|
Post by truenorth on Sept 24, 2023 12:51:44 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 24, 2023 12:52:12 GMT -8
Mobility Resort Motegi Located amongst the vast natural beauty of the northern Kanto district, the twin ring circuit at Motegi in Japan consists of a 1.5 mile oval and a 2.9 mile road course constructed to international standards. Built by Honda as the ultimate test facility in August 1997, the road circuit became home to MotoGP in 1999 whilst the oval is designed to introduce American motorsports culture to the country.
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 25, 2023 7:49:03 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 26, 2023 8:08:29 GMT -8
Mat Oxley Marini has had his fractured clavicle plated and screwed, so in theory he may be able to do Motegi this weekend. I hope he doesn’t and takes a while longer. He’s in no mad scrabble for points. But he is a bike racer, so…
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 26, 2023 8:50:47 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 26, 2023 9:20:50 GMT -8
Dani brings back memories of Japanese wildcards! I blame the incredible performance of Dani Pedrosa in Misano and Jerez for bringing back memories of Japanese wildcards. I loved going to Japan but often dreaded commentating. Pronunciation of names was one aspect of the job I never found easy and that is putting it mildly! Going into that crucial Grand Prix at Motegi on Sunday Cal Crutchlow as the wildcard for Yamaha would not have caused a problem but it was not always the case. Not only were their Japanese wildcards to get my head round but they often won the races. Some of these riders went on to become World Champions and Championship contenders. Others just disappeared, while one career ended in tragedy. On my very first visit to Japan in 1987 at Suzuka I got a clear indication of what lay ahead. Masaru Kobayashi won the 250cc race at the Japanese Grand Prix for Honda and then almost disappeared from sight. He finished third at Suzuka a year later. They were the only World Championship points he ever scored. Fifteen years later Osamu Miyazaki won the 250cc race at Suzuka as a wildcard entry riding a Yamaha. Second place went to the Honda of Daisaku Sakai scoring his only ever World Championship points. Other Japanese wildcard entries went onto greater things. Daijiro Kato won the 250cc race at Suzuka in 1997 and 1998 before embarking on a Championship winning career. He won the 2001 250cc World Championship for the Gresini Honda team before tragically losing his life when he crashed in the 2003 MotoGP™ race at Suzuka. The lovable Nobby Ueda won the 1991 125cc race at Suzuka on his Grand Prix debut. He raced for the next 11 years and finished second in the 125cc World Championship on two occasions. Takumi Ito finished third in the first ever Premier class Japanese Grand Prix riding the V4 Suzuki in 1987. Eight years later Takumi Aoki was third on his Premier class debut. In 2002, the first-ever, history-making four-stroke MotoGP™ race was won by Valentino Rossi, Akira Ryo brought Suzuki second place on a historic afternoon. The only wildcard or rider replacement winner in the modern MotoGP™ era came in 2006, but it almost went unnoticed. While the world focused on the Nicky Hayden/Valentino Rossi fight for the Championship at a dramatic final round in Valencia, history was made. The World Superbike Champion Australian Troy Bayliss returned to MotoGP™ replacing the injured Sete Gibernau at Ducati. He won the race from Loris Capirossi giving Ducati their first Grand Prix one two. Can history be repeated in Malaysia next month? World Superbike Champion Alvaro Bautista returns to MotoGP™ to ride for the Ducati Lenovo team as a wildcard. Bautista has won both 125 and 250cc Grands Prix at the Sepang circuit and will be up for the fight. Great to see Cal Crutchlow and a British rider back in Grand Prix action at Motegi on Sunday. He finished second there in 2018 riding the LCR Honda. It’s been a tough year for Yamaha, but a little bit of rain could make a big difference – ask Olivier Jacque. In 2005, a year before Bayliss’s historic win, out of the blue he came close to beating Valentino Rossi in China. Replacing the injured Alex Hoffman in the Kawasaki team, the former 250cc World Champion eventually finished second 1.7 s behind World Champion Rossi in the rain. It can rain at Motegi and I would have no problem pronouncing the winner's name.
