Ducati
Marlboro Team rider Loris Capirossi scored a majestic
victory at sun-blessed Motegi this afternoon, beating
his 2005 race-winning time by a massive 17 seconds to
record his second consecutive MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix
success. Team-mate Sete Gibernau had a fine ride to
fourth, just 1.3 seconds away from scoring his first
podium for the team.
Capirossi was in breathtaking form, starting from pole
position at the Motegi circuit and leading from the
first lap to the chequered flag, gradually building an
advantage over his closest rivals Marco Melandri and
Valentino Rossi. And when Rossi moved past Melandri into
second and tried to make a run on the leader, Capirossi
responded in devastating fashion, recording a 1m 47.5s
lap with just five laps remaining to put the matter
beyond doubt! He crossed the line a full five seconds
ahead of Rossi to move into fourth place in the
championship, 31 points down on the series leader with
two races to go.
Gibernau
rode hard to defend fourth place during the final laps,
Shinya Nakano crashing out when he was just a few
centimetres behind the Spaniard three corners from the
flag. Capirossi's impressive win was applauded by 600
local Ducati fans in the Ducati grandstand at Motegi;
Japan is one of Ducati's most important national
markets. Both Capirossi and Gibernau stay at Motegi
tomorrow for an important test of the factory's new
800cc GP7 which the team will race in 2007.
Loris Capirossi, Ducati
Marlboro Team, winner, 4th overall, 205 points: "I
think that was a pretty amazing race. It all started on
Friday when my team immediately found a good setting and
Bridgestone came here with many good new tyres. I was able
to find a good rhythm in practice and we were very fast in
warm-up, so our target was to get a great start and just go.
I got the start, but Marco tried to overtake me on the first
lap. I said to myself it's better he doesn't come past
because I didn't know if his pace was as fast as mine.
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The Mini Desmosedici
Bike, presented at Motegi, was made by Takashi Kato
(Dajiro's father) for two young pupils of his mini
bike school. Ducati Japan is one of 6 Ducati
Subsidiaries in the World. It is based in Tokyo and
has 20 employees. Japan is the 4th largest market
for Ducati (after Italy, USA, France and Japan) with
3,000 sales per year. |
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Ducati Marlboro Team rider Loris Capirossi scored a
majestic victory at sun-blessed Motegi this
afternoon, beating his 2005 race-winning time by a
massive 17 seconds to record his second consecutive
Japanese Grand Prix success. |
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"After six or seven laps I started to take a small
advantage, then after half-distance my pitboard told me
Valentino was coming. At that moment I was going a little
bit slow and when I saw Valentino coming very quick I had to
go faster again. My pace was very good, 47s all race. This
victory is very important to us and I don't think the
championship will be over until the last race. To win here
in Japan is a fantastic thing for us to do, and also for
Bridgestone. My thanks to all my team and to all our
sponsors."
Sete Gibernau, Ducati
Marlboro Team, finished 4th, 10th overall, 95 points:
"That wasn't so bad but I can't be happy. We missed the race
because I was too slow at the beginning. I didn't get a grip
of the bike until past half-race distance and that was my
mistake. I didn't even feel anything from Nakano. Actually
after that right-hander I looked back to see if he was going
to try and attack into the next fast left but he wasn't
there, so I flicked it into the turn and then I looked back
on the start-finish and he wasn't there. I just feel sorry
for him and I'm glad he doesn't seem to be badly hurt. Now
we've got two races left, so two more goes at the podium
this year, we just need to keep our heads down from the
first lap to the last."
Livio Suppo, Ducati MotoGP
project manager: "It is a really great feeling to win
for the second year running in Japan. The team did a great
job once again this weekend, Bridgestone worked so well too,
so our thanks to them and to Shell Advance for their vital
technical support. However, it was Loris who was
unbelievable today, truly unbelievable! Sete rode a good
race but he lost too much time during the first few laps."
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