Daily Update MotoGP

Laguna Seca Moto GP Result :
Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1. Dani Pedrosa Honda 44m01.580s
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha + 0.344s
3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha + 1.926s
4. Casey Stoner Ducati + 12.432s
5. Nicky Hayden Ducati + 21.663s
6. Toni Elias Gresini Honda + 22.041s
7. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha + 30.201s
8. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki + 32.857s
9. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda + 40.325s
10. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki + 48.028s
11. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda + 48.810s
12. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati +1m18.531s

Retirements:

Andrea Dovizioso Honda 6 laps
Sete Gibernau Hernando Ducati 6 laps
Loris Capirossi Suzuki 3 laps
Gabor Talmacsi Scot Honda 3 laps
James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha DSQ

Dani Pedrosa has taken his and Honda's first victory in more than a year with a commanding yet tight victory in the United States Grand Prix.

The Spaniard, who made a perfect start from fourth on the grid to take the lead before the first corner, opened a lead of over three seconds mid-way through the 32-lap race, but while slowing down towards the end he risked being overtaken by Valentino Rossi at the very last corner.

Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner, who suffered major crashes in yesterday's qualifying at Laguna Seca, both had fine performances today.

The Yamaha rider, who was not even sure he would be fit enough to take part in the race before this morning's warm-up, made a great recovery and almost managed to snatch second away from team-mate Rossi.

Stoner stayed with Rossi for the first twenty laps before suffering a dip in performance that in the end saw the Ducati man finish ten seconds away from Lorenzo at the chequered flag.

Behind Pedrosa immediately taking the lead at the start, Stoner got ahead of Rossi, with Toni Elias's Gresini Honda and Andrea Dovizioso's factory Honda following behind.

Lorenzo made a bad gateway from pole and was soon down in eighth place, with Americans Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati) also getting ahead of him. But by the end of the first lap Lorenzo was fifth, which became fourth on lap seven when Dovizioso crashed after losing grip at the front.

Positions soon settled, with all the excitement left for the end, when with five laps to go Lorenzo tried to overtake Rossi at the last corner but wobbled dangerously and barely managed to stay on the bike. The move resulted in him going wide and losing a second from the Italian.

Back then Pedrosa had 2.5s over the Yamaha duo, but that lead dropped to 1.5s at the beginning of the last lap, with the former 250cc champion further slowing down and allowing Rossi to catch him after the Corkscrew.

The reigning world champion tried all he could at the last corner, where he tried to outbrake Pedrosa from a long way behind, but it was just too far.

Stoner eventually fell 12s adrift of the leaders as he took fourth, ahead of his Ducati team-mate Hayden. The American enjoyed his best race of a difficult 2009 season as he fended off Elias to take fifth.

The race saw unusually high attrition. Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) and Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) both retired on lap four, with the Hungarian crashing and the Italian having an off after which he went back to the pits and got off the bike. Sete Gibernau also crashed his Hernando Ducati on lap eight and retired on the spot.

James Toseland made a jump start from 15th on the grid and was penalised with a ride-through on lap five. But the Briton failed to comply with the penalty and on lap 11 was shown the black flag, after which he inexplicably did the ride-through on lap 12 and retired his Tech 3 Yamaha on the next lap.
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Result GP Catalunya 2009
CLASSIFIED:
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 43m11.897s
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha + 0.095s
3. Casey Stoner Ducati + 8.884s
4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda + 8.936s
5. Loris Capirossi Suzuki + 19.831s
6. Daniel Pedrosa Honda + 22.182s
7. Colin Edwards Yamaha + 23.547s
8. Randy de Puniet Honda + 25.265s
9. Mika Kallio Ducati + 31.797s
10. Nicky Hayden Ducati + 33.593s
11. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki + 36.683s
12. Alex de Angelis Honda + 36.874s
13. James Toseland Yamaha + 39.433s
14. Marco Melandri Kawasaki + 44.788s
15. Sete Gibernau Ducati + 46.754s
16. Niccolo Canepa Ducati + 55.873s
17. Gabor Talmacsi Honda +1m27.640s

NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:
Toni Elias Honda 9
Yuki Takahashi Honda 0

Valentino Rossi has beaten Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo in a thrilling finish to MotoGP's Grand Prix of Catalunya.

The two riders completely dominated the Barcelona race and fought tooth and nail in the last three laps of the race, with the outcome being set at the very last corner.

Italy's Rossi took the lead back from local hero Lorenzo at the first turn with three laps to go. Exactly one lap later Lorenzo tried to take the lead back and went ahead on the straight, but Rossi managed to outbrake the Spaniard on the outside of the track and keep the position.

Lorenzo, however, made his move stick at the beginning of the last lap. Rossi managed to respond in the overtaking spot in the middle of the lap, but went wide and Lorenzo kept the lead.

But at the entry of the last corner the reigning world champion sneaked through and somehow managed to find the apex, preventing Lorenzo from getting back ahead.

Best of the rest was Ducati's Casey Stoner, who finished more than eight seconds behind the leading pair, but managed to held of the challenge from Honda's Andrea Dovizioso and beat him by half a tenth.

Today's result means that the top three riders now jointly lead the championship at 106 points after six races in the season.

Loris Capirossi took fifth place with his Suzuki, ahead of Dani Pedrosa's works Honda and Colin Edwards's Tech 3 Yamaha.

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), Mika Kallio (Pramac Ducati) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati) rounded up the top ten.

Yuki Takahashi crashed his Scot Honda into the barriers during the first lap, while Toni Elias fell from his Gresini Honda on lap 10 of the 25-lap race having quickly fallen back from his fifth-place start.
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GP Mugelo Race Result
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati 45m41.894s
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha + 1.001s
3. Valentino Rossi Yamaha + 2.076s
4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda + 2.129s
5. Loris Capirossi Suzuki + 3.274s
6. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha + 24.451s
7. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha + 25.621s
8. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda + 26.046s
9. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati + 31.815s
10. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki + 34.814s
11. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki + 35.090s
12. Nicky Hayden Ducati + 39.122s
13. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati + 52.462s
14. Toni Elias Gresini Honda + 52.478s
15. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda + 1 lap

Retirements:

Dani Pedrosa Honda 12 laps
Yuki Takahashi Scot Honda 9 laps

Casey Stoner took Ducati's first Mugello victory and ended Valentino Rossi's seven-year run of wins at his home track by beating the two Yamahas to victory in a wet-dry Italian Grand Prix.

Rossi had to settle for third, behind his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who took second despite crashing his main bike on the way to the grid and then making a very poor start from pole.

The race began with the track still damp, and Stoner burst into the lead off the line, but only briefly before wet weather specialist Chris Vermeulen thrust his Suzuki to the front.

This pair and Honda's Andrea Dovizioso proceeded to swap the lead through the opening stages, with Rossi lurking close behind and Marco Melandri revelling in the conditions and charging through towards the top five on the Hayate Kawasaki.

Lorenzo recovered from his pre-race error and wheel-spinning start to soon rejoin this pack on his spare bike while Yamaha worked to repair his original machine in time for the bike changes as the weather improved.

Dovizioso managed to get around both Vermeulen and Stoner on lap three, and as the track began to dry, Rossi and the flying Melandri further demoted the Suzuki and Ducati and lined up to challenge Dovizioso for the lead.

