MOTEGI, Japan: Championship leader Casey Stoner returns to Japan on a Honda this weekend to continue a powerful push towards his second world championship title.
The Australian rider, who has a 44-point lead over reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha, will be trying to retain the Grand Prix of Japan crown that he won last year on a Ducati.
A victory at Motegi could set him up for a season win at his home Grand Prix in Australia on Oct 16, a prospect he clearly relishes.
Having bagged his eighth victory of the season in Aragon, Spain, less than two weeks ago, Stoner said he would be looking to repeat last year's performance on the stop-and-go circuit in central Japan.
"It has a lot of hard braking, a lot of hard accelerating, it's pretty tough on the body and physically demanding," Stoner said.
"As in Aragon, we will be going out there trying to win. We had a fantastic race here last year, probably one of my best and it will be fun to go there on the Honda and see how the bike works around the circuit."
The Japanese event kicks off a series of three races in Asia and Oceania in the next three weeks.
The race was originally scheduled for April, but was postponed after Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left some 20,000 people dead or missing and triggered a massive nuclear disaster.
Stoner and other top riders had earlier declared their reluctance to come to Japan because of the radiation leaking from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which sits about 130 kilometres northeast of the Twin Ring Motegi circuit.
MotoGP organisers have said the region is safe for the race, while the Japanese government has tried to calm fears among foreigners, stressing that Japan in general is a safe place to visit or to live.
It was the second straight year of rescheduling for the event. The Japanese Grand Prix in 2010 was also postponed from April to September after a huge volcanic eruption in Iceland disrupted international flights.
Second-ranked Lorenzo admitted that it seemed "impossible" to deny Stoner this year's championship, but said he would try his best with the four races remaining.
"We came here with the motivation and with the spirit to fight for the win," said the Spaniard, winner here in 2009 who also reversed his earlier decision to boycott Motegi.
Stoner has "won so many races. (But) you must keep the spirit and motivation that anything is possible," Lorenzo said.
Many teams brought water and food from Europe to avoid any risk of radiation although they said they were aware of the area's safety.
Legendary rider and sixth-ranked Valentino Rossi on a Ducati said: "The situation looks very normal and good."
"Everybody was very scared because of the danger (of radiation) that you don't understand and it's impossible to see," he said.
The Italian said he hoped to improve his performance, having stood on the podium only once this season in May in France, as the Ducati team have done well in Japan in the past, including the victory last year.
"It's true that we have to work very hard, but we always approach every Grand Prix with the goal of doing better," he said.
Honda will go into their home Grand Prix with a total of eight riders competing in Sunday's showdown, including Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa, who occupy third and fourth places, respectively.
Alongside Japanese Honda star Hiroshi Aoyama, currently ranked 10th, test riders Shinishi Ito and Kousuke Akiyoshi will also ride Hondas in a show of support for the residents of the disaster-hit northeastern region of Japan. – AFP
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