Immediately after the Aragon GP, the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team have jetted to Japan for Round 16 of the 2022 Moto2 championship, held at the Mobility Resort Motegi.
Manuel Gonzalez is excited to start the overseas tour in Japan. It is his first time visiting this country, and he has instantly fallen in love with it. It has only added to his already high motivation to get a good score this weekend to add to his 44-point tally that is currently keeping him in 19th place in the overall standings.
Keminth Kubo, on the other hand, knows the Motegi track and is a big fan of the circuit. After a few difficult races in Europe, the Thai rider is counting on the support of the passionate local fans to cheer him on. The number-81 rider is currently 28th in the standings with 4 points, and he would like nothing better than to get a good result in front of the Japanese crowds.
The Motegi circuit was built in 1997 for test purposes. It was first visited by MotoGP in 1999 for the Japanese Grand Prix. A year later the track hosted the Pacific Grand Prix, and it has remained a major attraction for motorsports fans ever since. In 2004 Motegi replaced the Suzuka Circuit on the MotoGP calendar to become the host of the Japanese Grand Prix once again, and it has kept this status ever since. The 4.8km track is known for setting the scene for lots of memorable and exciting racing moments, thanks to its challenging lay-out of six left and eight right corners, and various hard braking and acceleration areas.
The Grand Prix of Japan is held in the GMT +9 time zone. FP1 will take place on Friday afternoon from 14:10 - 14:50 local track time. On Saturday, FP2 will be held from 09:55 - 10:35, and the qualifying sessions from 13:30 - 14:10. On Sunday, Warm Up is held from 10:20 - 10:30 and the race starts at 13:20.
