34 laps) is competing in his first ever Grand Prix and made an impressive start to the weekend, and his fastest time was ahead of many experienced MotoGP riders. He is convinced that he can go quicker over the weekend and is determined to get in amongst the points on Sunday. Today’s free practice sessions were held in dry and cloudy conditions with temperatures reaching 25°C. The quickest time was set by reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has one more free practice session on Saturday morning followed by the all-important afternoon qualifying hour to decide grid positions for Sunday’s 24 lap race that gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (05.00hrs GMT). John Hopkins: “This afternoon we went through a lot of settings and tried a lot of stuff. We tried many things to look for a good race set-up but basically it was one of those sessions where everything we tried didn’t help us go quick, but gave us important information. This meant we could never get into a really good rhythm, but we know we can do the lap times as this morning’s position showed. The Suzuki and the Bridgestone tyres are working excellently around here on this track. The position this afternoon is not really a true one, but in the dry we are ready and I think we can definitely have a good race here.” Chris Vermeulen: “This is my first time at Motegi and it is a really good racetrack I’m certainly enjoying it. There is a lot of grip here from the Bridgestone tyres and from this morning to this afternoon I made quite a big step. The biggest thing today has been learning the circuit, we made a few changes and tried some tyres but the main thing was finding my lines around here. I learnt a lot today and we have now got enough information to hopefully make the bike and me better tomorrow.” Kousuke Akiyoshi: “I am really pleased to be here in my first Grand Prix at Motegi. I have worked hard with my team and we are quite happy with how today has gone, but we also think that we can do better tomorrow and we will be trying to do so.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “A good steady day with no dramas and the whole team got through a lot of work. Rizla Suzuki and its three riders are very positive about the opportunities over the next few days in Motegi. John’s lap time this afternoon on race tyres wasn’t as good as this morning, but he got through a mountain of work and cleared a lot of things up direction wise he is confident he can go quicker when he needs to! “Chris has stuck to his task of learning the track as quickly as possible. He has none of the experience of his competitors here and I’m sure with a night’s sleep he will come back tomorrow and attack the track with a lot more confidence. “It’s great to see three Suzuki GSV-Rs out on the track and Akiyoshi san looks like he is having a lot of fun, and he certainly doesn’t look out of his depth in his first ever GP. I am sure he will be riding very hard over the weekend and giving some regular riders a hard time!”