Grand Prix of Malaysia, Sepang, October 8, 9, 10, 2004

TITLE CHASE TIGHTENS IN THE TROPICS AT SEPANG

Sete Gibernau (Telefonica MoviStar Honda RC211V) is now right back in the hunt for MotoGP glory after a commanding performance in the heat of Qatar last week. His win, and his Yamaha rival Valentino Rossi's fall, puts him a mere 14 points behind the Italian World Champion in his bid for the premier class title.

Both riders have now failed to score in two races and further DNFs for either will surely spell disaster with just three races to go. Max Biaggi (Camel Honda RC211V), despite strenuous efforts to get back on terms with the leading pair, is surely now out of the running with 168 points to Rossi's 229 and Gibernau's 215.

But with Honda's MotoGP riders now finding the form that enabled five RC211V runners to finish in the top six at the Losail International Racetrack in Qatar, Rossi might well be deprived of valuable points at Sepang.

Gibernau's team-mate Colin Edwards (Telefonica MoviStar Honda RC211V) finished second in Qatar and admitted there was nothing he could do to match Sete's scorching pace. If Gibernau can maintain momentum and remain the main Honda man as the season concludes, the sheer weight of numbers might tell against Rossi.

Honda field six RC211Vs at Sepang, Yamaha four YZR M-1s. Only one Yamaha rider finished in the dusty cauldron of Qatar - and the heat and humidity in Malaysia may well be a telling factor this weekend too.

The pressure of back-to-back racing will be a factor too. With limited time to regroup after Qatar, the teams will be under severe pressure to remedy any faults brought to light in the gruelling heat of the middle east where track temperature was a record 58 degrees.

Track temperatures are high in Malaysia at around the 45 to 50 degree mark, with ambient temperatures nudging the high thirties. But there is 80% humidity. This can often prove more debilitating to riders than sheer heat.

Sepang has two long straights, fast open turns, one left/right flick, and a tight left turn onto the start/finish straight. Hard braking at the end of the two straights requires a stable set-up while sheer power and a high top speed are at a premium too. The wide track offers plenty of overtaking opportunities.

Sete is taking Sepang as just another event, and not as a pivotal moment in the title race. "I'm not thinking about the title, just thinking of it as another race. I left Qatar with 25 points and now I'm going somewhere I like, so we'll see what happens in the heat here. Qatar was a good test of how strong we are in those sorts of conditions."

For Colin Edwards this is another chance to get a late season charge together. "That was another good race and Sepang will be hot again. I know the track because I raced there last year and we tested there twice so I'm looking forward to getting a strong result there."

Alex Barros (Repsol Honda RC211V) said, "I'm looking forward to Sepang. I've good memories from there in 2002 when I was on pole and on the podium in the race. The track is very technical and you have to really understand the set-up to get the best out of your machine there. This year we arrive there straight from Doha - so we're used to the heat - but I think Sepang will be more humid. We have the capability to win here - so that's what we'll be trying to do."

His team-mate Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) who was fourth here last year is all set to finish his second season in MotoGP strongly. "When I first went there I was lost," he said. "The circuit is big and wide, it's a fun track and all about getting into a good rhythm and putting the turns together. We had some good tests there before the season, but a lot has changed and we've had a hard year. We've got to regroup and really push here."

Max is upbeat despite a run of ill fortune. "They say 'bad luck comes in threes', and we've had three really unlucky races from whichever way you look at it," he said. "They're done with now and I now hope to turn the page over on all that. I actually think I did that already in Qatar, when I came sixth after a particularly difficult race. Sepang is a track I like, I've won there twice and I was on the podium in 2003."

Makoto Tamada (Camel Honda RC211V) riding on Bridgestone tires, is ready for the challenge too. "It was disappointing in Qatar," he said. "And even harder because it came after the great race in Motegi. I just didn't feel confident in the front end of the bike, a nasty sensation for any rider. I hope this problem doesn't repeat itself at Sepang because I want to fight for the win."