Rossi hit the front for the first time on lap nine, with Melandri following him past Dovizioso and the Honda rider diving into the pits for his slick-shod bike just afterwards.

Melandri's charge was not finished, and he brilliantly passed Rossi to take the lead - from 15th on the grid - before they too switched to slicks at the end of lap 10.

Though they rejoined in front, Dovizioso's additional lap on dry tyres paid dividends, and he swept into the lead as his countrymen tried to get their rubber up to temperature.

Melandri soon started falling down the order on the dry track, while Rossi - who had taken a hard slick tyre - was unable to get up to speed as quickly as Stoner and Suzuki's Loris Capirossi, who demoted the Yamahas and set off after Dovizioso.

The Italian had led by three seconds, but soon had both Stoner and Capirossi not only on his tail, but slicing past to push him back to third.

Capirossi, in his best ride since joining Suzuki last year, then attacked Stoner and took the lead of his home race for one glorious lap before the Ducati got back ahead and started edging away.

Both Capirossi and Dovizioso then began fading, and as the Yamahas picked up pace in the closing stages, Lorenzo and Rossi charged back through to second and third. The podium spot - which he hung on to despite a late resurgence from Dovizioso - was scant consolation for Rossi as his remarkable home winning streak ended.

Colin Edwards beat his Tech 3 Yamaha team-mate James Toseland to sixth, the Briton having flown up the order after being the first to gamble on slicks.

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) took eighth, followed by a breakthrough performance by Pramac Ducati's Niccolo Canepa, another man to make an early bike swap. Vermeulen and Melandri fell back to 10th and 11th in the dry.

There was more bad news for the injury-blighted Dani Pedrosa (Honda), who crashed heavily before half-distance while running in the midfield and required medical assistance. The Spaniard had already been struggling for fitness this weekend after damaging the muscles in his right hip when his body was jarred while catching a slide in practice.
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Valentino Rossi believes his early change to dry tyres in the French Grand Prix would have paid off had he not crashed.

The world champion failed to score after sliding off his Yamaha on his first lap on slicks on the still-damp Le Mans track. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo stayed out much longer and went on to win the race, although Dani Pedrosa - who stopped on the same lap as Rossi - managed to take third.

"We started the race without having done a single lap in the wet," Rossi told Italia1. "By the fourth lap I was having some difficulties already, especially in the right turns the bike was sliding a lot, so I decided to pit.

"In my opinion it was not a wrong decision, but the problem was that I made a mistake and crashed. Certainly it would have been better to pit two laps later, because at the point where I crashed and in two other points there was still a bit too much water. I got there slowly, but obviously not enough."

He admitted that he had been trying to gamble to beat his rivals on strategy. because it was clear that other riders were faster in the race.

"Absolutely. I was struggling a bit in the wet," said Rossi. "I started well and was second already, but I wasn't feeling good, Lorenzo was opening the gap, and [Andrea] Dovizioso and [Marco] Melandri behind me were edging closer, so I thought it was better to pit immediately and be ready with the slicks.

"It wasn't a wrong idea, because in the same conditions at Motegi [in 2007 Loris] Capirossi managed to win after pitting so early. The problem was that I made a mistake: I lost the front and there was nothing I could do about it.

"I tried to carry on in the hope of getting a lonely point in such a hard-fought championship, and also to get the anger out. But no one retired ahead of us, so this is the first zero for us this season. It's a shame, so we start over at Mugello."

Rossi said the whole Le Mans weekend had been one to forget.

"It went more or less bad all weekend because we've had many problems, and we've never been as competitive as we wanted to," he said.

"We've made some mistakes in the bike's set-up, the weather never gave us a hand, so I was never as strong as we had expected. We must understand why of course."
ref[AS]
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Jorge Lorenzo dominated the French Grand Prix in damp conditions at Le Mans and took the lead in the MotoGP championship.
Not only did the Yamaha man ride magnificently, he was also the most strategically clever, and now moves back to the head of the standings thanks to a crash by his Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi.

All riders started the race with bikes set up for rainy conditions, after the event was declared wet, meaning that riders could pit during the 28-lap race to switch to bikes set up for the dry.
But while most of Lorenzo's rivals started pitting early, the Spaniard stayed out the longest and kept widening his lead. He only pitted when the rest of the field started creeping closer, and in the space of a couple of laps his gap started increasing again.
Lorenzo, who lost a position at the start after starting from second on the grid, but was at the front by the end of the lap, after overtaking Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa.
In the end, he won by more than 17 seconds over the incredible Marco Melandri, whose Hayate-entered Kawasaki is regarded as the least competitive package on the grid.
The Italian, who had a terrible 2008 with Ducati and an uncertain winter with his switch to Kawasaki just before the works team quit, had a fantastic race that saw him cutting through the field from ninth on the grid and then flying on slick tyres on a still-damp track.
At one point, after Lorenzo pitted and was acclimatising to the slick tyres, it looked like Melandri could even take the lead, with the gap to the leader shrinking from 13 down to five seconds. When the distance between the two started widening again, Melandri settled down and allowed the riders following him to finish just two seconds behind.
Pedrosa, who started from pole, managed to snatch third from Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso with just three turns to go on the last lap, after making up seven seconds on the Italian in the last ten laps of the race. The Spaniard had lost ground in the wet early laps, and changed to slicks prematurely.
Casey Stoner took fifth with his Ducati after a dip in form midway through the race, followed by Suzukis of Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi, with Colin Edwards's Tech 3 Yamaha in between the blue bikes.
Edwards's team-mate James Toseland and Toni Elias (Honda Gresini) rounded up the top ten.
Rossi finished last, and now trails team-mate Lorenzo by one point in the standings.
The eight-time world champion, who managed to slot into second by the fourth lap, crashed just a few turns after being the first to switch bikes on lap five. He managed to rejoin the track with a damaged bike after a few seconds had gone by, so that he could switch bikes again.
But he forgot to switch on the speed limiter after pitting and had to suffer a ride-through. In the end he pit once more to switch bikes and carried on with the race in the hope of scoring points, but failed and finished 16th, two laps behind Lorenzo.

Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 47m52.678s
2. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki + 17.710s
3. Dani Pedrosa Honda + 19.893s
4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda + 20.455s
5. Casey Stoner Ducati + 30.539s
6. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki + 37.462s
7. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha + 40.191s
8. Loris Capirossi Suzuki + 45.421s
9. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha + 50.307s
10. Toni Elias Gresini Honda + 53.218s
11. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda + 53.550s
12. Nicky Hayden Ducati + 56.647s
13. Yuki Takahashi Scot Honda + 56.688s
14. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda +1m11.299s
15. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati +1m15.385s
16. Valentino Rossi Yamaha + 2 laps
Retirements:
Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 11 laps
ref[AS]
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Dani Pedrosa beat his championship rivals to snatch pole position ahead of tomorrow's French MotoGP at Le Mans.
The Honda rider managed a superb effort right at the last second to sneak ahead of the three men who are currently in front of him in the points standings.
The Spaniard's time of 1m33.974s beat Jorge Lorenzo's (Yamaha) by the tiny margin of 0.005 seconds, followed by Casey Stoner's Ducati a further seven hundredths behind completing the front row.