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 27, 2023 6:29:57 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 28, 2023 7:11:14 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 28, 2023 7:14:40 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 28, 2023 7:16:16 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 28, 2023 7:22:13 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 28, 2023 7:27:48 GMT -8
Just a reminder that Cal Crutchlow is back this weekend as a wildcard
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 28, 2023 7:38:32 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 28, 2023 7:43:02 GMT -8
ha ha ahem who me?
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 28, 2023 7:57:22 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 28, 2023 8:03:27 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 28, 2023 13:44:00 GMT -8
Looks like Pedro stays put in Moto2
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 28, 2023 14:04:51 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 28, 2023 18:00:16 GMT -8
Moto3 Practice1 1 10 Diogo MOREIRA BRA MT Helmets - MSI KTM 1'57.260 15 16 219.5 2 44 David MUÑOZ SPA BOE Motorsports KTM 1'57.466 11 13 0.206 0.206 219.9 3 5 Jaume MASIA SPA Leopard Racing HONDA 1'57.495 14 15 0.235 0.029 219.5 4 71 Ayumu SASAKI JPN Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP HUSQVARNA 1'57.735 12 14 0.475 0.240 219.0 5 82 Stefano NEPA ITA Angeluss MTA Team KTM 1'57.745 13 13 0.485 0.010 216.8 6 96 Daniel HOLGADO SPA Red Bull KTM Tech3 KTM 1'57.756 13 15 0.496 0.011 218.1 7 80 David ALONSO COL Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team GASGAS 1'57.773 15 16 0.513 0.017 219.9 8 6 Ryusei YAMANAKA JPN Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team GASGAS 1'57.915 14 16 0.655 0.142 217.7 9 18 Matteo BERTELLE ITA Rivacold Snipers Team HONDA 1'58.056 13 15 0.796 0.141 219.5 10 53 Deniz ÖNCÜ TUR Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 1'58.111 11 14 0.851 0.055 216.8 11 48 Ivan ORTOLÁ SPA Angeluss MTA Team KTM 1'58.144 13 13 0.884 0.033 216.4 12 24 Tatsuki SUZUKI JPN Leopard Racing HONDA 1'58.323 8 9 1.063 0.179 216.4 13 54 Riccardo ROSSI ITA SIC58 Squadra Corse HONDA 1'58.485 11 12 1.225 0.162 219.5 14 43 Xavier ARTIGAS SPA CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP CFMOTO 1'58.530 14 15 1.270 0.045 218.1 15 7 Filippo FARIOLI ITA Red Bull KTM Tech3 KTM 1'58.548 15 16 1.288 0.018 216.4 16 66 Joel KELSO AUS CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP CFMOTO 1'58.612 13 14 1.352 0.064 217.3 17 92 David ALMANSA SPA Rivacold Snipers Team HONDA 1'58.681 13 15 1.421 0.069 220.4 18 72 Taiyo FURUSATO JPN Honda Team Asia HONDA 1'58.700 14 14 1.440 0.019 220.8 19 99 José Antonio RUEDA SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 1'58.736 13 14 1.476 0.036 217.7 20 27 Kaito TOBA JPN SIC58 Squadra Corse HONDA 1'58.787 13 13 1.527 0.051 218.1 21 63 Syarifuddin AZMAN MAL MT Helmets - MSI KTM 1'58.803 13 14 1.543 0.016 219.0 22 95 Collin VEIJER NED Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP HUSQVARNA 1'59.074 15 15 1.814 0.271 217.3 23 70 Joshua WHATLEY GBR VisionTrack Racing Team HONDA 1'59.394 11 13 2.134 0.320 216.8 24 19 Scott OGDEN GBR VisionTrack Racing Team HONDA 1'59.432 14 14 2.172 0.038 216.4 25 20 Lorenzo FELLON FRA CIP Green Power KTM 1'59.481 12 13 2.221 0.049 217.7 26 22 Ana CARRASCO SPA BOE Motorsports KTM 1'59.841 12 12 2.581 0.360 216.0 27 64 Mario AJI INA Honda Team Asia HONDA 2'00.017 6 13 2.757 0.176 212.5
