2003 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix

The 2003 Japanese Motorcycle Grand Prix was the first round of the 2003 MotoGP Championship. It took place on the weekend of 4–6 April 2003 at Suzuka. The meeting was overshadowed by the death of Daijiro Kato in the MotoGP race, after he crashed at 130R and hit the barrier at high speed in the ensuing Casio Triangle. Since the accident, Suzuka has failed to reappear on the calendar, with the Japanese Grand Prix moving to Twin Ring Motegi, the previous home of the Pacific Grand Prix.

  2003 Japanese Grand Prix
Race details
Race 1 of 16 races in the
2003 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date6 April 2003
Official nameSKYY vodka Grand Prix of Japan[1][2]
LocationSuzuka Circuit
Course
  • Permanent racing facility
  • 5.824 km (3.619 mi)
MotoGP
Pole position
Rider Valentino Rossi Honda
Time 2:06.838
Fastest lap
Rider Valentino Rossi Honda
Time 2:04.970 on lap 6
Podium
First Valentino Rossi Honda
Second Max Biaggi Honda
Third Loris Capirossi Ducati
250 cc
Pole position
Rider Hiroshi Aoyama Honda
Time 2:17.930
Fastest lap
Rider Hiroshi Aoyama Honda
Time 2:09.839 on lap 17
Podium
First Manuel Poggiali Aprilia
Second Hiroshi Aoyama Honda
Third Yuki Takahashi Honda
125 cc
Pole position
Rider Alex de Angelis Aprilia
Time 2:15.417
Fastest lap
Rider Stefano Perugini Aprilia
Time 2:14.282 on lap 6
Podium
First Stefano Perugini Aprilia
Second Mirko Giansanti Aprilia
Third Steve Jenkner Aprilia

MotoGP classification

After the Friday timed sessions Norifumi Abe, who was already competing in the event as a wild card entry, was designated as the replacement rider for the injured Marco Melandri.[3]

Pos. No. Rider Team Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 46 Valentino Rossi Repsol Honda Honda 21 44:13.182 1 25
2 3 Max Biaggi Camel Pramac Pons Honda 21 +6.445 2 20
3 65 Loris Capirossi Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 21 +8.209 15 16
4 15 Sete Gibernau Telefónica Movistar Honda Honda 21 +13.209 6 13
5 12 Troy Bayliss Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 21 +23.099 13 11
6 45 Colin Edwards Alice Aprilia Racing Aprilia 21 +29.040 9 10
7 69 Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Honda 21 +29.126 22 9
8 4 Alex Barros Gauloises Yamaha Team Yamaha 21 +30.526 8 8
9 56 Shinya Nakano D'Antin Yamaha Team Yamaha 21 +33.447 10 7
10 7 Carlos Checa Fortuna Yamaha Team Yamaha 21 +40.200 4 6
11 17 Norifumi Abe Fortuna Yamaha Team Yamaha 21 +44.790 14 5
12 41 Noriyuki Haga Alice Aprilia Racing Aprilia 21 +1:03.358 17 4
13 21 John Hopkins Suzuki Grand Prix Team Suzuki 21 +1:03.950 12 3
14 10 Kenny Roberts Jr. Suzuki Grand Prix Team Suzuki 21 +1:04.085 7 2
15 19 Olivier Jacque Gauloises Yamaha Team Yamaha 21 +1:09.990 21 1
16 8 Garry McCoy Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 21 +1:16.572 20
17 88 Andrew Pitt Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 21 +1:17.380 23
18 48 Akira Yanagawa Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 21 +1:23.605 18
19 25 Tamaki Serizawa Moriwaki Racing WCM MD211VF Proto 21 +1:35.459 16
20 11 Tohru Ukawa Camel Pramac Pons Honda 21 +1:57.128 3
Ret 6 Makoto Tamada Pramac Honda Honda 12 Accident 5
Ret 9 Nobuatsu Aoki Proton Team KR Proton KR 7 Retirement 19
Ret 99 Jeremy McWilliams Proton Team KR Proton KR 6 Accident 24
Ret 74 Daijiro Kato Telefónica Movistar Honda Honda 2 Fatal accident 11
DNS 35 Chris Burns WCM Harris WCM Did not start
Sources: [4][5][6]

