MotoGP Preview: Grand Prix Of Japan

THE AMERICANS: U.S. riders Nicky Hayden (Owensboro, Ky., Ducati Team) and Colin Edwards (Houston, Yamaha Tech 3) will compete in this race. Edwards is fourth and Hayden 12th in the MotoGP standings after one race this season.

•Nicky Hayden: “My first GP with Ducati didn’t exactly go as I’d hoped, but we took some positives out of it. I lapped quicker in the second half of the race than I had done all weekend, and above all, I felt comfortable on the bike. Hopefully this will help us work out what it is exactly that I need to improve my feeling with the bike because being so far off the pace in practice wasn’t cool! Physically I’m OK. No doubt, the race was tough because I was pretty beaten up, but I’ve recovered well and I don’t expect to have any problems in Japan. I’ll probably go to the Clinica on Thursday to have the stitches removed, and that will be the end of the matter. I’m really keen to do well in this race, and even though I’ve always had a kind of love-hate relationship with Motegi, with some good results and some bad ones, it is always a special Grand Prix.”

•Colin Edwards: “Motegi is a little bit specialized, I would say. It’s such hard braking. Turn 1, 2, 3, 4. Just about every corner there you’re coming from pretty high speeds down to a hairpin or a sharp, 90-degree or whatever it might be. There, it’s a little bit different than other tracks. You’ve got to get it set up for being good on the brakes and that transition into the corner is nice and smooth. You’re not really worried about linking a lot of corners together because you don’t do it there. There’s like three corners that you link together, and the rest of them are just flat out, hard braking, turn it and go.”

THEY SAID IT: “Every track has its hard braking here and there, but when you’re doing corner after corner after corner and the amount of fatigue or amount of force that’s exerted on yourself, you just have to make that easy. You set the bike up to make it easier to do 900 push-ups in 45 minutes of racing. That’s the key.” – Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards about the stop-start nature of racing at Twin Ring Motegi

FAST FACTS: This is the 700th race in the premier class of World Championship motorcycle racing since the series started in 1949 … Defending World Champion and Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Valentino Rossi has finished on the podium seven times at Motegi in MotoGP competition, with victories in 2001 on a 500cc bike and last year on an 800cc machine … American standout Nicky Hayden has one podium finish at Motegi, third in 2003. It was the first top-three finish of his MotoGP career … Motegi is not one of the best tracks for American standout Colin Edwards, as his best MotoGP finish there is sixth in 2005. But Edwards is coming off a fourth-place finish April 13 in the 2009 opener at Qatar, his best result in a season debut … Loris Capirossi would be a smart choice as a dark horse to reach the podium at Motegi. It’s his most successful circuit, with five podium finishes, including three consecutive victories from 2005-07 … American Cameron Beaubier will continue his first season in the 125cc class at this event. Beaubier, 16, from Roseville, Calif., finished 16th in his World Championship debut for the Red Bull KTM 125 factory team on April 12 in Qatar … American Stevie Bonsey once again will not compete in the 250cc class this weekend as the Aprilia Madrid team for which he is riding did not enter this event. Bonsey, from Salinas, Calif., competed in the 125cc class the last two seasons and was looking to be the first full-time American rider in 250cc since Kurtis Roberts in 1997.

2009 IMS tickets: Established in 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has long prevailed as an icon of motorsports excellence. Beginning in 2009, the Speedway celebrates its Centennial Era, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the facility in 2009 and the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 2011.

Tickets for the three events in 2009 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – the Indianapolis 500, Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and Red Bull Indianapolis GP – can be purchased online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com at any time.

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