| Motegi MotoGP Post Race Review |
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The road to the MotoGP at Motegi has been long and hard for Japan, in appreciation the fans displayed their gratitude to the organizers and racers with special flags. This was reciprocated by the organizers, along with Japanese rider Hiroshi Aoyama, leading a minute’s silence and the presenting of a cheque for 101,000 Euros from the sales of merchandise in support of the people affected by the disaster earlier in the year. Motegi's Grand Prix of Japan delivered another multiple podium finish for the Repsol Honda Team. Dani Pedrosa ran another flawless race and brought home the trophy pushing him within one point of teammate Andrea Divizioso for the Championship, 195 points and a solid 4th place in standings. Yamaha's reigning World Champion, Jorge Lorenzo landed another second, which inched him closer to rival, Honda's Casey Stoner, who came in at a surprising third place. In the land of the rising sun, despite the track having 70% of new asphalt following the earthquake, the GP riders were back on shaky ground with a very exciting race right out of the grid. In a rare moment, Andrea Divizioso jumped the start as the lights were just about to go out, causing a chain reaction to San Carlo Honda Grisisni's Marco Simoncelli and Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Cal Crutchlow, as they followed suit. The reprimanded threesome were mandated to take a ride through and did so on the third lap, pushing them back several positions. As the riders set out to take on the most intense hard breaking circuit on the schedule, it was a continuation of what happened back on the start line. Ducati's Valentino Rossi shocked the fans when he went down in the second turn by becoming the jam in a Yamaha sandwich courtesy of Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies. After standing up it was noticeable that Rossi’s race was over, significantly his deployed race suit airbag gave him a hunched appearance as he wandered battered and bruised over to a waiting photographer on a moped. Spies had a rough start to the pre race weekend when he came down with food poisoning, but he managed a quick recovery by displaying a great start. This soon came to an end, during the confusion surrounding Rossi’s premature departure another rider clipped Spies from behind, bumping his hand off the handlebars. Spies managed to keep his M1 up right through the gravel and reentered the race, sending him back several positions. Casey Stoner took the lead with teammates Pedrosa and Dovizioso right behind, it was business as usual for the Honda trio. Initially Lorenzo had a poor start settling into a 4th. After nearly crashing along with Rossi, the Mallorcan capitalized on mistakes made by Stoner and Dovizioso. In the 5th lap, lead bike Stoner went wide and off the track after a hair raising shimmy that was one step short of a full “tank slapper”. The Aussie managed to reenter the track and once he had shed the gravel from his tyres, quickly picked off his contender’s one at a time, ultimately giving him 3rd. Dovizioso had to relinquish his 3rd position with his mandatory ride through, pushing him aback 30 seconds and 6 spots to 9th. Crutchlow, also having been forced to take the pit lane penalty, attempted to make up some time. Putting the pressure on Elias in turn 3, the Czech rider unexpectedly braked hard forcing the British rider to take a detour temporarily off the track. Now the playing field was getting interesting with Pedrosa out front, Lorenzo, Simoncelli, Rizla Suzuki's Alvaro Bautista, Ducati's Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner putting the heat on in 7th. Ducati's most successful rider, Mapre Aspar's Hector Barbera went down in the 2nd lap after acquiring a comfortable 9th position. The Spaniard was transported off the track on stretcher and was later diagnosed with a broken right collarbone, which could keep him from racing in Australia. Dovizioso double-times it and passes Toni Elias, Colin Edwards and Hiroshi Aoyama, while Stoner does the same passing Bautista and Hayden 10 laps in. Hayden also goes into the gravel in the next lap, but jumps back into the thick of things, gaining a 7th place overall. Stoner continued to recover from his crippling error and cunningly claimed third on the podium, despite the 10 second gap between Pedrosa and Lorenzo, who was leading the pack. Pramac Ducati's Loris Capirossi replacement, Damian Cudlin gets a little over his head with the unsurpassable GP session and slides out in the 14th lap. Toni Elias follows going down four laps later, lessening the count of riders still shiny side up to 13. The real battle was in the 18th lap for 4th place with Marco Simoncelli and Andrea Divizioso, who currently has no ride for next season. The two Italians have made no secret about the lack of love they have for each other because of disapproving race etiquette and secured contracts, making it more personal than professional. With patriotic flags waving in the stands, the boys went at it, using their two-wheeled machines as boxing gloves for the next two laps. Going back and forth, Simoncelli makes the final jab, winning the fight and shoves Dovizioso to 5th....for now. Edwards passes Spies for 7th in the 19th lap but Spies kindly repays the gesture in the very next lap, giving Edwards an 8th spot. The proud Aoyama demonstrated great form to his homeland fans with a sound race coming in just under the top ten in 9th and Pramac's Randy de Puniet, rounded up the top ten. Motegi, Sunday, October 02, 2011 Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time/Gap Worth checking - Superbike news - MotoGP news
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