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MotoGP set-up report - Malaysia

Sepang, Malaysia 5/10/2004

Round 14: Sepang, Malaysia
Track length: 5548 m
Opened: 1999
Fastest Lap Ever: 2' 2.480 (Valentino Rossi, 2003)
MotoGP lap record: 2' 3.822 (Valentino Rossi, 2003)
Last year MotoGP winner: Valentino Rossi

2003 race summary Valentino Rossi (Honda) claimed his third consecutive premier class title after a dominating performance at the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix. The flamboyant Italian only needed to finish one place behind his main championship rival Sete Gibernau (Honda) to clinch the number one plate. But, despite the risks, Rossi steamed past the competition to cross the line 2.042 seconds ahead of Gibernau to finish the race with a 63point lead over Gibernau, with only two rounds remaining.

Factory Yamaha Team rider Carlos Checa, who'd qualified second behind Rossi for today's 21 lap race, produce a solid start to enter turn one in third place. The Spaniard trailed Gibernau and Loris Capirossi (Ducati) on the opening lap before fending off a challenge from the champion elect. Staying focused Checa produce a string of fast and consistent laps, but eventually he had to relinquish second to a determined Rossi. Unperturbed, the 30-year-old continued to chase race leaders Gibernau and Rossi, before eventually coming under the attack of Max Biaggi (Honda) and Nicky Hayden (Honda) - leaving Checa to finish a respectable fifth.

Shinya Nakano (Yamaha) put in yet another strong performance to finish eighth despite a poor start, while Yamaha rider Marco Melandri was not so fortunate. After suffering from a lack of grip for the duration of the race, in addition to a poor qualifying result and difficult start to the race, the 2002 GP250 World Champion ended the 14th round of the season with a disappointing 11th place.

For the Yamaha Tech 3 Team the Malaysian Grand Prix was a weekend to forget with Alex Barros crashing out of the race as early as turn two, while Olivier Jacque never even made the race start. The former managed to remount his lightly damaged M1 to finish the race 15th, while Jacque opted not to race after still suffering from light-headedness following his Friday crash.

Set-up report YZR-M1 Due to the Sepang circuit's hairpins and numerous hard braking areas a fast lap comes down to braking stability and the bike's turn-in characteristics. Two such areas include the combination of long straights and hairpins that make up the final sequence of the 5542m layout. The task is made a little easier, for the suspension technicians, with the track surface boasting a high level of grip and few bumps. At the same time it is a venue that also offers challenging high-speed sweepers - the first, diving down deep into a hollow before climbing back out the other side for a 90 degree right-hander. This corner alone has a tendency to load up the front of the bike to the extreme on the entry, and the rear on the exit. The other is a blind left-hander that disappears over an undulating crest, which ensures that keeping the back-end in line will be challenging even for the best MotoGP talent.

Therefore the ideal chassis set-up is somewhat compromised. With this approach the key areas of concern are catered for - such as braking stability and chassis agility under heavy loads. To help cater for both the suspension balance will be targeted towards a similar neutral feel as that used in Motegi. The front fork springs will be set slightly firmer - achieved with a higher spring rate - with the bike's attitude controlled by the spring preload.

Softer damper settings will improve feel, leaving the heavier springs to deal with the high cornering and braking forces. As for the rear shock, it will also carry a high spring rate, but the damping will still be smooth to give the riders the feel needed to get the power down hard and predictably, in conditions that can melt a rear tire in a matter of laps.

Aiding the Yamaha contingent at Malaysia will be the 2004 YZR-M1's in-line, four-cylinder power plant. It's more predictable and drivable power character offers improve tire endurance over the 2003 machine - a must in the steamy Sepang climate.

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DUCATI MARLBORO MEN MOVE FROM DESERT TO JUNGLE The Ducati Marlboro Team makes a flying visit to the tropics this week for the Marlboro Malaysian Grand Prix, round 14 of this year's 16-race MotoGP World Championship and the middle event of three back-to-back 'flyaway' races. Riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss should be ready for the steamy tropical heat of Sepang after riding through the burning heat of the Qatari desert at last weekend's Marlboro Qatar Grand Prix.

Once again the pair will be hoping for a rewarding weekend after a recent run of ill luck that has prevented them from scoring points at the last two rounds. Both men know that the Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP4 is capable of scoring podium finishes, now they just need some luck to help them prove that.

