Due to the earthquake and the natural disasters that followed in the Asian country last month, the MotoGP officials have decided to postpone the Japanese GP from mid-April to early October. As far as Honda is concerned, some officials have hinted that parts shortage might become a problem in the late stages of the 2011 season, since work hours at the manufacturer's Saitama HQ has been reduced significantly.
“The continuation of the project will be okay pending any other problems in Japan,” insisted Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis, according to Autosport. “We have a stock of most parts and we don't foresee a problem.”
“The Yamaha HQ at Shizuoka is all okay and the test track at Fukuroi that's two hours south of Tokyo on the bullet train is fine too. Sugo, a track owned by Yamaha, has some damage but that's further north,” he added.
Needless to say, Yamaha will need all the help they can get to catch Honda this season, especially since the form showcased by Casey Stoner during the winter testing and season opening Qatar GP has been nothing short of impressive.
After dominating the Qatar round from beginning to end, Honda took top spots in both practice sessions at Jerez earlier today, setting the stage for yet another breathtaking performance for the second racing weekend running. Whether Yamaha will have what it takes to mess with that, we'll see in a couple of days.
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