Jorge targets Motegi victory

THE MOTOGP championship begins a triple-header in Motegi, Japan this weekend which will be immediately followed by back-toback races in Australia and Malaysia.

Jorge Lorenzo trails his Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi by just 14 points in the standings, after the Spaniard won his home race at Aragon two weeks ago. With Rossi only managing third place behind an inspired Dani Pedrosa (Honda), it allowed Lorenzo to reduce the gap by nine points, while reigning champion Marc Marquez dramatically crashed out on the second lap to effectively put himself out of title contention with four rounds to go. It was the Spaniard’s fifth non-finish of the year and he now trails Rossi by 79 points, and comes into the Japanese GP having broken his left hand in a cycling accident.

Rossi has stood on the Motegi podium ten times but his last victory there was back in 2008, and Lorenzo will be the man to beat after having won there the last two seasons. – Motoring Correspondent