Japanese GP - Round 12 - MotoGP
Motegi - Sunday, September 18th 2005 - Race

Difficult race-day for Barros and Ukawa in Japan

It was a particularly tough day in Japan for the Camel Honda team, with both
riders forced to finish the race early. Tohru Ukawa was out on the fourth lap
after a small technical hitch. Alex Barros was running sixth when he crashed at
the penultimate left corner before the straight, due to the oil left on track by
the engine failure of Nakano.

Sito Pons - Camel Honda

"After three years of victories for our team here at Motegi I'm disappointed the
winning streak has ended. Tohru had a problem with the engine and had to come
in. it was his first race for us this year, and I thought that here at his home
race, he could have picked up a decent result. I'm also disappointed about
Alex's crash because it's the first time this season that neither of our riders
crossed the finish line. That's racing sometimes, things don't always go as you
plan and you have to take it. Next Sunday in Malaysia we will have the chance to
make up for this."

Alex Barros - Camel Honda -  crashed on lap thirteen

"I didn't get the best of starts, and I soon realised that without having been
able to sort the forks set-up out this weekend, it was hard to be efficient
under braking. On top of that it was also much hotter than yesterday and the
tyres were suffering, mine as much as the others. Anyway, I was picking up
positions, albeit with difficulty, and I had Hopkins in my sights when the bike
went away from me. At the moment I don't know why,  but I knew that it was a
strange crash because I crashed when I was heading into a left turn, but I was
still upright. Then Colin (Edwards) who was right behind , told me that I
touched a spot of oil left on the track by Nakano and which wasn't flagged. It's
a shame because I was riding focused after seeing Sete slide out in front of me.
Crashing was exactly what I wanted to avoid at all costs, because even though I
knew I couldn't' do the greatest race, I could still pick up important points to
keep up at the top of the championship. Now it's a whole lot more difficult but
there are still five races beginning with Malaysia, in just a week's time, where
we had some good pre-season testing."

Tohru Ukawa - Camel Honda -   retired on lap four

"I'm really disappointed with how the race went, and would have loved to battle
for a top spot here. Instead not long after the start I felt that there was
something wrong and then on the fourth lap something happened to the engine and
I was forced to retire."