The MotoGP World Championship arrives in the Land of the Rising Sun this weekend for the GP of Japan, the sixteenth round of the season, and the second on Asian territory following the one in Thailand ten days ago. The venue is the Twin Ring Motegi, a circuit situated around 145 kilometres north of Tokyo, where the Ducati Team has obtained great results in the past. Loris Capirossi won here for three seasons in a row (2005, 2006 and 2007), Casey Stoner did the same in 2010 and Andrea Dovizioso managed to get onto the top of the podium in a memorable race in the rain in 2017, after an exciting head-to-head battle with Marc Márquez.
Last year on the other hand Dovizioso crashed while he was in second place and fighting with Márquez, so this year he will be aiming for a good result that will allow him to consolidate his second place in the standings. Danilo Petrucci has also been on the podium at Motegi, also in 2017 when the rider from Terni finished third with the Desmosedici GP of the Pramac Racing Team, and this weekend he intends to repeat that result to stay in the fight for third place in the championship. The last four rounds of the season will also be fundamental for the outcome of the Constructors’ title, in which Ducati lies second, and the special Teams’ championship, which the Ducati Team is leading by a margin of 19 points.
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 2nd (215 points)
“With the title already assigned in Thailand, our main aim now is to hold on to second place, and this is what we’ll be fighting for in the next four races. Motegi is one of those special circuits where in the last few years we have been very competitive. Last year we missed out on the podium while fighting for the win, and I think that we will again be fast this year. We must continue to work hard to improve in all conditions and on all tracks and we’ll be giving our all in these last four races.”
Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) – 5th (162 points)
“We arrive in Japan very motivated: we accumulated a lot of useful and positive information during the weekend in Thailand and we will begin with a good base. Motegi is a better circuit for us than Buriram and we want to make the best of this situation. The fight for third place is really tight and if I want to achieve my aim I must do some great performances in the last GPs of the season. Already from Friday practice we’ll be able to see what our potential is for this weekend.”
The first free practice sessions of the GP of Japan will get underway on Friday 18th October at 10:50 local time (03:50 CET), while the race is scheduled for Sunday 21st at 15:00 in Japan (08:00 CET).