Championship leader Valentino Rossi, on the second works Yamaha, was never a proper threat for pole, managing to lead the session only in the first quarter of an hour. Ultimately he had to settle for fourth, 0.132s behind Pedrosa.
Andrea Dovizioso managed a fifth spot on the grid with his Honda, followed by Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha), who led proceedings in the middle part of the session, and the Suzukis of Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi.
Marco Melandri will start the race from ninth position after the Italian lost the front of his Hayate Kawasaki at the half-hour mark, crashed and tumbled. His left hand was slightly hurt when it got caught under the handlebar, but he was able to resume riding after walking back to the pits.
Randy de Puniet completes the top ten despite a crash with his LCR Honda with only seven minutes of the session gone.

Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m33.974s
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m33.979s + 0.005s
3. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m34.049s + 0.075s
4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m34.106s + 0.132s
5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m34.300s + 0.326s
6. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m34.330s + 0.356s
7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m34.676s + 0.702s
8. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m34.839s + 0.865s
9. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki 1m35.008s + 1.034s
10. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m35.399s + 1.425s
11. Toni Elias Gresini Honda 1m35.431s + 1.457s
12. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1m35.524s + 1.550s
13. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m35.682s + 1.708s
14. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m35.741s + 1.767s
15. Yuki Takahashi Scot Honda 1m35.774s + 1.800s
16. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda 1m35.785s + 1.811s
17. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati 1m36.136s + 2.162s

ref[AS]


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Troy Bayliss says he will test for Ducati again within the next two months after pleasing the team with his contribution to its work at Mugello this week.
The triple Superbike world champion was drafted in as Ducati worked to make its bike more 'rider-friendly' and to get all five of its entries near the front of the field.

So far this year, Stoner has been Ducati's only podium contender, for while Pramac's Mika Kallio has had some impressive rides, the Finn's team-mate Niccolo Canepa, Stoner's team-mate Nicky Hayden, and Hernando Ducati rider Sete Gibernau have all struggled to get beyond the midfield.
Bayliss said he had been pleased with his pace and to assist Ducati, but emphasised that a comeback was definitely not on his agenda.
"I've had three good days during which I've felt like a rider again", said Bayliss. "It didn't take long to get back into it but, before anyone gets any ideas, I will also say that I'm happy to be heading back to the airport and towards Australia and home this evening: I have no intention of returning to racing.
"Having said that, I have had fun and I hope at the same time that I've been of use to [technical director] Filippo [Preziosi]. We worked each day on the bike and each day I was able to push harder, until I started to record some respectable times.
"Now I'll stay home for a while but later in June or July I'll be back in Europe for a few weeks. I will probably test the bike again during that time, I don't know exactly when, but I am very happy to play a part in this project."
Bayliss eventually got down to a 1m51.2s lap - just over a second off the best race lap at Mugello last year, and 0.2 seconds faster than the team's test rider Vittoriano Guareschi managed during the sessions.
Preziosi said Bayliss had definitely helped the team towards its goal of making the GP9 suit all its riders.
"Working with Troy has been useful because he has a very different riding style to Vittoriano," said Preziosi, "and so it's been interesting and beneficial to hear his impressions of the GP9 also.
"We worked on chassis set-ups that are pretty different from those which we usually use and the results were promising, although we need to look at this further."
ref[AS]
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Jorge Lorenzo is confident that he can make up for his Spanish Grand Prix error when the MotoGP championship resumes at Le Mans this weekend.
The Yamaha rider followed up his Motegi win with a staggering pole lap at Jerez, only to fall back to fourth in the race and then crash out.
That meant he fell from the lead of the standings to third place, 24 points behind his series-leading team-mate Valentino Rossi.

Lorenzo believes it is now vital that he gets a good result in France to get his title bid back on course.
"Le Mans is the next stop and the first after my crash in Jerez," said the Spaniard. "I was very sad about what happened there but now it is another story, everything begins again and I must try to do things step by step.
"The team and I need to improve after Jerez and main target is to get back on the podium. I am fit and I like Le Mans."
He said his performance in France last year, when he raced with a broken ankle after a Shanghai accident but still shrugged off practice and qualifying crashes, and an awful start, to come through to second, gave him a lot of confidence for the race.
"I have had some difficult times there, and last year wasn't easy because I crashed twice during the weekend, but in the end the result was good," said Lorenzo.
"I've been on the podium in each category and I will remember forever the incredible (all) Yamaha podium of last year. It was amazing. I can see now Valentino, Colin (Edwards) and I enjoying the moment with all the Yamaha people smiling. I hope this year we can repeat that moment.
"I will also remember that podium because it's the only one where I was on crutches!"
His team manager Daniele Romagnoli is also optimistic that Lorenzo can get over the Jerez disappointment with a great result in France.
"Le Mans was very good for us last year, especially considering that Jorge was not in great physical condition," he said.
"Jerez was a great disappointment but now we're keen to move on to France and hopefully we will be able to forget the bad memory from Spain. Le Mans generally suits our Yamaha very well so we hope that we can make the most of it."
ref[AS]
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Jorge Lorenzo said that his lack of pace in the Spanish Grand Prix was more disappointing than the crash that put him out of his home race.
The 21-year-old Spaniard put his Yamaha on pole position at Jerez, but made a bad start and ran fourth for most of the race before losing the front end of his M1 at the Angel Nieto bend while in pursuit of Casey Stoner's Ducati.

Prior to his accident, Lorenzo had been unable to get within half a second of his team-mate Valentino Rossi's lap times after he failed to set his bike up correctly for the track conditions.
"Unfortunately today the temperature meant that our setting did not work in the same way [as in qualifying] and at the moment we don't understand why," said Lorenzo. "This is really more disappointing than the actual crash."
Lorenzo admitted that the cause of the crash, which came on lap 22 after he had reduced a four-second deficit to Stoner to a little under a second, was purely rider error.
"Fourth position wouldn't have been so bad but when you're in front of your fans, at home with so much adrenalin on the bike of course you try to do the maximum," he added.
"I could see that the podium was possible and maybe the right thing would have been to go more gently and not push so hard in that moment, but I always want to do my best. Then I made a mistake and I threw all my good work away."
His failure to score points meant that Lorenzo dropped from the lead of the championship to third, 24 points behind winner Rossi.
ref[AS]
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Having made a big step forward on Sunday at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España Valentino Rossi thanked his Fiat Yamaha crew for the changes they made to his bike, after qualifying, which helped him to his first win of 2009.

The MotoGP World Champion built on his two second places at Qatar and Japan with his Spanish success, to give himself an 11 point lead at the head of the standings after three races of his title-defence.
Rossi’s first appearance on the top step of the podium since winning at Malaysia in the penultimate round of 2008 came courtesy of some setting changes to his Yamaha M1 machine made by Crew Chief Jeremy Burgess and his staff – after Rossi complained of being uncomfortable with the wind at Jerez on Saturday as he qualified in fourth place.
The Italian star stated his intentions with the fastest time in the Sunday morning warm-up and he made the most of his set-up improvements once the race got underway as he hunted down early leader Dani Pedrosa for another classic victory.
Afterwards, he stated, “The situation changed quite a lot from yesterday for us because I wasn’t confident with the bike on Saturday. So we modified the setting and we tried to recreate the feeling which I like on the corners and it worked well so I have to thank my team.”
“To win here at Jerez is fantastic because it is a great place and a great Grand Prix. I am so happy because I am top of the championship but I know I am fighting against some very strong rivals who are very difficult riders to beat.”
When pressed as to what changes had been made Rossi kept his cards close to his chest, but did admit that they were significant alterations and have made a big difference to him as he rides – perhaps an ominous sign for his rivals as MotoGP approaches races at Le Mans, Mugello, Barcelona and Assen.
“Well we have changed quite a lot on the bike and it looks like things are a lot better,” Rossi commented. “I had this problem at the first two races and now we are much more competitive so I think we will continue like this.”
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 45m18.557s
2. Dani Pedrosa Honda + 2.700s
3. Casey Stoner Ducati + 10.507s
4. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda + 31.893s
5. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki + 33.128s
6. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha + 34.128s
7. Loris Capirossi Suzuki + 34.421s
8. Andrea Dovizioso Honda + 34.625s
9. Toni Elias Gresini Honda + 42.689s
10. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki + 45.183s
11. Sete Gibernau Hernando Ducati + 48.192s
12. Yuki Takahashi Scot Honda + 51.875s
13. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha + 53.683s
14. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda + 53.941s
15. Nicky Hayden Ducati +1m01.237s
16. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati +1m10.896s