250 cc classification
Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 54 Manuel Poggiali Aprilia 19 41:36.284 23 25
2 92 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda 19 +1.373 1 20
3 72 Yuki Takahashi Honda 19 +1.496 7 16
4 5 Sebastián Porto Honda 19 +1.700 6 13
5 21 Franco Battaini Aprilia 19 +11.771 16 11
6 10 Fonsi Nieto Aprilia 19 +13.220 9 10
7 3 Roberto Rolfo Honda 19 +13.497 4 9
8 8 Naoki Matsudo Yamaha 19 +14.027 5 8
9 68 Tekkyu Kayoh Yamaha 19 +24.546 12 7
10 50 Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia 19 +42.722 8 6
11 6 Alex Debón Honda 19 +43.246 3 5
12 36 Erwan Nigon Aprilia 19 +47.871 21 4
13 11 Joan Olivé Aprilia 19 +1:09.405 30 3
14 16 Johan Stigefelt Aprilia 19 +1:09.779 13 2
15 96 Jakub Smrž Honda 19 +1:21.048 10 1
16 34 Eric Bataille Honda 19 +1:21.788 28
17 13 Jaroslav Huleš Yamaha 19 +1:35.538 15
18 57 Chaz Davies Aprilia 19 +1:38.489 29
19 18 Henk vd Lagemaat Honda 19 +1:41.507 25
20 98 Katja Poensgen Honda 18 +1 lap 26
Ret 33 Héctor Faubel Aprilia 18 Accident 18
Ret 15 Christian Gemmel Honda 17 Accident 24
Ret 26 Alex Baldolini Aprilia 17 Retirement 11
Ret 14 Anthony West Aprilia 15 Accident 17
Ret 24 Toni Elías Aprilia 14 Retirement 27
Ret 71 Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha 10 Accident 2
Ret 7 Randy de Puniet Aprilia 4 Retirement 20
Ret 28 Dirk Heidolf Aprilia 0 Accident 19
Ret 67 Tomoyoshi Koyama Yamaha 0 Accident 22
Ret 9 Hugo Marchand Aprilia 0 Retirement 14
Source: [7]

125 cc classification
Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 7 Stefano Perugini Aprilia 18 40:53.083 5 25
2 6 Mirko Giansanti Aprilia 18 +0.037 4 20
3 17 Steve Jenkner Aprilia 18 +1.033 13 16
4 4 Lucio Cecchinello Aprilia 18 +6.701 3 13
5 34 Andrea Dovizioso Honda 18 +8.594 8 11
6 41 Youichi Ui Aprilia 18 +8.940 18 10
7 22 Pablo Nieto Aprilia 18 +9.083 11 9
8 3 Dani Pedrosa Honda 18 +22.993 2 8
9 12 Thomas Lüthi Honda 18 +33.708 17 7
10 23 Gino Borsoi Aprilia 18 +34.234 20 6
11 36 Mika Kallio Honda 18 +34.280 34 5
12 24 Simone Corsi Honda 18 +35.245 28 4
13 11 Max Sabbatani Aprilia 18 +35.818 6 3
14 79 Gábor Talmácsi Aprilia 18 +35.945 23 2
15 42 Gioele Pellino Aprilia 18 +36.307 22 1
16 32 Fabrizio Lai Malaguti 18 +42.964 21
17 8 Masao Azuma Honda 18 +43.063 30
18 19 Álvaro Bautista Aprilia 18 +51.526 19
19 31 Julián Simón Malaguti 18 +57.880 24
20 65 Toshihisa Kuzuhara Honda 18 +58.129 25
21 58 Marco Simoncelli Aprilia 18 +58.412 15
22 63 Mike Di Meglio Aprilia 18 +1:16.078 33
23 10 Roberto Locatelli KTM 18 +1:17.164 27
24 25 Imre Tóth Honda 18 +1:21.140 31
25 14 Chris Martin Aprilia 18 +1:21.384 32
26 21 Leon Camier Honda 18 +1:56.001 36
27 67 Akio Tanaka Honda 17 +1 lap 37
Ret 66 Shuhei Aoyama Honda 17 Retirement 12
Ret 78 Péter Lénárt Honda 15 Accident 35
Ret 27 Casey Stoner Aprilia 8 Accident 7
Ret 33 Stefano Bianco Gilera 7 Accident 10
Ret 48 Jorge Lorenzo Derbi 7 Retirement 29
Ret 15 Alex de Angelis Aprilia 6 Accident 1
Ret 1 Arnaud Vincent KTM 2 Retirement 16
Ret 26 Emilio Alzamora Derbi 2 Retirement 14
Ret 80 Héctor Barberá Aprilia 1 Accident 9
Ret 68 Sadahito Suma Honda 1 Retirement 26
DNQ 64 Cheung Way On Honda Did not qualify
Source: [8]

Championship standings after the race (motoGP)

Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round one has concluded.[9]

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References
  1. "2003 Japanese MotoGP". Motorsportmagazine.com. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  2. Mitchell, Malcolm. "Suzuka Circuit - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  3. "Abe replaces Melandri at Fortuna Yamaha". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 5 April 2003. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  4. "2003 Japanese MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database". 13 June 2017.
  5. "SKYY Vodka Grand Prix of Japan – MotoGP – Race Classification" (PDF). MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 6 April 2003. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  6. "motogp.com · JAPANESE GRAND PRIX · MotoGP Race Classification 2003". www.motogp.com.
  7. "SKYY Vodka Grand Prix of Japan – 250cc – Race Classification" (PDF). MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 6 April 2003. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  8. "SKYY Vodka Grand Prix of Japan – 125cc – Race Classification" (PDF). MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 6 April 2003. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  9. "Standings" (PDF). resources.motogp.com. 2003. Retrieved 2019-08-22.
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2003 South African Grand Prix
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2004 Japanese Grand Prix
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