Motegi, 30 September: Under darkening skies the MotoGP class headed out for the first day of free practice at Twin Ring Motegi circuit which hosts the fifteenth round of the season. This is the event that was postponed from its original date in April this year due the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit off the coast of northern Japan in March.
The 4.801 km track was built as a Honda track and the HRC riders have the added motivation for a good performance. The addition of Honda’s two test riders as wild cards raises the number of RCV212Vs on the grid to eight. LCR Honda racer Toni Elias is a fan of the Japanese surface and posted a best lap time of 1’48.783 (15th overall) whilst his team mate Akiyoshi made his first run out on LCR RCV setting his best lap time on 1’49.464 (17th overall).
Elias: “We arrived here in Japan with the same target of the last races: we intend to close the gap to the front and this is a track where I always had good performances in the past. We know there’s work to do after this first outing but today we made a couple of changes in the front geometry and at the end I got into a fairly good rhythm. I liked those adjustments and I feel more confident ahead tomorrow’s practices”.
Akiyoshi: “Well... I know this track like the back of my hand and I am very happy to race in Motegi ahead my fans. I would like to thank Honda and LCR staff for this great opportunity. I feel in a good form and today I made my first run out on this bike working through a number of various set-up changes especially in the engine management. With some hard work we can make the bike perform better and improve our lap-time."
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