MotoGP – The Japanese MotoGP Grand Prix turn-based –

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The Japanese MotoGP Grand Prix lap by lap

MotoGP - The Japanese MotoGP Grand Prix turn-based -

At 4 races from the end of the season and with a comfortable lead, Valentino Rossi arrives at Motegi as a lord. But he will have to face the motivation of opponents determined to make him miss his appointment with his 8th world title…. Round by round !

The unique manufacturer since 2009

The announcement was made Sunday morning in Motegi: for reasons of "costs and safety", the Grand Prix Commission unanimously decided that there would be a single tire manufacturer from the 2009 season, just like in F1, Rally and WSBK."We had postponed the decision until today in order to have more ideas and opinions on the subject", comments Carmelo Ezpeleta (CEO of Dorna)."The FIM has launched a call for tenders, and interested manufacturers must submit their applications before next Saturday. We will then study the different offers and the Grand Prix Commission will make its decision public by October 18 at the latest.".

Difficult – if not impossible – not to have your eyes riveted on the official Fiat-Yamaha rider for this fifteenth race of the MotoGP World Championship: after his incredible series of four straight victories – which had not happened to him since 2005 – Vale is a solid leader and his substantial lead over Stoner (87 points) and Pedrosa (94 points) would allow him to finish the race 4th to be – once again – world champion.

But behind the Italian, the troop is seriously up: Pedrosa must prove that his passage at Bridgestone during the season – a great first since the advent of 4-stroke – is not a whim, Stoner must defend his reputation as the fastest kangaroo in the world, Lorenzo wants to prove to everyone that he has returned to his best level, while since his announcement of separation with Honda, Nicky Hayden appears faster than he has been all season !

In short, the protagonists of this exceptional season all have in mind to helm – figuratively of course! – access to the podium for Yamaha n ° 46! For his part, Valentino Rossi displays his usual studied relaxation: after two years without a world title, the ogre de Tavullia is certainly very hungry, but the failure of Valencia in 2006 due to too much haste, certainly moderates his appetites! Relaxed, confident – after all there are still three races after Motegi – and quick from the first practice, Vale even takes the opportunity to announce his participation in the WRC Rally of Great Britain next December !

Zoom on …

The separation of JIR and Honda and the arrival of Takahashi in MotoGP. Wishing not to do more "as an act of presence on the MotoGP grid"Gianluca Montiron has announced his separation from Honda. In 2009, the Scot Racing team will race 250 driver Yuki Takahashi, while Andrea Dovizioso will – logically – team up with Pedrosa in the HRC."I am very happy because I have always dreamed of racing in MotoGP"Says the Japanese Takahashi."I have been working with the team since 2005 and after three years I finally got my entry ticket to MotoGP. I didn’t do it on my own, Honda helped me, my team helped me like my sponsors did, so I want to thank them all"

And from the first outings of the 800cc, the show was up to the task: taking all the risks, the Bib ‘and Bridgestone pilots seem this weekend on equal terms in the dry as in the wet, even if in race configuration, Stoner and Rossi stand out – once again – from the crowd. However, it is the star’s own teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, who will create the event by taking his fourth pole position of the season on a dry track! The Yamaha-Michelin rider – who will tackle a decoration inspired by a comic book on Sunday – leads Stoner by 0.288 sec and Nicky Hayden by 0.428 sec !

No doubt, Lorenzo has been in great shape for three races and it is no less than 0.517 seconds that he sticks to his probable future teammate world champion! Dani Pedrosa follows the Doctor on the second row, ahead of Loris Capirossi, Colin Edwards and Randy de Puniet. Sylvain Guintoli is 15th, certainly worried by a blocked future in MotoGP and which darkens in WSBK: after having been for a time approached in the official Yamaha team alongside Tom Sykes, now Ben Spies could be preferred to Drômois !

The race !

Departure : Reassembled, Casey Stoner achieves the best takeoff followed like his shadow by Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden. Jorge Lorenzo has had a moderate start and the Mallorcan tries an outside on his own teammate in the first left !

Motivated by the stakes, this one does not let itself be told, while in the second group, some pilots get carried away a little and embarrass their pursuers like the unfortunate Randy de Puniet. Taking no account of the position of his box neighbor in the standings, Lorenzo dives under Rossi’s wheels from the second corner! It’s hot between the two Yamaha officials, one of whom plays the supreme title and the other the third place of world champion !

Wild-card Suzuki, K. Akiyoshi made a mistake from the start of this Grand Prix, without taking another driver in his fall: a pity for the Japanese who has been able to shine on the Motegi track in recent years. Never mind for the blues, since Loris Capirossi appears in an interesting 6th place (just behind Rossi), preceding a rediscovered Edwards, Toseland, Hopkins and Nakano. Randy de Puniet seems to have been embarrassed in the confusion at the start and his Honda only appears in 14th position, just ahead of the Ducati de Guintoli.

