Honda duo disappointed after Motegi postponement

Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso have spoken of their disappointment at not being able to compete in Honda’s home race at the Twin Ring Motegi this weekend.

The factory Honda duo are just two of hundreds of MotoGP personnel unable to make the trip to Japan this week with thousands of European flights grounded by an ash cloud unleashed by an Icelandic volcano last week.

Italian Dovizioso, who was due to visit HRC headquarters prior to Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, said: “There is nothing we can do and this volcano event is so strange that we only have to accept it!

“I am a little disappointed because I was very much looking forward to racing at Honda’s home GP after the good result I had in Qatar.

Moreover we were going to visit HRC before the race and I was looking forward to that too. The Motegi racetrack is special and has some characteristics, which are different from other tracks so I wanted to see how the 2010 RC212V worked there.

From the riders’ and fans’ point of view it is a pity of course, but I think that technically it can be a small advantage for us because now the technicians have more time to work on the developments we’ve asked for.”

Spaniard Pedrosa, who has struggled so far on the new 2010 RC212V machine, added: “It is a real pity for me that the Grand Prix has been postponed because Motegi is a track I love, and this is a race that motivates me a lot because we have always achieved good results in Japan.

“It is also a very important race for Honda and a big disappointment for the fans.

“Anyway, at least we were lucky to be at home when this happened because many people are stuck in Europe without being able to move and, with all the travelling we do during a season, it could easily have been us who were stranded somewhere.

“I hope the situation gets better quickly and we can race without problems in Jerez next week”.

The Motegi race will now be staged on October 3.