Another major stronghold in the resistance to the Japanese round of MotoGP has crumbled: the Yamaha Factory Racing team has announced that the team and both of its riders will attend the Motegi MotoGP race on October 2nd of this year. The announcement means that both Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies will be present at Motegi, lining up alongside the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team - the first team to officially announce they would be going - of Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow, as well as Hector Barbera and the Mapfre Aspar team.
Jorge Lorenzo was one of the first riders to state categorically that he would not go to Japan, leading a general revolt against the decision at Barcelona after a debate which had kicked off at Le Mans, and was soon joined by most of the MotoGP riders, with the backing of many team members and crew. Lorenzo found a powerful ally in Casey Stoner: with both championship contenders initially refusing to race, the grid felt they were capable of withstanding the pressure from Dorna and the race organizers to attend the race. Behind the scenes, Valentino Rossi lobbied hard to have the race either scrapped or moved to Suzuka, both using his acknowledged political power inside the paddock, and representing many people inside the paddock who came to him because of his unique position.
Kyle Busch Toyota Kimmy Z Line Designs Toyota Parker Kligerman
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