Retirements:

Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 23 laps
Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 12 laps
ref[motogp.com]
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Jorge Lorenzo beat his countryman Dani Pedrosa to a home pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix in a thrilling qualifying session at Jerez.
Casey Stoner completed the front row alongside the two Spaniards, with Valentino Rossi squeezed back to fourth place.
Practice pace-setter Pedrosa (Honda) had been quickest for much of the session after setting a very early fast lap. Championship leader Lorenzo then jumped ahead by half a second with 13 minutes to go, only for Pedrosa to usurp him again within moments.

But Lorenzo still had more time in his Yamaha, producing a 1m39.266s lap to reclaim pole from Pedrosa by 0.2s, and then extending his advantage by lapping in 1m38.933s next time around.
That stood as pole position, for although Pedrosa closed to within 0.051s, he could not beat Lorenzo.
Stoner was 0.4s off Lorenzo's pace as he took his Ducati to third at what is arguably his weakest circuit, while Rossi was unable to join the fight for pole - lapping 0.7s down on his team-mate on the way to fourth.
Randy de Puniet produced a typically spectacular qualifying run to put his LCR Honda fifth, ahead of Suzuki's Loris Capirossi.
Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha), Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) and Toni Elias (Gresini Honda) will fill row three ahead of Capirossi's team-mate Chris Vermeulen.
Nicky Hayden's struggles on the factory Ducati continued as he took 16th, just behind late crasher Alex de Angelis's Gresini bike, and ahead of only the two satellite Pramac Ducatis.

Pos Rider Bike Time Gap
1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m38.933s
2. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m38.984s + 0.051s
3. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m39.415s + 0.482s
4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m39.642s + 0.709s
5. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m39.806s + 0.873s
6. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m39.862s + 0.929s
7. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m39.926s + 0.993s
8. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m39.966s + 1.033s
9. Toni Elias Gresini Honda 1m40.112s + 1.179s
10. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m40.185s + 1.252s
11. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki 1m40.381s + 1.448s
12. Sete Gibernau Hernando Ducati 1m40.440s + 1.507s
13. Yuki Takahashi Scot Honda 1m40.599s + 1.666s
14. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1m40.670s + 1.737s
15. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda 1m40.796s + 1.863s
16. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m40.953s + 2.020s
17. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m41.238s + 2.305s
18. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati 1m41.253s + 2.320s


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Valentino Rossi was quickest in Friday practice for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.
Marco Melandri again impressed for Hayate Kawasaki by beating last year's Jerez winner Dani Pedrosa (Honda) to ninth.
Yamaha's world champion beat Loris Capirossi to the top spot by 0.364 seconds, with Casey Stoner 0.621s down on his title rival in third.
Stoner had briefly been fastest in the early moments of the session, before the Ducati rider was deposed by Rossi.

Yamaha then established a one-two-three sweep for much of the afternoon, with Rossi ahead of his factory squad team-mate and championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, and Tech 3's Colin Edwards moved up to third.
As the session neared its end, Stoner edged back up to second place, but he would loose this spot in the closing minutes as Capirossi buoyed Suzuki by grabbing second and ending the day as Rossi's closest challenger.
Lorenzo remained fourth, with Edwards falling to sixth at the end as Honda's Andrea Dovizioso improved.
LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet took a promising seventh, ahead of Chris Vermeulen on the second Suzuki.
Marco Melandri again impressed for Hayate Kawasaki by beating last year's Jerez winner Dani Pedrosa (Honda) to ninth.
It was another poor session for Stoner's team-mate Nicky Hayden. The former champion continued to struggle with the factory Ducati and was back in 17th place, 2.3s off the pace.
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m39.647s
2. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m40.011s + 0.364s
3. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m40.268s + 0.621s
4. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m40.441s + 0.794s
5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m40.601s + 0.954s
6. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m40.703s + 1.056s
7. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m40.866s + 1.219s
8. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m41.063s + 1.416s
9. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki 1m41.182s + 1.535s
10. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m41.208s + 1.561s
11. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1m41.461s + 1.814s
12. Sete Gibernau Hernando Ducati 1m41.531s + 1.884s
13. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda 1m41.557s + 1.910s
14. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m41.584s + 1.937s
15. Toni Elias Gresini Honda 1m41.736s + 2.089s
16. Yuki Takahashi Scot Honda 1m41.898s + 2.251s
17. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m41.916s + 2.269s
18. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati 1m42.063s + 2.416s
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Japanese Grand Prix winner Jorge Lorenzo says he can't wait to start his home grand prix at Jerez this weekend, secure in the knowledge that he can fight for victory.
The world championship leader scored back-to-back victories at Jerez in the 250 class but could only manage third at the track in the MotoGP race last year.
"It's nice to be at my track, in my country and to have fun at this race because it is very special for the Spanish riders," he said in Jerez on Thursday. "For me it is also special to have the chance to score a podium and I think we have this.

"We are working to try to improve our performance with the Bridgestones. This is already fine, because we had the victory in Japan, but I also think we are at a point where we can still improve."
Lorenzo admitted having tested on the Bridgestone the in pre-season had also given him a boost, as he continues his acclimatisation to the Japanese rubber.
"It is an advantage for the riders (new to Bridgestone) because to have the settings of the bike, having tested here, to know how to ride on these tyres on this circuit," he said. "It is a little advantage we didn't have in Japan.
"We hope to have the opportunity to ride every practice in the dry and we hope it will be fine. It is good to look up in the sky and see the sun, because we are getting used to clouds! It is nice to see this weather and we hope for more of the same."
ref[AS]
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Valentino Rossi hopes he can raise his game at Jerez this weekend having not been quick enough to win either of the first two races of the 2009 MotoGP season.
The reigning champion finished second at both Losail and Motegi - having been unable to catch the dominant Casey Stoner in Qatar and then lost the lead to team-mate Jorge Lorenzo halfway through the Japanese Grand Prix.
Those defeats have frustrated Rossi, who does not think he can retain his title purely through consistency and is determined to resume winning.
"We've made a good start to the season with two podiums which shows we are consistent, but now we need to make the step up," he said.

