MotoGP

Rd.02 04/26 Japan GP

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RACE DATA

Round: 2- Japan GP
Circuit: Motegi, Japan
Date: 25 April 2009
Circuit Length: 4.801 km
Practice condition: Wet
Air: 11 C
Ground: 12 C
PP: V. Rossi (Yamaha/1'48.545)

REPORT

Qualifying washout leaves Rossi on pole and Lorenzo third in Japan

For the second race in a row MotoGP was a victim of severe weather conditions today, when Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix was cancelled amidst torrential rain at the Motegi Twin Ring. The decision to abandon the session meant that the grid for tomorrow's race was decided on the fastest times from all free practices, leaving Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi on pole and Jorge Lorenzo in third.

This morning's session was the first wet practice of the season and offered the riders their first chance to try out the new generation of Bridgestone rain tyres. Rossi and Lorenzo were happy to find their wet settings working well from the off and the Italian finished the session second with his Spanish team-mate in fourth. Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards made it a good morning for Yamaha by topping the time sheets.

The rain became heavier throughout the morning and by the early afternoon there was plenty of standing water on the track. MotoGP practice was delayed until 1500 but by then it was clear that the rain was not stopping and the decision was taken to cancel the session for safety reasons. With the grid being formed on free practice times, Rossi and Lorenzo's strong showing in the only dry session yesterday stands them in good stead for tomorrow's race, which is expected to be dry.

Motegi monsoon frustrates Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team pairing Colin Edwards and James Toseland will start the Japanese MotoGP race from fifth and tenth places on the grid after torrential rain forced today's decisive qualifying session to be abandoned.

A frustrating day had started in stunning fashion for 35-year-old Edwards, who produced a brilliant display of wet weather riding in this morning's rain-hit second free practice session at the Twin Ring Motegi. Only reigning world champion Valentino Rossi could lap within half-a-second of the American - a performance made even more impressive considering today was Edwards' first chance to properly assess Bridgestone's rain tyre.

Hopes that Edwards could continue his fantastic pace to challenge for pole position were dashed as the rain worsened in the build-up to this afternoon's qualifying session. Race Direction decided to delay the session by 55 minutes with the deluge leaving several large patches of standing water scattered around the 2.983 miles circuit.

Circuit staff also placed sandbags on the perimeter at some sections of the circuit to prevent water flooding across the track, but with no let up in the downpour, a decision was taken to abandon qualifying at 3pm. Grid positions were decided on combined practice times, with times posted in yesterday dry practice session counting.

That left Edwards on the second row for tomorrow's 24-lap race and British rider Toseland 10th. Toseland had a difficult wet practice this morning, his first outing on Bridgestone's rain rubber hindered by a front fork issue.

Toseland though is determined to deliver a positive result for Yamaha in its home race, his confidence boosted by the competitive pace he set yesterday on Bridgestone's hard compound slick rear tyre.

Today's rain disruption comes less than two weeks since the opening race in Qatar was delayed by nearly 24 hours because of heavy rain.

RESULT

COMMENT

Valentino Rossi (Position: 1st   Time: 1'48.545)

"We've been very unlucky in these two races and last year as well, because we've just had so much rain! This year has been worse though because first we had to delay the race in Qatar and now we've had to cancel qualifying here. I don't think it was such a good idea to come to Motegi in April! So now we're going into a race after just 45 minutes in the dry and 45 minutes in the wet, and I think maybe it will be one of the most uncertain races ever! We're lucky because we had a good session in the dry yesterday and so we're on pole, which is very important for the race here but it's still impossible to be at 100% after such a short time and with so little data. In the dry this morning our setting worked well also so I think we can fight whether it's dry or wet, and after all it's the same for everybody. Of course I would prefer it to be dry but above all I hope it's not half and half, I hope it's either fully wet or fully dry otherwise it will be even more difficult."

Davide Brivio, Team Manager

"It's a pity about the rain today and a shame to have to cancel the session but the conditions meant it was impossible. It was good to have a first chance to test in the wet this morning but it could have been useful to have more time this afternoon. Now it looks like it will be dry tomorrow but our setting yesterday was not bad so we hope we can make the most of this pole position. It will be interesting to see how we can perform in this race with so little track time. Now we are just hoping for a dry race and we will be looking forward to fighting at the front."

Jorge Lorenzo (Position: 3rd   Time: 1'48.965)

"I am relieved to be on the front row and very happy we were able to do such a good time yesterday. Today is a pity but anyway I am fast in the dry and in the wet so I feel good for the race tomorrow. My bike is working well in both types of conditions and it feels good in the braking and through the chassis. Of course we don't have so much data but we have options for a wet or a dry race so now we just have to wait and see how it is tomorrow morning."

Daniele Romagnoli, Team Manager

"It's been a very strange day today without qualifying, but Jorge has a good front row so this is important. This morning in the wet we were quite fast, although we still need to find some more traction. It seems tomorrow it's more likely to be dry so yesterday's session will be very important to help us to have the right race setting. We are ready and confident that we can do a good race whatever the weather."

Colin Edwards (Position: 5th  Time: 1'49.697)

“That was pretty frustrating when you consider the lack of track time we already get now. But it was impossible to ride out there. There was a lot of standing water and it wasn't even worth going out and trying. This morning was really good in the rain, though I have to say thanks to Valentino and his crew because they got a pretty good rain setting from last year. But this is the first day I've been on the Bridgestone rain tyre. I ran it in Jerez in testing but it was just damp and nowhere near full wet. The rain tyres are really impressive. You can actually push them and get load and that to me is a new thing. Now I can push a bit and that was pretty good fun with so much feel. Before I've just had to roll around in the rain and not really have the feel to push too hard. The Bridgestone front rain tyre is like their slick, it's just magic. I'm a front-end guy and the confidence it gives is amazing. It is a bit annoying that I couldn't go out this afternoon and try for the front row but I'm happy with fifth. It's a shame I didn't go out on the soft tyre yesterday but I got a full 19 laps experience on the hard tyre, and that will be the race tyre. If the temperature comes up a bit too I should be in even better shape. So rain or shine I feel ready for a good race.”

James Toseland (Position: 10th  Time: 1'50.432)

“Not being able to get out and ride showed how much rain there was out there and it's incredible when you think about what happened in Qatar. This morning it wasn't raining that hard at all, but even at that stage there were a few puddles starting to appear, so I thought if it got any worse we would really find it difficult to go out because in two or three places the standing water was getting quite bad. It wasn't dangerous at that point but the rain has really come down this afternoon and made it impossible. If it is dry tomorrow I mostly ran the hard tyre yesterday, so hopefully I'll be sat on the grid in a little bit better position than some of the others. I'm a bit annoyed because until the end of yesterday's session I was in sixth or seventh, and if I'd put another tyre in I could have been on the second row maybe, which would have been great. I feel with the set-up we have and the distance I've done on the hard tyres puts me in good shape for the race.”