"The last couple of races haven't been very kind to us," says Ducati Marlboro Team director Livio Suppo. "But we feel that our time must come soon. The main thing is that the team is still in good spirits, the bike is working well and the riders are still full of fight. We're therefore looking forward to Sepang very much - surely we now deserve a straightforward and successful weekend!"

Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli knows what is required for this high-speed track carved out of the jungle adjacent to Kuala Lumpur's international airport. "The main thing you need from the bike at Sepang is a good balance," he says. "The weather conditions are very tough for this race, like they were at Losail last weekend, so we try and make the bike as comfortable and easy to handle, so the riders can keep riding hard all the way to the finish."

Heat, humidity and 340kmh bike racing isn't all the team has to worry about this weekend. The logistics involved in getting the Ducati Marlboro Team around the world for this series of three 'flyaway' races are massively complex. The team's freight - 10,000 kilos packed in 40 crates - is carried around the globe in three Jumbo 747 cargo planes as part of the MotoGP paddock's 300 tonnes of freight. All the team's freight will be transported out of Sepang on Sunday evening and should be at Phillip Island, venue for next Sunday's Australian GP, by Tuesday evening.

CAPIROSSI RARING TO GO AT SEPANG
Loris Capirossi failed to finish last Saturday's Marlboro Qatar Grand Prix at Losail, but he's raring to put that disappointment behind him at Sepang. The Ducati Marlboro Team man should be in better physical shape than he was last weekend, when he rode in some pain from the broken foot he sustained at last month's Japanese GP.

"Sepang is a great track, I like it very much, so I just hope that the bike also likes it!" Says Capirossi who has scored one premier-class podium at the track. "The tropical weather always makes this a tough race - for the riders, for the bikes and for the tires. The conditions will be similar to Qatar but maybe more humid. I like Sepang because it's a very technical circuit with a good range of corners - fast, slow, downhill, uphill, so it's got a bit of everything. It has also got two long straights which should be good for us because our bike is always very fast. Finally I like it because it's so wide, which makes it good for fighting. Last time we went there was during winter testing. We had some problems then but the bike is much better now, so I think we should be okay."

BAYLISS AIMS TO BE BACK IN THE POINTS
Troy Bayliss made his Sepang debut this time last year, finishing his first race at the challenging venue inside the top ten. This weekend the Ducati Marlboro Team rider hopes to better his 2003 result after a difficult couple of races since the MotoGP paddock left Europe last month.

"Sepang will be like Qatar - hot and hard - and a real test of your strength and stamina," says Aussie Bayliss. "The weather can be pretty tough, it's always humid but I guess we'll be pretty used to the heat after Qatar last weekend. But Sepang is different from Qatar because you never know what the weather's going to do - sometimes a storm can pop up for the race when you least expect it. It's a fast and flowing track, so I don't mind it. It's also pretty wide, which is good for the racing because there's plenty of room for you to get into a turn side by side with the other guys. I'm looking forward to it because it's about time we had some luck!"

THE TRACK Sepang is the second longest track on the MotoGP World Championship calendar, after Assen, and boasts the longest-lasting lap in Grand Prix racing, several seconds longer than the Dutch venue.

The Malaysian GP venue is also one of the widest racetracks in the world, putting riders and machines to the test with an excellent variety of corners and high-speed straights. Withering heat and humidity are further challenges, not only for riders and machines, but also for technicians and everyone else working in pit lane.

Sepang hosted its first Grand Prix in April 1999 and was an instant hit with riders and teams. The state-of-the-art complex, built adjacent to Kuala Lumpur's brand-new international airport, took circuit and infrastructure design to a new level, combining a fast, safe track layout with ultra-impressive pit, media and corporate facilities.

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SUZUKI TARGETS SEPANG TOP 5

Team Suzuki Press Office - October 6, 2004.

Team Suzuki MotoGP riders John Hopkins and two-race substitute Yukio Kagayama have one goal in mind for next Sunday's Malaysian GP - to achieve even better results than at the previous weekend's Qatar GP.

The two riders finished eighth and 11th at the brand-new desert circuit, both scoring points as they and their machines survived a race of attrition in searing 40-degree heat. But Hopkins expects better at Sepang, a favourite circuit; while Kagayama can rely on his growing experience of the Suzuki GSV-R MotoGP bike and the Bridgestone tires to raise his own level in his second race on the machine. Kagayama is riding in place of injured 2000 World Champion Kenny Roberts Jr.

