MotoGP – Preview Motegi – Brivio's comment and the technical point of view

Gauloises Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio is convinced that his team is ready for an intense end to the season and for all the kilometers that await them in these five races on three different continents that they will face over the next six weekends. Brivio claims that the team is not already thinking about the celebrations, but that, on the contrary, they are concentrating all their efforts on achieving their objectives.
“The next six weeks will be quite tough, but our team has a lot of experience and is used to traveling a lot, so our only concern is to do our job well,” said Brivio. “Our only goal is to go to Japan and make sure that our drivers get the best possible result. Once we have passed under the checkered flag then we will see if we should think about celebrating or not, but at the moment we are certainly not thinking about it.
“We know that Motegi will be a difficult race because it is the home circuit of many of our main rivals and also of our rival tire manufacturer and therefore we expect them to be very strong, just as happened last year. But it is also the only race we have in Japan so we will do our best for all the Yamaha staff and our fans in this country.
“This is the beginning of a season finale that will be very tough, but we can afford to face it with optimism. We are at the top of the driver, team and manufacturer rankings and Colin is competing for the very top positions. The season has been excellent so far, but we must be able to close it equally well by obtaining all our results.”

THE TECHNICAL POINT OF VIEW

In its seventh edition since it was included in the MotoGP calendar, Motegi has become a fixed event considered among the most difficult. The paddock structures are impressive, but perhaps they do not find a counterpart in the layout of the circuit which is instead intricate and geometric.
The flawless asphalt offers a good level of grip without being excessively rough, but the abundance of second gear corners combined with rather short straights mean that braking and acceleration performance become the main requirement for a fast lap .
The necessary set up is similar to that required by the violent braking and equally violent re-accelerations of the Le Mans circuit, but the changes in gradient and elevations will require some adjustments specific to the Japanese track. The arrival at the 90° corner, followed by a violent braking downhill and then a complicated succession of corners is often the decisive area in deciding the winner at Motegi.
Good balance and braking stability are key at Motegi and, considering the fact that both Team Gauloises Yamaha riders achieved podium finishes on a similar track to Le Mans. Motegi could become another fantastic weekend for the official Yamaha team in their home Grand Prix.

Yamaha MotoGP