Concentrated on his race, the Doctor takes the time to diagnose the situation, then decides to apply an infallible remedy: copiously turning the throttle, Rossi puts Lorenzo back together with ease and demonstrates a real desire to do battle. !

2nd round : The Ducati hit with the n ° 1 is the first to pass the timing cell, on this same track where Stoner was crowned world champion in 2007! The Aussie always precedes the RCV212 Bridgestone from Pedrosa, the Michelin equipped one from Hayden, the Yamaha from Lorenzo and that of his teammate who is already showing signs of overtaking! Under pressure, the n ° 48 widens copiously in a technical right and immediately, Vale takes the opportunity to pass !

Quickly, Dani Pedrosa keeps the middle of the track coming out of a quick right and brakes later than the Ducati de Stoner on the next left: for the first time, since his tire change, the Spaniard is in the lead! Sensing the danger – Pedro is known for his ability to dig the "hole" as soon as he holds the reins of a GP – the seven-time world champion hoists his Yamaha up to Hayden’s Honda and Rossi overtakes the world champion 2006.

3rd round : Incredibly at ease, the Tavullia native returns to Stoner’s contact with ease, knocking out Hayden in just a few turns! Whatever Rossi’s strategy for the title, the offensive early in the race is part of it! Pedrosa continues to lead the race, ahead of Stoner, Rossi, Hayden, Lorenzo, Capirossi, Edwards, Nakano, Toseland, Hopkins, Melandri, the new defector from HRC, Andrea Dovizioso, Vermeulen, de Puniet, Guintoli, West, Elias and Alex de Angelis.

4th, 5th and 6th rounds : Transcended by the possibility of seeing this indestructible Valentino Rossi combing them to the post, Pedrosa and Stoner engage in a duel in superb style: the RCV draws lines on the line, taking advantage of the smallest millimeter of the track, while Stoner’s GP8 gives the impression of twisting like a wild animal! For his part, Rossi is not content to ensure his title – virtually, he is world champion – the n ° 46 gives everything to get back into the exhausts of the Ducati which precedes him. !

Nicky Hayden seems to have trouble keeping up with the pace of the three strong men in the championship, but the American is now the first Bib ‘driver ahead of Lorenzo and Capirossi who hang on. Edwards, Nakano, Toseland and Hopkins are already a few steps behind, still ahead of Melandri, Dovizioso, Vermeulen and Randy.

While Casey Stoner searches for the fault on Dani Pedrosa, Valentino Rossi dislocates the Australian… but does not manage to delay his braking sufficiently! Unaware of the threat hanging over him, the reigning world champion rushes down a straight downhill with breathtaking speed and here is the Ducati in a leading position! Aware of his "outburst", Casey Stoner raises his left hand – full angle! – to apologize for the virility of his maneuver to Pedrosa who could not do anything !

Destabilized – perhaps even upset – at having blown away first place in this way, Asimo relaxes his effort for a moment… and gets eaten right away by Tavullia’s ogre! Here are the first two of the championship, wheel to wheel, ready to offer one of these sumptuous duels in which they have been engaged for a few races. !

7th round : Casey Stoner returns to the pit straight in the lead, in front of a Valentino Rossi who seems comfortable and above all eager to win: while he only has to secure a fourth place to recover this title which he has escaped since 2006, the biggest winner in the premier class appears more and more swift and ready to go for a 70th success since his debut in 500 2-T in 2000.

At a different pace, Stoner and Rossi forgets the rest of the field, starting with a Dani Pedrosa who – for the moment – does not really benefit from his publicized change of tires. Hayden is now under threat from Lorenzo, just ahead of Capirossi, two-time Motegi winner with Ducati.

8th round : The leading order does not change, but we can feel Valentino Rossi ready to return to victory on the Japanese track, which has not happened since switching to 4-stroke! Jorge Lorenzo is more and more pressing behind Hayden and the overtaking of the Mallorcan seems inevitable in the laps to come. Loris Capirossi has slightly let go and the Italian could now be caught up by Edwards, Nakano and Toseland who have not left each other since the start of the race..

As expected, n ° 48 brakes Nicky Hayden in a quick left and here is Jorge Lorenzo first Michelin driver! For his part, Randy de Puniet achieves a superb interior on Chris Vermeulen’s GSV-R and is now 13th. Poorly started since the start of the race, Toni Elias loses his temper and pulls straight into the left which controls the tunnel.

