The next round of the MotoGP calendar will take place on the lands of a Honda manufacturer which could well celebrate, on the Motegi track, and in front of its compatriots, the seventh absolute title of Marc Marquez. It will in fact be enough for the Spaniard to leave the empire of the rising sun for Australia with a 75-point lead over his runner-up in the general standings to end the season. However, there are currently 77 out of Dovizioso… But to attend the possible coronation, you will have to get up early!
Japan is in fact 07 hours behind our timetable... After Thailand, and before Australia and Malaysia, Motegi is the second of four meetings overseas for the world of Grands Prix. Ahead of the “00 Motul Japanese Grand Prix”, Dorna will hold a “pre-event” in Tokyo on Wednesday October 2018. The Japanese LCR Honda driver, Takaaki Nakagami, will introduce his colleague Franco Morbidelli and leader of the Moto3 World Championship George Martin the mysterious world of sumo wrestling. They will train in particular with these particular athletes... It is a safe bet that George Martin will have an exemption given the state of his hand…
The same day, a race of mini electric motorcycles will oppose A. Rins, J. Miller, H. Syahrin, A. Espargaro, A. Bautista, B. Smith, T. Luthi et X.Simeon. They will sponsor children and four of them will then be able to access the fan zone.
The pre-event press conference will take place with Marc Marquez, Andrea Dovizioso, Maverick Vinales, Alex Rins, Dani Pedrosa, et Takaaki Nakagami.
For its part, Tetsuya Harada, 250cc world champion on Yamaha in 1993, will take care of the demo on Sunday aboard the MotoE-Energica Ego Corsa. We will point out on this occasion that it is Mick doohan, five times 500 cc world champion (3, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997), who will compete at Phillip Island on October 1998 before the MotoGP race of the Australian Grand Prix.
Finally, we will recall that in 2017 the Japanese race took place in the rain. In the MotoGP category, the opposing duel Andrea Dovizioso à Marc Márquez was decided at the finish line, in favor of the official Ducati.
The schedule for the Japanese Grand Prix :
Friday, October 19, 2018
02:00-02:40: Moto3 (FP1)
02:55-03:40: MotoGP (FP1)
03:55-04:40: Moto2 (FP1)
06:10-06:50: Moto3 (FP2)
07:05-07:50: MotoGP (FP2)
08:05-08:50: Moto2 (FP2)
Samedi octobre 20 2018
02:00-02:40: Moto3 (FP3)
02:55-03:40: MotoGP (FP3)
03:55-04:40: Moto2 (FP3)
05:35-06:15: Moto3 (Qualifying)
06:30-07:00: MotoGP (FP4)
07:10-07:25: MotoGP (Qualifying 1)
07:35-07:50: MotoGP (Qualifying 2)
08:05-08:15: Moto2 (Qualifying)
Sunday October 21 2018
01:40-02:00: Moto3 (warm-up)
02:10-02:30: Moto2 (warm-up)
02:40-03:00: MotoGP (warm-up)
04:00: Moto3 (race, 20 Laps)
05:20: Moto2 (race, 22 laps)
07:00: MotoGP (race, 24 laps)
