MotoGP moves to Motegi

Seven months on from the previous visit, the MotoGP World Championship makes its annual journey to Motegi for the Polini Grand Prix of Japan.

The scene of the past two title victories in the premier class, the circuit has been a crucial location for the championship in recent years and, although the world champion will not be confirmed on April 26, the race still has the potential to have a big say in the final standings for the season.

The first race of the 2009 campaign may have been unpredictable in circumstances -- delayed until Monday evening due to atypical desert rain -- but the end result went almost according to the script.

Casey Stoner's runaway victory left the Australian with a third consecutive win at Qatar's Losail International Circuit, and sitting pretty at the head of the premier class standings.

The Ducati Marlboro rider had spent over a year off the top spot, but has a strong case for his regaining the title he previously won in 2007; on only two occasions in the four-stroke era has the winner of the opening race failed to clinch the world championship.

Stoner has yet to win a MotoGP race at Motegi, although his second place at the track from 2008 was his best result in Japan to date.

”I’ve finished on the podium in every class at Motegi (second in 2003 in 125, third in 2005 in 250, and second in 2008 in MotoGP), but there have been other times when things haven’t gone so well," said Stoner. "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 pre-season 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.”

Reigning world champion Valentino Rossi returns to the circuit at which he won the 2008 title, trailing Stoner in the standings after being powerless to stop his rival in Qatar. Rossi has a huge following in Japan, and Motegi is a home race for his Fiat Yamaha team.

Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo completed the podium at round one, but expressed dissatisfaction at the distance between himself and Stoner during the race.

Motegi was built as a Honda test track, and the factory's riders have added motivation for a strong performance on the 50th anniversary of the manufacturer's entry in the world championship.

Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso lead the Japanese brand's line-up, despite the former still riding injured from a preseason crash, whilst home representation comes in the form of Scot Racing's Yuki Takahashi.

Another rider who can be expected to feature heavily in proceedings in Japan is Rizla Suzuki man Loris Capirossi, unbeatable at Motegi from 2005-2007.

Australian Chris Vermeulen is also looking to push forward after a steady seventh place in Qatar.

"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," said Vermeulen. "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!"

The Polini Grand Prix of Japan will be the 700th premier class race. Practice begins on Friday, April 24, with the race itself on Sunday April 26.

There will be live coverage on Fox Sports 1 at midday (AEST) on Sunday.

For more details, click here.