MotoGP - Dani Pedrosa Storms to Victory in Japan

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) stormed to a personal best fifth MotoGP win of the season at Twin Ring Motegi, the circuit owned by Honda and with Honda Motor Company President Takanobu Ito cheering him on. Adding to the celebration was that Pedrosa was joined on the podium by San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Alvaro Bautista, who earned his second MotoGP podium a day after it was announced he had re-signed with the Gresini Honda team. And in his return to racing after a two month injury lay-off, world champion Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC213V) finished fifth as he prepares to be as race fit as possible for his home grand prix at Phillip Island in two weeks’ time.

Starting from the middle of the front row, Pedrosa stalked early leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) until the 12th of 24 laps, when he made a clean pass in the right hand turn five. Pedrosa controlled the pace for the duration, opening up a second gap on the 14th lap and pushing it up to 1.6s a lap later. The gap remained constant until there were four laps to go when he put it near two seconds and over on lap.

By winning for the second year in a row at Motegi, Pedrosa closed the championship points gap on Lorenzo to 28, 310 to 282,with three races remaining. Stoner sits third in the championship with 197 points.

The victory was also a celebration of Twin Ring Motegi, the circuit which signed on to host the Japanese Grand Prix through 2018. Bautista caught up to Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) on the 14th lap and the fight for third was on. The Spaniard patiently waited until the 20th lap before making his move. Crutchlow tried to strike back, but Bautista had the counter-measure. The race for the final podium spot went down to the final lap but ended prematurely when Crutchlow ran out of gas. That gave Bautista a clean path to his second MotoGP podium. (He was also third in the San Marino Grand Prix.) And the podium moved him to a career high fifth in the championship.

Stoner was not sure what to expect when the race started. His surgically repaired right ankle gave him limited mobility and denied him the lean angle needed to get around the track’s many slow corners. He was also on a race bike for the first time in two months, using muscles that had mostly lain dormant since the accident in Indianapolis.

Stoner was up as high as fourth before being passed by Andrea Dovizioso (Yamaha) seven laps from the finish. By then he was physically exhausted, both from having to compensate for his injured ankle and the demands of racing, which he had not experienced for months.

Still, it was an important first step on his return to the race track. Now he has a few days off before the steamy heat of Malaysia, then his home grand prix at his beloved Phillip Island, where he will be looking to win for the sixth time in succession.

Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) finished four seconds behind Stoner while battling a pair of issues. The first was mechanical. Damage from a crash in qualifying prevented him from steering his LCR Honda MotoGP RC213V properly. The carry-on effect was that he had to ride the motorcycle differently and after 10 laps began to feel the onset of arm pump.

Dani Pedrosa

Repsol Honda: Race winner
“It was a hard race because the pace was very fast from the beginning. I tried to understand the bike, as yesterday we had a lot of chatter so I didn't know how it would be today. In the beginning it wasn't too bad, but then it got a little worse during the race. I managed it as best I could and I stayed with Jorge [Lorenzo], I was able to get a better line out of the corner and pass him and then I put in some good laps and controlled the gap. Jorge tried to stay with me, but then decided to settle for the second place.

We did what we needed to do and it's just a pity that there is no one else who can stay with us because every race I win, he's been second. But anyway, it's a great feeling to win races and we are doing it now. Thanks to Honda and the whole team, I'm really happy to win again here in Motegi!”

Jorge Lorenzo

Yamaha Factory Racing 2nd
“I was completely at the maximum trying to stay with Dani but today we had such different performance on the straights and he was also riding really well. I tried to stay with him but it was impossible, maybe next time it will be different. For sure the Championship is closer now, but we are still very competitive and have the chance to win.”

Casey Stoner

Repsol Honda: 5th
"I'm a little disappointed to be honest. We slowly improved over the weekend and got the bike to a point we were pretty happy with in warm up. At the start of the race I felt had the pace to stay with Dani [Pedrosa] and Jorge [Lorenzo] and the bike was feeling pretty good. Then as the race progressed my body started to suffer and ache in ways I didn't expect. We had the pace to run a lot higher and be on the podium but unfortunately I couldn't manage it physically today. A big thanks to my team, they gave me a fantastic bike today, but I couldn't do anymore in my condition.”