"Motegi was a good race but we had one or two problems, which we need to fix."
He is optimistic that Jerez can be the scene of his breakthrough, especially as he has won five of the last eight MotoGP races held at the track.
"We have a lot of data from Jerez because we tested there twice in the winter so I hope that this will help us to find a good setting straight away," said Rossi.
"As a rule we are very strong at the track and it is always great fun riding there."
His team-mate Lorenzo heads to his home race full of confidence and leading the championship following his Motegi victory.
"My motivation is high because I am arriving as the world championship leader in my own home. I can't ask for more," said Lorenzo.
"I had a very good feeling in Japan, and I enjoyed riding the bike in every corner. I have to be careful however because I am still learning all the time how to ride with the new Bridgestone tyres."
ref[AS]
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Nicky Hayden said he had no warning that Yuki Takahashi was even approaching when the Japanese rookie ran into him on the first lap at Motegi.
Both riders were taken out of the race in the collision, which saw Takahashi's Scot Honda hit the back of Hayden's factory Ducati.
"That was exactly what we didn't need," said Hayden. "I got a decent start and I think I was up a couple of positions but just going down into the hairpin, which is a slow hard-braking corner, I was on my line and Takahashi just took me down.

"There was no warning - I didn't even hear anything! I don't want to say much about that, I don't want to look like a cry-baby but, you know, it was the first lap..."
Takahashi apologised for the incident, but could not offer an explanation.
"I was in a group of drivers, more or less all of us at the same speed, then the collision under braking," he said. "I'm really sorry. Out at the very beginning of the race - what a pity. Not only for the race itself, but especially because I need laps to learn and improve."
The crash came just a fortnight after Hayden's ferocious high-side in Qatar qualifying, but the American escaped injury - and remained optimistic about his progress with the hard-to-master Ducati GP9.
"Luckily I feel okay," he said. "I actually landed in the same place on my back as the crash in Qatar and my leathers and helmet have got exactly the same marks.
"It's a shame because this weekend I honestly felt we were making some progress. I felt we had better communication going on and we worked more comfortably from the first day.
"I know we were never looking at a great result but I felt I could have been competitive today. Anyway, we have to move forward and to look to the next race."
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Casey Stoner said an early brake issue cost him a chance to fight for victory at Motegi today.
The pre-race championship leader, who had been dominant in Qatar a fortnight ago, fell back from second to seventh on the opening lap and could only recover to fourth.
He felt the lack of practice mileage - due to both this year's cuts and the rain that affected Saturday's running and forced qualifying to be cancelled - had ultimately meant Ducati was unprepared for the race.

"We have had the same issues as everybody else, I suppose, in that we haven't had time to set the bike up but all in all I think we were capable of at least matching the lap times of the front guys - we just lost too much time at the start," said Stoner.
"On the warm-up lap I felt I a lot of chatter from the front brakes, they weren't smooth and I wasn't confident over the first five or six laps. I really didn't know what to do, I wasn't able to brake where I wanted to and I wasn't confident.
"Maybe I could have gone faster but I don't know how safe that would have been. Anyway, I lost a lot of positions at the beginning of the race and I spent too much time battling to get past."
Once up to fifth, Stoner was able to match the times of the Yamahas and Hondas ahead, but could not close until the final laps, when he took fourth from Andrea Dovizioso.
"When I got closer to the front it was a bit too late, unfortunately," said Stoner.
"I tried to stay as consistent as I could and when I got closer to Andrea I rode a bit harder because I saw it was possible to pass him."
He is now three points behind new championship leader Jorge Lorenzo - and pointed out that he had lost more ground last year when he had a disastrous second round at Jerez.
"We didn't lose that many points and this is a much better start to the season than last year, so we can definitely feel positive going into the next one," said the Australian.
Ducati team boss Livio Suppo agreed that Stoner had done well to minimise the damage from this race.
"It has been a strange weekend and the weather definitely hasn't helped but it has been the same for everybody," he said.
"Casey produced a great performance, showing once again his ability to ride around problems and bringing home some important points."
[AS]
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Fiat Yamaha’s Spanish star Jorge Lorenzo took a superb win at the Polini Grand Prix of Japan on Sunday, but despite taking the standings lead after two races so far this year he still believes some of his rivals are stronger than him.
The former double 250cc World Champion stated during his preparations for his second MotoGP campaign over the winter that his target is a top three standings finish at the end of 2009 and his still playing up the strengths of some more establish premier class stars, after his Qatar podium and his brilliant Motegi performance.

“I am the leader in the championship but I still think that (Casey) Stoner, Valentino (Rossi) and (Dani) Pedrosa are stronger than us,” Lorenzo told motogp.com after the Twin Ring race. “They are more experienced with the Bridgestone tyres but we are still learning about them and improving.”
“Today I had a great opportunity to win,” continued the man from Mallorca, “I knew that with a hard rear tyre I had good pace, so I saw the chance and I attacked.”
Moving back to his native Spain for the first of a series of European races as the top man in MotoGP Lorenzo anticipated the huge support he will receive next week at round three saying, “Jerez is unbelievable -as we all know. All the people there have warm hearts and they are very passionate about the Spanish riders. I think if there is one track where you should take a risk to win it is there.”
[motogp.com]
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Jorge Lorenzo took the second win of his MotoGP career at Motegi, beating his Yamaha team leader Valentino Rossi to victory as the manufacturer took a home one-two.
Dani Pedrosa showed that his pre-season injuries have been overcome by taking third place for Honda, ahead of Qatar winner Casey Stoner's Ducati.

Rossi surged into a clear lead at the start as Stoner was swallowed up by the pack, falling to seventh.
It initially looked as if Rossi would saunter off to a comfortable victory, but within a few laps Lorenzo had passed the fast-starting Hondas and started creeping up behind Yamaha's number one, who seemed to be struggling for race pace.
Lorenzo hounded Rossi for several laps before slicing into the lead on lap nine. The two Yamahas then pulled away from the Hondas in unison for a while, before Rossi fell further off the pace - allowing Lorenzo to get away and Pedrosa to start pushing hard for second.
The Spaniard twice dived past Rossi only to lose the place again on the exit of the corner, but appeared to have made the move stick at Turn 11 with eight laps to go.
Rossi would not give up though, and a lap later he repassed Pedrosa with a similar move and set back off in pursuit of Lorenzo, who was able to maintain a sufficient advantage and clinch his first win since Portugal last year, moving into an early points lead in the process.
Having got back up to fifth within the first half-dozen laps, Stoner seemed unable to close on the lead pack. But in the closing stages he was able to reel in Andrea Dovizioso and take fourth from the Honda rider with two laps to go.
Marco Melandri took an excellent sixth on the Hayate Kawasaki, winning a mid-race battle with Loris Capirossi, as Suzuki disappointed in race trim again.
After the practice crash that left him at the back of the grid, Mika Kallio further enhanced his reputation with a charge through the field to eighth on the Pramac Ducati, ahead of Tech 3 Yamaha's James Toseland.
With so little pre-race mileage, it was unsurprising that several riders struggled to make their tyre or set-up choices work in the hot and dry conditions - in particular top five starters Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) and Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha), who both went into freefall in the race before regaining a little ground in the final stages.
The sole home rider in the field - Scot Honda's rookie Yuki Takahashi - did not even complete a lap before ploughing into the back of Ducati's Nicky Hayden and taking both out of the race.
Toni Elias (Gresini Honda) and Sete Gibernau (Hernando Ducati) also had falls, with Elias continuing at the tail of the field but Gibernau retiring in the pits afterwards.

Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 43m47.238s
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha + 1.304s
3. Dani Pedrosa Honda + 3.763s
4. Casey Stoner Ducati + 5.691s
5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda + 9.207s
6. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki + 30.555s
7. Loris Capirossi Suzuki + 32.756s
8. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati + 39.416s
9. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha + 43.106s
10. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki + 43.245s
11. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda + 44.834s
12. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha + 46.540s
13. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda + 53.525s
14. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati +1m21.804s
15. Toni Elias Gresini Honda + 1 lap

Retirements:

Rider Bike Laps
Sete Gibernau Hernando Ducati 13
Nicky Hayden Ducati 0
Yuki Takahashi Scot Honda 0
[AS]
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Valentino Rossi will start Sunday's MotoGP race at Motegi from pole position after today's qualifying session was cancelled due to heavy rain.
A torrential downpour shortly after the MotoGP practice on Saturday caused the 125cc and MotoGP qualifying session to be delayed, and the decision to cancel the day's running was taken when the rained did not let up for the rest of the afternoon in Japan.

The grid was decided on the fastest times set by each rider during the weekend's practice sessions, all of which were set on Friday as Saturday's practice session was run in wet conditions.
Rossi earned his 42nd premier class pole position with his last flying lap of Friday's session when he beat Ducati's Casey Stoner's best effort by just 0.056s. Stoner will join Rossi's works Yamaha on the front row, along with the second factory Yamaha of Jorge Lorenzo.
Suzuki and Kawasaki were among those to benefit from the Friday times being counted, with Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi sandwiching Colin Edwards - who was fastest in today's wet practice session - on the second row. Marco Melandri's Hayate Kawasaki was eigth quickest on Friday, so will start in the middle of the third row.
Andrea Dovizioso's late effort on a poor Friday for Honda became more significant as it earned him seventh on the grid, while team-mate Dani Pedrosa will start down in 11th place.
Toni Elias will start ninth on his Gresini Honda, with James Toseland's Tech 3 Yamaha completing the top 10.

Pos Rider Team Time Gap
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m48.545s
2. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m48.601s +0.056
3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m48.965s +0.420
4. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m49.382s +0.837
5. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m49.697s +1.152
6. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m49.980s +1.435
7. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m50.030s +1.485
8. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki 1m50.123s +1.578
9. Toni Elias Gresini Honda 1m50.209s +1.664
10. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1m50.342s +1.797
11. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m50.391s +1.846
12. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m50.393s +1.848
13. Yuki Takahashi Scot Honda 1m50.404s +1.859
14. Sete Gibernau Hernando Ducati 1m50.538s +1.993
15. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda 1m50.601s +2.056
16. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m50.669s +2.124
17. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m51.643s +3.098
18. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati 1m51.929s +3.384
[AS]
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Dani Pedrosa says the works Repsol Honda team made the wrong call on set-up in Friday's practice session at Motegi, and believes it will leave the team at a disadvantage on Sunday if the race is dry.
The Spaniard and team-mate Andrea Dovizioso were well off the pace throughout the 45-minute practice today. Dovizioso managed to salvage seventh place with a quicker lap on his final run, albeit 1.4 seconds slower than pace-setter Valentino Rossi, while Pedrosa finished 11th.
Rain is forecast for Saturday's practice and qualifying sessions, so Pedrosa fears today's could have been his only run in the dry before race day.

"The problem was that we made totally the wrong setting," Pedrosa said. "I couldn't make good laptimes, so it was a shame because tomorrow it will be raining.
"If the race is in dry conditions, I think today we make the wrong decision."
Pedrosa added that he is much more comfortable on his bike in Japan than he was in Qatar, as his recovery from a broken wrist continues.
"Today I felt a little bit better than in Qatar," he said. "Still in the beginning it's very difficult, but after some minutes I get a little bit more movement, so this is good. I have to sit better on the machine."
[AS]
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Valentino Rossi set the quickest time in the opening practice session for this weekend's MotoGP round at Motegi, knocking Casey Stoner off the top spot with his last lap of the session.
It is the first time this season that a session has not been topped by Stoner's Ducati, although the Australian was fastest for the majority of the 45-minute practice.
Stoner had two excursions off track during the session, one at Turn 1 and one at the hairpin, but he escaped unscathed on both occasions and was the first rider to break into the 1m48s in the last quarter of an hour.
He returned to the pits with the best lap at the end of his final run, but reigning world champion Rossi found a chunk of time in the last sector of his last lap and posted a time half a tenth faster.

Jorge Lorenzo's factory Yamaha had a spell at the head of the timesheet, but was shuffled down to third as Rossi and Stoner trimmed their times at the end.
The works Suzukis ran well throughout the session, with Chris Vermeulen ending up fourth and Loris Capirossi sixth. They were separated by Colin Edwards' Tech 3 Yamaha in fifth.
Honda had a dismal session and rookie Japanese rider Yuki Takahasi spent most of it as the manufacturer's quickest representative on the fringes of the top 10, despite a trek through the gravel mid-way through.
The factory Hondas of Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa were well off the leaders' pace, although Dovizioso at least managed to salvage seventh place with his last lap of the session.
Marco Melandri was eighth quickest on the sole Kawasaki, ahead of Toni Elias's Gresini Honda and James Toseland's Tech 3 Yamaha.
The only faller was Mika Kallio, who had his first accident in MotoGP's top class when he was thrown from his Pramac Ducati in a high-side crash at Turn 3. The Finn landed awkwardly on top of his bike, but was uninjured and returned to the track later in the session.

Pos Rider Team Time Gap
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m48.545s
2. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m48.601s +0.056
3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m48.965s +0.420
4. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m49.382s +0.837
5. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m49.697s +1.152
6. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m49.980s +1.435
7. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m50.030s +1.485
8. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki 1m50.123s +1.578
9. Toni Elias Gresini Honda 1m50.209s +1.664
10. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1m50.342s +1.797
11. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m50.391s +1.846
12. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m50.393s +1.848
13. Yuki Takahashi Scot Honda 1m50.404s +1.859
14. Sete Gibernau Hernando Ducati 1m50.538s +1.993
15. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda 1m50.601s +2.056
16. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m50.669s +2.124
17. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m51.643s +3.098
18. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati 1m51.929s +3.384

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A victory in Qatar and confidence in the setup of the Ducati Desmosedici GP9 have made for a happy Casey Stoner heading to round two in Motegi, but the former MotoGP World Champion has reiterated that he is taking nothing for granted.
Stoner has set his sights on a stronger start to his 2009 season to that made in 2008, and thus far things appear to be going according to plan. Motegi represents something of an unknown for the new ‘big red bike’, however, and the Australian is assured but cautious in his approach to the Polini Grand Prix of Japan.

“We haven’t tested here in preseason whereas we had in Qatar, so we’ll see how we get on starting from zero, with less practice time available. I’m fairly confident, the set-up we found in testing has worked well at different kinds of circuits so we should have a decent base setting to work from at Motegi,” states Stoner. “In any case, we won’t take anything for granted - we’ll keep working hard together and stay focused.”
Early signs show that reigning titlist Valentino Rossi will be the key man for Stoner to beat in 2009, although there has been no ruling out of any rider yet by the Ducati Marlboro man.
“At this stage Valentino has been the hardest rival in testing and we know that Valentino will always be there, but people should always expect the unexpected,” he warns. “You don’t know what other riders are capable of, so we will see how the beginning of the season goes during the first few races and understand who is going to be competitive and who is not, and then focus on the toughest challenger.”
Stoner’s second place at last year’s Japanese round was his first podium in the premier class at Twin Ring Motegi.
ref[motogp.com]
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Valentino Rossi is confident that he will be close enough to challenge Casey Stoner in this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix, despite the Ducati rider's runaway victory in Qatar.
Stoner dominated the whole Losail weekend, topping every session, and beating Rossi by half a second in qualifying and seven seconds in the race - although Rossi had lost ground early on with a slow start.

