Hirakawa’s temporary teammate Sena Sakaguchi led the first half of the 82-lap contest from pole position, keeping the #14 Rookie Racing Toyota Supra of Kazuya Oshima at bay as the two circulated the track well clear of the remainder of the field. However, the race slipped away from Sakaguchi and Hirakawa after an incident for Yudai Uchida in the #360 Tomei Sports Nissan GT300, with almost the entire field heading into the pits to avoid being caught out by the safety car. Sakaguchi and Oshima entered the pits virtually nose-to-tail at the end of lap 33, with Yuhi Sekiguchi in the #36 TOM’S Supra following them another 15 seconds behind in third. TV pictures showed TOM’S mechanics pushing back the #37 Supra now driven by Hirakawa into the fast lane after completing the pitstop, losing the lead in the process. When a clear order emerged behind the safety car, the Rookie Racing Toyota of Oshima’s teammate Kenta Yamashita took the net lead from Sho Tsuboi in the #36 TOM’S … [Read more...] about Hirakawa explains pitstop that cost TOM’S Okayama win
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Petrucci feels he is “too big” for KTM MotoGP bike
After losing his place at Ducati, the Italian has taken over the Tech 3 seat vacated by factory rider Miguel Oliveira. Tech 3 managed to win two races in 2020 courtesy of Oliveira, but has endured a difficult start to the 2021 campaign with Petrucci. He qualified 21st and 17th for the opening two rounds in Qatar, crashing out of round one at the second corner and struggling to 19th in last weekend’s Doha Grand Prix. Petrucci says he is using an “extreme” set-up on his KTM which gave him a better feeling for the Doha race, but the paddock’s tallest rider says his size was costing him under acceleration and forcing him to overstress his front tyre as he tried to recoup lost time in braking. “I felt really, really good and we saw something better in practice,” Petrucci said after the Doha race. “But the fact was the first lap, I cannot really stay with the top guys because everybody passed me because I notice on acceleration since [warm-up] that we lose too much. … [Read more...] about Petrucci feels he is “too big” for KTM MotoGP bike