This weekend's Japanese Grand Prix is the first in a series of three races that will be contested over three consecutive weekends between Asia and the Pacific. The LCR Honda team will obviously do everything possible to consolidate Cal Crutchlow's place as the first satellite rider in the championship standings.
The 30-year-old Briton thus occupies the provisional sixth position in the championship thanks in particular to an excellent fifth place obtained during the last event in Aragón. Contested on the Twin Ring of Motegi, the circuit of the parent company Honda, Sunday's Grand Prix will be a new opportunity for the native of Coventry to obtain an honorable result after having shown all his potential since July.
The Japanese track has a typical “Stop and Go” configuration with several straight lines linked together by hairpins which are often negotiated in first or second gear. The long, brutal braking to which the machines are subjected makes it the most restrictive track of the entire MotoGP calendar in terms of brakes.
Cal Crutchlow #35
“I'm really looking forward to this weekend, the first of three overseas races on the Asia Pacific Tour. It takes place in particular on the Honda parent company circuit, which represents an additional source of motivation for the entire LCR Honda team and myself. As we know for a fact, the acceleration of the bike has been our weak point this season, and here we will try to make up this deficit in areas where we seem to have a slight advantage, that is to say the zones of braking and fast turns. I obviously hope to have a good weekend here in Motegi with a satisfactory result and thus get off to a good start to this series of three Grands Prix.”
