Japanese Grand Prix to go ahead

The rescheduled Japanese Grand Prix at the Twin Ring Motegi will go ahead in early October, despite threats from top riders like Jorge Lorenzo that they may not attend because of radiation fears.

Debate has raged for weeks about the staging of the Motegi race ever since the Fukushima nuclear plant was extensively damaged in Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami back in March.

But the FIM has announced it expects all of its sanctioned motorcycle events to take place in Japan, including the Moteti MotoGP race on October 2.

MotoGP bosses said based on an independent review and the advice taken from bodies like the World Health Organisation, there was no health risk posed by staging the race at the Twin Ring Motegi.

A statement from the FIM said: “The FIM Board of Directors will assess the situation prevailing in Japan during its meeting in Geneva next weekend. Furthermore, talks will be held next week at the FIM Headquarters with representatives from the Motorcycle Federation of Japan. In principle, Suzuka and Motegi circuits being situated outside the exclusion and evacuation zones, and based on the information provided by an independent report, a number of agencies including several governments, the World Health Organisation and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the 2011 FIM World Championships events in Japan (QTEL FIM Endurance World Championship, SPEA FIM Trial World Championship and FIM World Championship Grand Prix) will be taking place as scheduled.”

A final announcement will be made by the FIM during next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix in Mugello.