2004 MotoGP Motegi Results

Makoto Tamada scored his second MotoGP win of the 2004 season on Sunday. The Pramac Camel Honda pilot gave the home town fans a thrilling weekend of racing by first taking the pole and then, on Sunday, taking the checkers in front of a raucous Twin Ring crowd of over 60,000 in Motegi, Japan.

"In the first corner I realized that everybody was going too fast to take it properly, and you all saw how it ended up," explained Tamada. "I was second behind Valentino and I remembered the last race at Estoril, where I finished behind him. I wanted a different race to that one so I pushed hard and began to attack him. The bike was running brilliantly and so were the tires. I followed the advice the Bridgestone technicians gave me after the warm-up and the tire choice was correct. I had everything to win, I attacked and overtook Valentino and set my rhythm to the end. Thanks to everybody, this victory is really important."

The drama of the weekend started at turn one when Ducati' Loris Capirossi accidentally took out pole qualifier John Hopkins. As the two riders and bikes went flying across the track, Colin Edwards and Max Biaggi failed to avoid the crashing debris and also went down along with Kenny Roberts Jr. and Nicky Hayden.

Meanwhile, Rossi jumped out to a decent lead, but an inspired Tamada quickly closed the gap and moved up on the rear wheel of the defending champion.

Tamada would eventually get by Rossi and despite his best efforts the Italian had no answer for Tamada on the day.

Ultimiately, Rossi played it smart and settled for second. This result increases his lead in the series standings to 39 points over Sete Gibernau.

"I made a great start and that put me in front," sad Rossi after the race. "That was very important because behind me hell arrived at the first corner! I tried to stay with Makoto and tried to win. After leading for the first ten laps he overtook me and then I started to slide a lot and I had a little problem exiting the corners under acceleration. It was impossible for me to get back in front of Makoto and for sure I would have preferred to win. This second place improves our championship position though, another ten points of a gap. This was an important race for us in every respect."

Fuchs Kawasaki's Shinya Nakano took the third and final position on the podium, 13 seconds behind Tamada. This is the best result intwo decades for the ZX-RR and Kawasaki who have not enjoyed a top three result since Kork Balligton finished 3rd in the Finnish GP back in 1981 aboard the KR500.

"This is a fantastic result for me, and for Kawasaki and Bridgestone," sad Nakano. "From the start I saw the accident coming, because turn one is very tight. I went up the inside and took fourth, then tried for many laps to pass Melandri without success. But late in the race I still had good grip from my rear tire, and this is where I had the advantage. I knew Melandri would try and cut back inside, so I was ready for this. I could still do fast times at the end of the race, but the last lap was probably the longest in my racing life; I was just waiting for the chequered flag. I couldn't believe I was third."

Alex Barros ended the day in fourth, while Marco Melandri rounded out the top five.

Unfortunately for American fans, not one single Yankee managed to finish the first lap as Kenny Roberts, John Hopkins, Colin Edwards, and Nicky Hayden all fell victim to the first turn fiasco.

"Definitely disappointing," said Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden. "This morning I was fourth fastest and I felt good on race day. I was ready to go for it. It had been a tough weekend but today was by far the best I had felt over the three days. In the first turn it was carnage. I didn't see what happened. I just picked it up to avoid a bike and ran into the dirt. There was so much dust I couldn't see a thing. I was nearly stopped then ran into a bike and put my bad leg down and just keeled over. It's definitely frustrating but I guess these things happen especially in Turn 1. There are so many fast guys out there all going for it. We've just gotta' look forward and not think about what might have been!"

MotoGP Results:
1. Makoto Tamada (Honda)
2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
3. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki)
4. Alex Barros (Honda)
5. Marco Melandri (Yamaha)
6. Sete Gibernau, (Honda)
7. Carlos Checa (Yamaha)
8. Neil Hodgson (Ducati)
9. Ruben Xaus (Ducati)
10. Alex Hofmann (Kawasaki)

MotoGP Standings:
1. Rossi, 229
2. Gibernau, 190
3. Biaggi, 158
4. Barros, 115
5. Tamada, 114
6. Edwards, 111
7. Checa, 102
8. Capirossi, 84
9. Hayden, 83
10. Melandri, 75