The Twin Ring Motegi circuit, which hosted the world championship for the first time in 1999, has an unusual layout with a series of long straights followed by tight curves that put braking and engine acceleration to a severe test.
In the past the Japanese track has been a good one for Ducati Team riders, who have scored some great results here, notably three successive wins for Loris Capirossi in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and a win in 2010 for Casey Stoner, who also took the world title for Ducati at Motegi in 2007.
Jorge Lorenzo has an excellent record at Motegi in MotoGP, with four poles and three wins to his name. Last year the Spanish rider qualified on the front row, but then crashed out of the race and had to retire.
Following on from his podium finish in Aragon last time out he is hoping for yet another strong finish this weekend, possibly a win!
โThe podium at Aragon was very important for the team and it confirmed that we are going in the right direction. Now the final part of the season is about to get underway, with three back-to-back fly-away races, and my aim is the same as ever: to fight for the podium and try and get my first win with Ducati,โ he said.
โMotegi is one of my favourite tracks, and I've managed to win there on a number of occasions in the past. I think that our bike adapts well to the characteristics of this track and so we'll have a real possibility of getting a good result.โ