Round 14 of 16, the Malaysian GP is the middle of a trio of high-intensity "flyaway" Gps that bring the season towards the finale at Valencia on October 30. A race a week is the programme, with the inaugural Qatar GP, the Malaysian round, and then another long flight to Australia's Phillip Island.

For the Suzuki men, it is another chance to underline the steady pace of improvement of the latest version of the GSV-R, which has had two significant boosts during the season, giving a leg-up to the normal race-by-race programme of development. The first was revised firing intervals, introduced in the first half of the year; the second was a new set of exhaust pipes, which made their debut at the Japanese GP.

These developments had the effect of improving throttle response and boosting mid-range power to make a more rider-friendly motorcycle. This makes it easier for the riders to exploit the good handling of the Suzuki chassis and the ever-improving performance of the new-this-season Bridgestone tires.

Improving results reflect the changes. Both Roberts and Hopkins were eliminated from the Japanese GP, among five innocent victims of Loris Capirossi, who lost control on the entry to the first corner of the Motegi circuit. Even before that, however, the Suzuki riders had become regular challengers for the front row of the grid (Hopkins followed Roberts's pole position at Rio with his career-first front-row start at Motegi), while Hopkins was sixth in the Portuguese GP, the 11th round, the machine's best result in a very competitive year.

Kagayama's task is multi-fold. Fresh from third in the competitive BSB Superbike championship, where his Suzuki GSX-R1000-riding team-mate John Reynolds won the title, the Japanese rider is more than just a substitute. His input is another tool for engineers working to maximise the potential of the machine. He has the advantage of experience at Sepang, finishing 11th as a wild card Suzuki rider in 1999.

"Malaysia can be a difficult race, because of the possibility of extreme heat - but after our experiences at Qatar, we can face that problem with confidence," said team manager Garry Taylor. "Although seven out of the 22 factory machines suffered some sort of mechanical failure in the desert, the Suzukis didn't skip a beat."

JOHN HOPKINS - AIMING FOR THE TOP FIVE:

"I'm looking forward to this race. We've tested at Sepang with Bridgestone, so we know they work pretty well there. The track has good grip, so we can make up anything we lose in straight-line speed in the corners. Out of all the GP tracks, it's probably the track I know the best, even though I didn't race there last year. I like tracks where there is very hard braking - that suits me fine. As I've said before, if I'm not in the top five there, I'll be disappointed."

YUKIO KAGAYAMA - MAKING IT BETTER FOR KENNY:

"I enjoyed my first race on the new GSV-R and the new tires at Qatar and the team did a really good job getting the bike set up for my style. It still wasn't perfect for me but we have a good place to start for this coming race. I also have experience at the track. I want to have fun, but the important thing is to try to help with machine development. If I can make the bike better for Kenny when he comes back, then I will be satisfied."

ABOUT THIS RACE:

The first Malaysian GP was held in 1991 at the Shah Alam circuit on the outskirts of the capital Kuala Lumpur - and since then it has become a firm fixture on the calendar. Shah Alam remained its home until 1997, but while the technical track was interesting, facilities were poor, and in 1998 it moved for one year to Johor in the south of the Malaysian peninsula. That was only temporary because the fine new Sepang circuit was soon to be constructed on a newly-developed site close to the new Kuala Lumpur international airport, some way outside the city. The circuit was inaugurated with the motorcycle GP in 1999 and has since then also become a highly regarded F1 venue and a popular testing circuit, as well as regular home to the motorcycle GP.

ABOUT THIS TRACK:

The huge glass-clad pit buildings and arched-roof grandstands are the first striking thing about the Sepang circuit, where little expense was spared to provide ultra-modern facilities for a world-class racing facility. Nothing was stinted for the circuit either, which was laid out round an unfashionably long lap of 3.447 miles (5.548km), making it one of the longer circuits on the motorcycle calendar. A technically interesting layout comprises mainly medium-speed bends with the lap finishing with a pair of straights linked by a hairpin and running up and down the vast doubler-sided grandstand.

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