But although Rossi expects Stoner to remain tough to beat at Motegi, he believes that narrowing the gap is just a better of improving his Yamaha's set-up.
"In Qatar we had one or two small areas that could have been better, so we will be trying hard to improve our setting during the practice time so that we're able to run at the front on Sunday," said Rossi.
"I expect that Stoner will be strong again, so we just need to reduce the gap to him so that we can put up more of a fight."
Last year Rossi clinched the title with victory at Motegi when it was held in its previous September date, but his team manager Davide Brivio acknowledged that the team arrives in Japan on the back foot this season.
"This year we go there with different targets and the first one will be to improve our setting in order to allow us to remain consistent for the whole race, which wasn't possible in Qatar," said Brivio. "We will work hard in practice and hopefully we can give Valentino the tools to fight on Sunday."
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Nicky Hayden is confident that his massive Qatar accident will not affect his performance in this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.
The Ducati rider crashed heavily at the end of qualifying at Losail, and although he escaped without any broken bones, he was in significant discomfort.
But he said he had fully recovered since the Qatar event and will not suffer any after-effects at Motegi.
"Physically I'm okay - 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," said Hayden.

"I'll probably go to the Clinica on Thursday to have the stitches removed and that will be the end of the matter."
The American is also confident that he will be more competitive in Japan, having made progress with his adjustment to the Ducati during the Losail race.
"My first GP with Ducati didn't exactly go as I'd hoped but we took some positives out of it," Hayden said.
"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."
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The 2009 season will be a matter of learning as quickly as possible for Yuki Takahashi in MotoGP, the Scot Racing Team rider who has moved up into the premier class from the 250cc category this year.

The 24 year-old found the going tough at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar, qualifying down in 17th position as he continues to acquire the art of 800cc riding. He nonetheless rode a steady race on Monday night, concentrating on avoiding errors, gaining experience from the competitors around him and ultimately picking his first – albeit solitary – MotoGP point in the process.

On his run to 15th place at the Losail International Circuit, in his first MotoGP appearance, the Japanese rider commented, “The best came at the end, when I had a chance to follow Marco Melandri for a long while. I studied him, and I got a lot of information about how to deal with the front tyre and about braking points. Obviously this was just my first race in the class. Not only that, but I’d never done a long run before.”

Reviewing his maiden Grand Prix amongst the big boys overall, the former 250cc race-winner added, “I'm satisfied. My target was learning the bike and how to compete against the best riders in the world. How to deal in the heat of the first laps, and strategies, and tactics. At the beginning of the race I lost a little time, but I didn’t want to make any silly mistakes. And at the end I was able to keep the same pace of the riders who were in the first groups. Now I can prepare for my home race, in just over a week, in Japan.”
ref[motogp.com]
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Nicky Hayden is confident that his season will now improve after shrugging off his injuries to take 12th in the Qatar Grand Prix.
The former world champion had an extremely tough first racing weekend with Ducati, suffering sensor problems on his race bike then clutch issues on both bikes on Friday, before an engine failure in final practice and then a massive high-side at the end of qualifying.
Despite back pain and a chest wound from that crash, he decided to race and came through from 16th on the grid to finish 12th, picking up pace considerably in the closing stages.
Hayden said his late-race speed gave him confidence that the worst was now behind him.

"It's been a tough weekend and we've had a lot of issues - obviously a 130mph high-side doesn't help things but nothing really went smooth," he said.
"In the beginning of the race I was quite slow, I didn't get a great start but actually as the fuel load changed and I got a better feeling I got faster and faster and the last five or six laps were my fastest of the whole weekend.
"It would have been nice to nick Dani (Pedrosa) at the end there but I think the team have showed that even though a lot of stuff has gone against us this weekend we're not going to give up.
"Hopefully the bad stuff is behind us now."
He added that team-mate Casey Stoner's victory had shown him what is possible once he has fully acclimatised to the Desmosedici GP9.
"Casey has shown the potential of the bike, so crazy as it sounds I'm leaving here in a really positive mood and looking forward to Motegi," Hayden said.
ref[AS]
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Casey Stoner completed a perfect extended weekend in Qatar by winning the delayed MotoGP season-opener in commanding fashion on Monday evening, taking his third consecutive victory at Losail.

The Ducati Marlboro rider, who also topped every session of the night event, beat reigning champion Valentino Rossi thanks to a perfect start from pole and a blistering pace that forced the Italian to give up the chase midway through the 22-lap race.

Behind Stoner's perfect start, Loris Capirossi made a fine getaway from fifth with his Rizla Suzuki to slot into second, ahead of the Fiat Yamahas of Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, with the two teammates exchanging position twice during the first lap.
In the space of two laps Stoner's lead over Capirossi was close to three seconds already, but by that time the Italian veteran was being caught by Rossi, who passed him on the third lap.
While Capirossi started dropping back, with Repsol Honda's Andrea Dovizioso and Lorenzo overtaking him before the former Ducati rider crashed on lap eight, Rossi began his chase of Stoner.
The gap between the two decreased to just under two seconds, before Rossi's pace started faltering on lap 11. By the end of the race Stoner had almost eight seconds on Rossi, who could however manage a sizeable lead on third-placed Lorenzo, who took the final podium place.

Colin Edwards classified his Tech-3 Yamaha in fourth place, ahead of Dovizioso in fifth and Alex de Angelis in sixth. The Gresini rider, however, is under investigation for banging his satellite Honda into Dani Pedrosa's factory entry while taking seventh place.
The Spaniard managed to keep the bike up straight despite the strong collision, just after he was overtaken by Chris Vermeulen's Suzuki for sixth place. Up until then, Pedrosa was having a strong race from 14th on the grid, despite still recovering from a wrist injury.
Vermeulen classified seventh, ahead of an impressive showing by Pramac Ducati rookie Mika Kallio and Toni Elias on the Honda Gresini. LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet completed the top ten.
Behind Pedrosa, who finished 11th, Nicky Hayden took 12th place in his debut race for Ducati Marlboro, with MotoGP returnee Sete Gibernau 13th with his Hernando Ducati.
Marco Melandri managed to salvage two points with his Hayate Kawasaki after he lost plenty of time in the gravel because of an off at the beginning of lap two.