9th, 10th and 11th laps : The GP8 at n ° 1 continues to set the pace and Stoner even takes the fastest lap in the race! Not conceding anything to his rival for the title, Valentino Rossi tries to keep up and it is visible that the Yamaha is faster in some sections of the circuit, before losing a little time in the stretches of the Twin Ring.

However, the acceleration indicators on the screen show that – unlike at the start of the season – the two motorcycles seem to be on a par with the level of the go-around on this “Stop and Go” type route. At the same time, we also notice that Rossi releases the brakes much earlier than his rival, which probably explains the "ease" with which the Doctor returns to Stoner in the middle of the curve..

Beyond these technical considerations felt from the outside, the two men offer an admirable driving lesson to their rivals: whether it is Stoner or Rossi, the showers of sparks raised by their boot sliders reveal the degree of angle hallucinating taken by the machines, all the untimely wheelies that punctuate the generous go-around at the exit of a curve !

Dani Pedrosa is powerless against the mastery of No. 1 and No. 46 and despite his efforts his Honda-Bridgestone is more than two seconds behind its rivals! Nicky Hayden is already 5.6 sec, Capirossi 6.6 sec, Edwards 9.1 sec ahead of Nakano, Dovizioso, Toseland, Hopkins, de Puniet, Vermeulen and West. Sylvain Guintoli is 15th ahead of Melandri – who has just shot straight ahead – and de Angelis. Stoner keeps trying to escape and lo and behold the Aussie breaks the lap record held by Rossi since 2006 !

12th and 13th rounds : Valentino Rossi responds immediately by gluing the Ducati of Stoner with ease and the n ° 46 seems to want – once again – to put the pressure on his young opponent. Applying the same recipe, Lorenzo draws on his reserves to take a few tenths back from Dani Pedrosa! Behind them, Hayden offers a festival of sliding at the start of the curve, while Edwards and Nakano are now in contact with Capirossi. Andrea Dovizioso is a bit far to join the fight for 6th place.

The "Texan Tornado" tries twice to pass the Capi-T-Rex under braking, but the old lion has reserve and he conscientiously closes the doors! Colin Edwards does not manage to find the fault, despite an entry speed in a curve, visually superior to that of Loris Capirossi’s Suzuki.

14th round : Coming out very wide from the stretch which commands the pit straight, Stoner begins to show signs of annoyance at the continuous pressure of a Rossi who seems to have complete control over his subject. To the great joy of the 57,000 spectators who came to watch the race, each attempt to escape from the Ducati comes up against the pugnacity of the Yamaha rider who seems more than determined to achieve victory. !

Sounding the charge, Vale shifts under braking to a left and crushes his right lever at the last second, with his left leg out, as during the smoky overtaking on Sete Gibernau in 2005! Fortunately, there will be no contact between the two men, the Yamaha infiltrating cleanly inside and appropriating the leading position! For his part, Lorenzo has almost caught up with Pedrosa.

15th round : Stung to the quick, Casey Stoner tries to move away during the first braking of the track, but the n ° 46 enters the curve much too quickly to give his opponent the slightest chance! Wisely, the current world champion tries to follow the rhythm of his opponent, in order to find the fault. Randy de Puniet gradually returns to John Hopkins and the Frenchman gives everything to dislodge the American from his 11th place !

16th and 17th rounds : With less than ten laps from the finish, Valentino Rossi continues to produce his effort and it is no less than 0.567 sec ahead of Casey Stoner! Dani Pedrosa reacted to Lorenzo’s comeback and the two Spaniards are now running in the same lap. Nicky Hayden plays a short distance from a Capirossi increasingly threatened by Edwards, Nakano, then – a little further – comes Andrea Dovizioso.

Accentuating his lead, the race leader now has nearly a second ahead of Stoner and – if I am not mistaken – it now seems certain that after two years without a world title, Valentino offers himself a sixth crown in the premier class, becoming the only driver in history to be titled in 500 2-T, 990 4-T and 800 4-T! James Toseland has lost contact with Dovizioso and sees Hopkins swoop down on him who takes Randy de Puniet and Chris Vermeulen… who fails under braking and leaves to "garden" in the gravel of the Motegi! Fortunately, the n ° 7 does not fall and starts again just behind the last one, Alex de Angelis.

18th, 19th and 20th laps : Passing the pit straight once again at the head of the race, Valentino Rossi heads for his eighth world crown on Honda land: a snub that is certainly difficult to swallow for the first manufacturer, who also sees rookie Jorge Lorenzo, at the handlebars of his M1 threaten the star pilot of the HRC, Dani Pedrosa. Undoubtedly, damaged by its exit from the track, the GSV-R of Chris Vermeulen returns definitively to the pits.