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on Sept 28, 2023 18:01:19 GMT -8
Moto2 Practice1 1 35 Somkiat CHANTRA THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia KALEX 1'50.477 14 16 260.8 2 37 Pedro ACOSTA SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo KALEX 1'50.617 16 17 0.140 0.140 262.1 3 12 Filip SALAC CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 KALEX 1'50.925 15 16 0.448 0.308 260.8 4 18 Manuel GONZALEZ SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 T KALEX 1'51.013 14 18 0.536 0.088 260.2 5 96 Jake DIXON GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team KALEX 1'51.221 15 15 0.744 0.208 260.2 6 79 Ai OGURA JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia KALEX 1'51.226 11 12 0.749 0.005 257.7 7 28 Izan GUEVARA SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team KALEX 1'51.251 17 18 0.774 0.025 260.8 8 54 Fermín ALDEGUER SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp BOSCOSCURO 1'51.295 17 17 0.818 0.044 259.6 9 40 Aron CANET SPA Pons Wegow Los40 KALEX 1'51.368 15 16 0.891 0.073 260.2 10 16 Joe ROBERTS USA Italtrans Racing Team KALEX 1'51.382 14 17 0.905 0.014 258.9 11 14 Tony ARBOLINO ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team KALEX 1'51.414 17 18 0.937 0.032 262.1 12 15 Darryn BINDER RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP KALEX 1'51.422 13 16 0.945 0.008 261.5 13 64 Bo BENDSNEYDER NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team KALEX 1'51.531 16 17 1.054 0.109 258.9 14 75 Albert ARENAS SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo KALEX 1'51.567 13 16 1.090 0.036 259.6 15 21 Alonso LOPEZ SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp BOSCOSCURO 1'51.619 16 17 1.142 0.052 260.2 16 7 Barry BALTUS BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP KALEX 1'51.671 14 18 1.194 0.052 258.3 17 22 Sam LOWES GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team KALEX 1'51.682 11 16 1.205 0.011 257.1 18 23 Taiga HADA JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team KALEX 1'51.773 11 16 1.296 0.091 258.9 19 52 Jeremy ALCOBA SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 KALEX 1'51.810 13 17 1.333 0.037 260.2 20 24 Marcos RAMIREZ SPA OnlyFans American Racing KALEX 1'51.888 13 17 1.411 0.078 259.6 21 11 Sergio GARCIA SPA Pons Wegow Los40 KALEX 1'51.926 17 18 1.449 0.038 262.1 22 84 Zonta VD GOORBERGH NED Fieten Olie Racing GP KALEX 1'51.926 13 18 1.449 258.9 23 71 Dennis FOGGIA ITA Italtrans Racing Team KALEX 1'52.005 14 16 1.528 0.079 259.6 24 67 Alberto SURRA ITA Forward Team FORWARD 1'52.472 14 15 1.995 0.467 260.8 25 4 Sean Dylan KELLY USA Forward Team FORWARD 1'52.647 12 16 2.170 0.175 260.2 26 5 Kohta NOZANE JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 T KALEX 1'52.676 15 16 2.199 0.029 257.1 27 72 Borja GOMEZ SPA Fantic Racing KALEX 1'52.825 15 18 2.348 0.149 258.9 28 8 Senna AGIUS AUS Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP KALEX 1'53.121 8 14 2.644 0.296 260.2 29 33 Rory SKINNER GBR OnlyFans American Racing KALEX 1'53.312 17 19 2.835 0.191 255.9 30 9 Mattia CASADEI ITA Fantic Racing KALEX 1'54.490 3 12 4.013 1.178 257.7
|
|