MotoGP Sepang Preview 2012

MotoGP riders return to contest the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Sepang with heavy hearts. It is the site where, in 2011, San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Marco Simoncelli lost his life in a crash early on in the race. This year a number of events have occurred to remember the late “Super Sic,” including a memorial bicycle lap at Misano, San Carlo’s home race, and the presentation of Simoncelli’s number 58 Gilera RSA 250 to his father Paolo, the bike “Sic” rode during his 250 world championship winning season. The entire MotoGP paddock will gather at the scene of Simoncelli’s accident Thursday before practice starts at Sepang to honor the Italian rider before competition begins.

Sepang marks the second of three overseas races before riders return to Europe for the season finale at Valencia and Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa is trying to make the most of every contest left on the schedule. The Spanish rider trails Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo by 28 points and needs to aim for race wins in all the remaining rounds for any hope of winning the championship. Lorenzo’s consistency this season will undoubtedly make that troublesome for Pedrosa, since it will also take a poor showing on Lorenzo’s part for Pedrosa to really make up ground on the Yamaha rider. Owing to the fact that the Sepang round was cancelled in 2011 after Simoncelli’s accident and due to injuries in 2010, Pedrosa hasn’t raced at the Malaysian circuit since 2009 where he finished second. He was able to put in laps with the rest of the MotoGP grid during pre-season testing, which may possibly help with bike set-up during practice.

“It's two seasons since I raced in Sepang and I'm looking forward to it now,” said Pedrosa. “It's a track where you have a little bit of everything - it's hard to ride, it's hot, there are fast and slow corners, hard braking, long straights… and everybody has references from the tests. Nevertheless, we need to wait to see on Friday what the temperature and track conditions are like to understand how the tires will work because it's normally very slippery.”

There have been few riders on the grid able to keep pace with Lorenzo this season, beside Pedrosa and his teammate Casey Stoner (in good health), and he can retain the points lead to the end without another race win if he’s able to continue finishing on the podium. The Mallorcan sealed his 2010 championship title at Sepang and could potentially do the same this season, should Pedrosa fail to earn points. He’s not waiting for others’ mistakes though and is coming to Sepang looking for victory, a circuit he feels is better suited to the YZR-M1 than Motegi.

“So here we are back in Sepang, a track with difficult memories for all of us from Marco’s tragic accident last year,” commented Lorenzo. “It is also a track which has very good memories for me from 2010 when I became MotoGP World Champion. With three races left to go we must stay very focused and do our best to put on a good show this weekend. The track is maybe more suited to our bike than Motegi so we will be aiming for the best possible result.”

Stoner continues to suffer from pain in his right ankle, an issue that affected his ability to reach maximum lean angle at Motegi and which has fatigued other, typically unused muscles in his body as he compensates for the injury. The Australian rider was still able to take fifth in the Japanese Grand Prix, though he was over 20 seconds behind his teammate. Stoner won at Sepang in 2009 and is hoping the Malaysian circuit will be less demanding on his ankle than Motegi, which featured heavy braking and numerous tight turns.

“After a disappointing race in Japan, I'm looking forward to going to Malaysia, it's a track where I've had success at in the past,” said Stoner. “However, this weekend marks the anniversary of Marco's death so I'm sure it will be a strange feeling when we all get on track. It's going to be a hot weekend and it's a physically demanding circuit, my ankle isn't feeling very good after the race in Japan so I'll be resting it as much as possible this week before going on track on Friday. The track is a little smoother and more flowing so hopefully I won't have so many issues as I had in Japan."

Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso trails Stoner by just five points in fourth overall and will be pushing to finish ahead of the Repsol rider as he chases a third-place finish to the championship. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista finished ahead of Dovizioso at Motegi, earning his second podium of the season after announcing that he had signed on to ride with the San Carlo squad through 2013. He was able to move up to fifth overall and will be riding to protect his newly gained standing from Ducati’s Valentino Rossi, who trails by seven in sixth.

“I was delighted with the result at Motegi in Honda's home race, on a weekend when I agreed a new deal with Gresini Racing for 2013,” said Bautista. “Now we go to Sepang in good form but with a heavy heart because of the events of last year. The track itself suits our bike and my riding style, so we will work hard from the first lap to find the best possible setting for the race and then give our best as always to hang on to the guys at the front and maybe even repeat the result from Japan.”

Rossi has spent much of his season working hard with his Ducati team to improve the performance of the Desmosedici, but hasn’t seen the gains he was hoping for and was subdued in his comments regarding the round at Sepang. The Doctor knows it will be a tough battle, both to get the Duc in shape for the demanding course as well as to keep pace in the hot conditions.

“We’ll see what awaits us at Sepang, because we didn’t do very well there during the winter tests,” said Rossi. “Still, many months have passed since then, and now with the new frame and swingarm, the bike is better. The race and the whole weekend will certainly be very difficult because of the high temperatures, which present a challenge for both the bike and the riders. That said, it’s obviously not our first time, and we know what to expect. We’ll try to do our best.”

Rossi’s teammate Nicky Hayden continues to feel the sting of his fractured right radius and is hoping for a positive result at Sepang, which features less downhill braking than Motegi, a feature which might allow the American rider to push harder than in Japan. Dovizioso’s teammate Cal Crutchlow will also be looking for a better result than in the previous round. The British rider was in a spirited battle for third with Bautista until the final lap when he ran out of fuel, giving him a DNF for the round. He slipped to seventh overall as a result but only trails Rossi by two points. LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl placed sixth at Motegi, but was plagued by arm-pump problems which affected his ability to push for position. Lorenzo’s teammate Ben Spies is another rider looking for redemption at Sepang, having run off track and hitting a wall at Motegi after his brakes overheated. He was uninjured but was unable to return to competition.

“It’s a strange feeling to come back here after last year,” said Spies. “We will honor Sic in the best way we know how, by going out on track and giving 100% as always. Last weekend was yet another disappointment with brake issues, I really hope we can have a trouble free time here in Sepang and show our true podium potential.”

Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro continues to lead the CRT effort in 12th overall, but his teammate Randy de Puniet is just two points back in 13th. De Puniet crashed out of competition at Motegi on the first lap and is going to fight for a better showing in Malaysia.

Following the memorial for Marco Simoncelli on Thursday, free practice sessions begin Friday followed by qualifying on Saturday and the main event Sunday.