Literally knocking out his rival, Valentino Rossi has already taken Stoner‘s Ducati 1.531 seconds. Dani Pedrosa still holds Lorenzo at around half a second, while Capirossi has slightly let go of Colin Edwards and S. Nakano.

21st, 22nd and 23rd laps : The suspense is at its height for this end of the race: Rossi must absolutely not crack under the pressure, Stoner must keep his second place, while Lorenzo takes all the risks to come back to Pedrosa, that Capirossi puts on the final necklace to put Hayden back together and that Dovizioso would tax the RCV212 "factory" of Nakano !

Toseland still contains Hopkins and de Puniet, while Sylvain Guintoli continues his solo race ahead of Melandri and West. More and more threatening, Lorenzo delays his braking to return to the exhausts of the RCV212 of Pedrosa.

Last round : Valentino Rossi approaches this last lap with almost two seconds ahead of Casey Stoner who seems to have let go a few laps ago. Jorge Lorenzo is glued to Pedrosa’s motorbike and the n ° 48 tries to go through all sides! The M1 tackles a left, seeming not to even slow down on entry and Lorenzo’s front wheel goes as far as touching Pedrosa’s rear wheel, which concedes absolutely nothing to his ex-rival of the 250 !

Fortunately, the hot Iberian man manages to control the start of the steering on his machine, while Dani Pedrosa goes to third place on the podium! In front, the new 2008 world champion crosses the finish line with a wheelie, just like Stoner and Lorenzo !

Valentino Rossi therefore won his fifth straight victories – a performance he had not re-edited since 2005 – ahead of Stoner, Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Hayden, Capirossi, Edwards, Nakano, Dovizioso, Hopkins, Toseland, de Puniet, Melandri , Guintoli and West. With 312 points, Valentino Rossi is a solid leader ahead of Casey Stoner (220), Dani Pedrosa (209), Jorge Lorenzo (169), Andrea Dovizioso (136), Colin Edwards (118), Chris Vermeulen (117), Nicky Hayden (115 ), Loris Capirossi (96), Shinya Nakano (95), James Toseland (90), Toni Elias (86), Sylvain Guintoli (58), Alex de Angelis (55), Marco Melandri (51), John Hopkins (47) , Randy de Puniet (47) and Anthony West (42).

They are explained:

Valentino Rossi (1st) : "It’s hard to say how I feel. I am obviously very happy! The fight was intense for the victory, which fills me even more. It’s hard to compare my different titles, but this one is fantastic. I’m very happy, because it’s been a very tough battle this year, especially with Stoner and Pedrosa. It has been a long season and there have been a lot of tough races. I have been lucky in my career and won some tough championships – like my first with Yamaha in 2004 – but this year I put in more effort outside of the races to win. I thank everyone at Yamaha for the work they have done this year, the M1 has been very fast, and we have worked very hard every weekend with my team. Today’s battle was excellent, and to win the championship with a race victory is just fantastic.".

Casey Stoner (2nd) : "Everything was fine at the start of the race, I made a mistake while my tire was still cold at the start and had to complete a few laps before it got hot. My lap times were fast and I was comfortable with that pace, but then I lacked physical condition in the changes of direction. Valentino got ahead and I lost some ground, I thought I could stay behind him and three quarters of the race I did not give up but I reduced my pace. As I picked up the pace I did some good lap times, then I made a mistake and it was over. We hope to come back stronger for the next races as well as for the next season.".

Dani Pedrosa (3rd) : "This third place is a good result, because we weren’t as good in the last few races. It’s good for my team. At first I was not very fast, and I didn’t feel very comfortable. Towards the end Lorenzo came back in force and I had to contain him. Congratulations to Valentino on his excellent season, he deserves to win the championship because he has been very consistent throughout the year".

Randy de Puniet (12th) : "Honestly, I was hoping for a better race. I got off to a good start but Dovizioso started too wide in the first corner. I tried to get inside but found myself locked in by other pilots. Then I didn’t have enough speed in the curve to keep a good place. At the end of the first lap, I was therefore 14th. I then experienced grip problems with the rear axle. I still managed to catch up with Hopkins and Toseland with four laps to go but I couldn’t attack them. I did the best I could with a still sore wrist".

Sylvain Guintoli (14th) : "Until Saturday morning everything was going in the right direction, but from the qualifying session everything changed. I don’t know what happened, but I lost confidence in the front end of my motorcycle. In these conditions, it is difficult to give the maximum. I was wasting too much time entering a corner. Now we’ll have to look at data acquisition to try to understand what happened and do better next week in Phillip Island".

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos DR

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