22006 MotoGP Championship - Round 13 - Sepang, Malaysia - September 8/9/10

Konica Minolta Preview

The KONICA MINOLTA Honda Team gets ready to start the series of three extra Europe GPs with the demanding rounds of Malaysia, Australia and Japan to be faced in quick succession starting from the coming week end.

The warm Sepang circuit will hold the thirteenth round of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship. It was built fifty kilometres south of Kuala Lumpur in 1999 using the most modern technologies and it immediately became a reference model for the new circuits, especially for the infrastructure conception with very wide and functional tribunes together with first quality service areas. The Sepang Grand Prix will be hard because of the humid and hot tropical weather characterizing this region.

Makoto Tamada moves towards the last phase of the season conscious that there are still many important possibilities to obtain the results everybody expects. The Japanese rider likes the Malaysian circuit and declares to be absolutely motivated to do his best and try to struggle for the leading positions. In Malaysia Tamada obtained his best result in 2004 ending up the GP in fifth position with a total time of
43’50.301”.

Gianluca Montiron – KONICA MINOLTA Honda General Director
“The next three GPs to be run off in three weeks will be very important for the expected good results Makoto will try to get riding on circuits he likes and also because in this phase, we are working to define the programme to be developed in the 2007 season. During the latest weeks, I had the opportunity to meet all the Team members and I was happy to see that they are still determined to do well as at the beginning of the season. We leave for this long challenge outside Europe willing to give a sense to this season that, up to now, has not been too exciting for us.”

Makoto Tamada – KONICA MINOLTA Honda Rider
“I like the Sepang track. I’ll reach it motivated, as usual. I hope to be able to get good results not only for me but for my Team and everybody supporting me as well. After the Brno race, I stayed in Japan for a couple of weeks of preparation. I’m aware of the necessity to obtain good results and I also know that the season is quickly approaching its last part; but now, I’ll ride on tracks suitable to my characteristics and for this, I feel confident and determined.”

Giulio Bernardelle –KONICA MINOLTA Honda Technical Director
“Since the beginning of the MotoGP era, Sepang has been one of the most used circuits for tests, especially during winter. Starting from 2003, here we covered several thousands of kilometres with Makoto who knows the track to perfection. The track is very wide and presents, at the end of the lap, two long straights divided by a large left hairpin turn the MotoGP ride in second gear. It’s also a very demanding circuit for engines; they must show all their power in the long acceleration tracts.”