Valentino Rossi admitted that he decided to settle for a safe second place in Qatar after realising that Casey Stoner was uncatchable.
The Ducati rider made an early break while Rossi fought back up to second having lost out to Loris Capirossi and Jorge Lorenzo at the start. Although Rossi initially reduced Stoner's two-second lead, the Australian was able to pull away later on and ultimately won by nearly eight seconds.
"It's a shame. We lost too much on the first lap, while Stoner was very good," Rossi told Italia1 television.
"But after that I was making up the gap, and maybe I could have caught him, but after yesterday's rain the asphalt became a bit more aggressive, and I had some small problems with the front tyre, so at one point I had to decide whether I should crash or give up.
"So I thought a bit, and since we knew we were a bit on the limit, I gave up. Well done to Stoner, he was quick and he deserved the win. In any case we're second, we've demonstrated that we can go quick, so see you at Motegi."
Rossi reckoned he would have been in better shape to attack Stoner had the race gone ahead as planned on Sunday night.
"More than strategy, Stoner and I have a different way to approach the race, the way we do practice and the way we set up the bike," he said.
"Probably it would have been better had we raced last night because we were in better shape and we were closer. While after yesterday's rain the asphalt was a bit more aggressive, and this morning we already had some small problems with the tyres.
"Unfortunately I lost a bit too much time with Loris and Lorenzo, while Stoner went super quick from the start and built a big gap. But then we had five, six or seven laps when I enjoyed myself because I was going very quick and I was feeling well. I managed to get under two seconds and the race was still long then.
"However after that I started having a few problems too many, so I had to decide whether to crash or to finish second. I thought about that for half a lap and I decided it was better to finish second."
Rossi pointed out that Stoner was always likely to be tough to beat at Losail, having dominated at the circuit for the past three seasons.
"Stoner has always gone very quick here and he's won here for the last three years, so this is a track where he can give his maximum," he said.
"We are quick, we are fairly sorted, we can do better, so I'll see you in two weeks' time in Motegi. Last year I was very very quick there, so let's see if I can do it this year too."

Dani Pedrosa had one of the more eventful races of his premier class career in Qatar, and certainly earned his eventual five point haul from the opening round of the MotoGP World Championship season. Riding injured, the Spaniard very nearly saw his race ended in a collision with Alex de Angelis, and had some harsh words for the San Marino rider after coming home eleventh.
“He came straight into me, I was in front and he came into me to close me down. (He showed…) no respect, but life will return the favour to him,” seethed the Repsol Honda rider, who had been battling with De Angelis and Chris Vermeulen at the time of the incident. Vermeulen had passed him, but De Angelis’ attempted opportunism led to his touching the Repsol Honda rider and facing a meeting with the stewards following the race.
For Pedrosa –far from fully fit after leg and arm surgery- the collision severely affected his ability to take further positions and could have added another niggle to his list of injuries.
“After eight or nine laps at the front I started to have some vibration, and I don’t know why that was. Finally I started to lose a lot of grip, and when De Angelis touched me I began to have pain in my shoulder. It’s probably nothing, but I will get it checked out anyway.”
Pedrosa eventually held onto eleventh place from former teammate Nicky Hayden in a drag to the line.

Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati 42m53.984s
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha + 7.771s
3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha + 16.244s
4. Colin Edwards Yamaha + 24.410s
5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda + 27.263s
6. Alex de Angelis Honda + 29.883s
7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki + 33.627s
8. Mika Kallio Ducati + 34.755s
9. Toni Elias Honda + 39.481s
10. Randy de Puniet Honda + 42.284s
11. Dani Pedrosa Honda + 48.526s
12. Nicky Hayden Ducati + 48.883s
13. Sete Gibernau Ducati + 52.215s
14. Marco Melandri Kawasaki + 56.379s
15. Yuki Takahashi Honda +1m00.286s
16. James Toseland Yamaha +1m14.978s
17. Niccolo Canepa Ducati +1m15.028s

Retirements:
Rider Bike Laps
Loris Capirossi Suzuki 7
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The Grand Prix of Qatar has been postponed to a Monday night slot after a Sunday night downpour at Losail forced the opening round of the MotoGP season to be called off.
The race, scheduled to start at 11pm local time, was delayed just as the riders were about to start the formation lap, and got cancelled half an hour later, when the rain intensified.
The riders were concerned that, as well as the track being covered in standing water, visibility would be almost non-existent as the light from the floodlights reflected off the water and spray.
A midnight meeting between the teams and the organisers resulted in the decision to postpone the race to a 9pm local time slot on Monday, following a new warm-up at 6:30pm.

The 125cc event had already been truncated after only four laps, with riders being awarded half points, while the 250cc round was also forced to be shortened to 13 laps to allow the MotoGP race to start on time.
The decision to postpone until Monday evening received a mixed response from riders.
Pole-sitter Casey Stoner is concerned that the weather could intervene again, although current forecasts suggest better conditions tomorrow night.
"This is not a good idea," Stoner told Gazzetta dello Sport. "We have no guarantee it won't rain. Today's downpour has also brought sand over the track, so there's also a safety risk."
But Hayate Kawasaki rider Marco Melandri felt that having travelled to Qatar and gone through practice and qualifying it made more sense to race on Monday than to reschedule for later in the season, amid suggestions that Losail should take the September slot left vacant by the Hungarian GP's cancellation.
"For sure I would like to race tomorrow and go on holiday in September," Melandri told the official MotoGP website.
"We are here, we've been testing for days, and we are ready. It's going to be hard to change all the plans but I don't want to go back home - I want to race, because I've had a smell of the race and then had to come back into the garage."
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Dani Pedrosa will ride at this weekend's Qatar MotoGP race after weeks of doubt over his injured left knee and wrist.
The Honda rider re-injured the knee in a crash while testing at the Qatar circuit on March 2nd and hasn't ridden a bike since, thus missing out on the MotoGP Official test at Jerez ten days ago.
His wrist and knee were originally hurt when he crashed out of the lead of the German GP last July.
Repsol Honda says that Pedrosa is determined to take part in the race on Sunday, being "cautiously confident that he will have sufficient flexibility and strength in his left leg to compete in Sunday's 22-lap race."
"First, I've got to say I'm really happy to be going to Qatar for this race," said the Spaniard. "It's clearly been quite a difficult winter for me and not the preparation for the season that we would have chosen.

"But my recovery from the surgery in March has been good - probably a little better than we expected - and that means I have the chance to make the first race, which is great.
"Obviously I haven't been able to do the usual level of physical training while I've been injured, and we've missed out on some testing time, so we have some catching up to do.
"But I know my team hasn't been standing still while I've been away and I'm really looking forward to getting back on the bike and riding for the maximum result possible for my situation."
Pedrosa finished third in the race last year, the first ever grand prix held under floodlights.
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The Tech 3 Yamaha team expects James Toseland to be fit to race in the MotoGP season-opener at Losail on 12 April despite his second massive accident of the winter at Jerez today.

The Briton was taken to hospital for precautionary checks after a violent high-side at Turn 3 during the BMW Award qualifying simulation. He was judged to have escaped with concussion, and returned to the paddock this evening.

The accident came just under two months after a similar crash at Sepang, which had also left him struggling with concussion. Toseland had been off the pace at subsequent tests, but was getting back up to speed at Jerez prior to today's incident.

Team boss Herve Poncharal was disappointed that the crash had interrupted Toseland's recovery, but is confident he will be on the pace in Qatar in a fortnight.

"I am obviously delighted that James is going to be fit for the first race after another big crash today," said Poncharal.

"It is a real pity for him because he was really looking like his old self this weekend after the crash in Sepang and making some big progress with the bike and the tyres. I'm sure he will be ready and determined to give 100 per cent again in Qatar."

While Toseland has had an incident-packed winter, his team-mate Colin Edwards has shown promising pace, although he was only 10th in today's qualifying session.

"I started the timed session and I knew I could do a low 1m40s but to do a 1m39s I just didn't have the right set-up," Edwards explained. "When I saw Casey (Stoner) do a 39.1 on only his third lap, I knew my package wasn't ready to do that and I'm not going to take any risks with the first race so close.

"I'm happy with the way the winter has gone. Yamaha has done a great job and at every test we have been competitive."
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