Japanese Grand Prix delayed due to nuclear plant breach – MotoGP news
After the earthquake followed by tsunami hit the Japan on 11 March, the Japanese MotoGP Grand Prix was in doubt to be delayed down on the MotoGP event calendar. But still the tragic event remains the question about the happening of Motegi Circuit,
Japan.
Japan was hit by an earthquake of 9.0 magnitude on the Richter scale, with tsunami hit later increasing the scale of disaster. This is the consecutive second year in which the Japanese race has been delayed from spring to October. Last
year’s delay was caused by the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull, causing the European air traffic to halt.
Due to the disaster, the race has been postponed from April 24 to October 2 later this year. The new scheduled is 14 days after the Grand Prix of Aragon and 14 days prior the Australian Grand Prix, shifting down to fifteenth place from the third place
on MotoGP calendar.
The circuit of Twin Ring Motegi is 120Km in north form the Tokyo city, and the main factor for the disruption is the nuclear plant devastated after the shocks breached the reactor. The circuit in Motegi-Mito is 160Km south of the Fukushima reactor,
which causes an environmental threat.
The reports have also revealed that the Motegi circuit has been also damaged including the facilities, hotels, highways, and city structure of Motegi-Mito. The real damage is yet to be seen, as the facts and figure are rising as temperature, revealing
thousands of deaths and demolished structures. The giant automobile manufacturers like Honda, Toyota have shut down due to the situation until further notice.
As the final pre-season test was concluded Monday night at Losail Circuit, Qatar, the equipment was shipped by the Japanese manufacturers and tyres from Bridgestone by Japan to the venue before the earthquake incident, in accordance to the first race
of the season is at Qatar this weekend. Bridgestone is the only and exclusive tyre company to provide tires for MotoGP bikes.
Japanese factory and satellite racing teams have European bases for operations but are depended on factories in Japan for the racing engines, new and rebuilt including their spare parts and supplies. According to the new recent rules riders are restricted
to six engines for an 18-race season, which means the engines are durable, and reducing the number of new engine requirement.
Ezpeleta said, “I have spoken to persons at the circuit where, fortunately, there has been no loss of life among workers and where damage has been slight. Nevertheless, more than the physical conditions at the track, we are concerned about the psychological
state of the country as regards the races scheduled for April 24. If they want to go ahead with their Grand Prix, we will go ahead. If they want to postpone, we will postpone. If they want to cancel, we will cancel. MotoGP will do whatever the Japanese request.”
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