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NEWS
MotoGP preview: Motegi
The battle between Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo begins to reach boiling point, as Stoner re-enters the fray after ankle surgeryFollowing Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa’s dominant victory in Aragón there is still everything to play for as the MotoGP starts the first of its triple-header this weekend in the Grand Prix of Japan at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit this weekend (October 12-14).
Yamaha’s championship leader Jorge Lorenzo may have a 33pt cushion heading into the final four races, but with Pedrosa on blistering form and his team-mate Casey Stoner returning from injury, race wins and even second places could prove much tougher to come by.
Pedrosa will undoubtedly be looking for a repeat of last year when he beat Lorenzo in second and Stoner in third at the Japanese circuit. Yet while Lorenzo will no doubt be riding with the championship in mind, he has stated that his goal is to race to win. This will also be true for the returning Stoner, with the Australian having missed the last three races through an injury on his right ankle sustained in Indianapolis.
"It's going to be great to see all my team and get back on my bike in Motegi this weekend,” said Stoner.
“The last six weeks have been pretty tough for me, I've had to sit around and rest my ankle, get some physio and try to occupy my time -- thankfully I've had Ally around to keep me occupied. I've been watching the races at home, I felt bad for Dani in Misano, but these things can happen -- as they did for Jorge in Assen.
“The Motegi circuit is very stop-start with a lot of hard braking and accelerating; it's pretty tough on the body and physically quite demanding. The first session on Friday will be crucial to see how my ankle feels in the boot and the degree of movement I have and pressure I can apply."
Lorenzo’s team-mate Ben Spies will be looking to find that extra bit of performance out of his Yamaha this time out, with the aim of holding off the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo of Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow. Fourty-four points may separate the Italian and the Brit in the table, but out on track their fairing-to-fairing action is proving popular with everyone -- apart from team manager Hervé Poncharal presumably. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista will be hoping to find a solution to his bike’s set-up issues as he looks to once again take the fight to the satellite Yamaha’s, while LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl aims to bounce back from the error that saw him crash out of third in Aragón.
The Ducati Team had a weekend to forget last time out and will first and foremost hope to get through the Motegi round injury free after Nicky Hayden gave everyone a scare with his crash in Aragón. Valentino Rossi, who last year crashed on the first lap in Japan, has stated that he’s looking forward to the race, and that he believes the Ducati should be competitive, while Hayden has pronounced himself fully fit. The Ducati satellite riders, Cardion AB Racing’s Karel Abraham and Pramac Racing Team’s Héctor Barberá both had very different weekend’s at Aragón last time out, with the Czech rider aiming for a repeat top-ten performance, and Barberá hoping to get the better of the ARTs this time.
It will once again be the Power Electronics Aspar duo of Aleix Espargaró and Randy de Puniet who will be the ones to watch as the pair battle it out for CRT supremacy, now with extra motivation after having signed for the team for the 2013 season. In addition, having qualified within 1.7 seconds of the top rider in Spain, the new class is edging ever closer to being competitive against the factory prototypes.
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Written byBikesales Staff
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