Motegi, 23 September: Honda LCR rider Carlos Checa finished eighteenth in a rain hit Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi today. Checa was delayed by an early pitstop to change bikes in this flag-to-flag race which started under wet conditions. Checa was anticipating that his spare bike would be fitted with slick tyres as a dry line gradually formed, all riders having started with wet weather tyres. However with the conditions constantly changing, as Checa entered the pits the team were still working hard to switch from intermediate settings to full dry settings, and the best compromise was forced upon the team.

CHECA: Eighteenth - Championship: 14th/54 points

CHECA: “At the start I had some doubts about using wet tyres or slicks, but it was too risky not to start on wet weather tyres. When the rear began to slide too much so I stopped on lap five to change bikes. But we lost some seconds as the Team was still working on a different setting because of the rapid change in track conditions. We had planned a front treaded tyre on the grid for the spare bike, and there hadn’t been time to change it. Unfortunately it was impossible to go any faster than this on a drying track in the second part of the race.”

In the 250cc Grand Prix Eugene Laverty was fast in the wet conditions early in the race, making up eight positions to 13th after four laps. But he was unhappy to finish 19th after suffering from a lack of rear grip.

LAVERTY: “The opening laps were great, I thought I had a chance to score points but after seven laps I couldn’t stay on the pace of the other riders. The track was really slippery and the rear grip just dropped down after seven laps, I struggled towards the end.”