by Tracy Hagen
Honda’s Dani Pedrosa took his fifth victory of the year with a win over his championship rival Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) at Japan today. With three races to go Pedrosa trails Lorenzo by 28 points.
Click on graph for hi-res version.
Third place went to Alvaro Bautista (Honda) after a tough race against Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha). Crutchlow was a lonely third for much of the race but Bautista crept up on the Brit with four laps left to go. Bautista passed Crutchlow with four laps to go, and Crutchlow passed Bautista with three laps to go. Bautista charged back immediately and the two riders made brief contact. With two laps left to go Crutchlow nearly hit the rear tire of Bautista. On the final lap Crutchlow’s race came to the end after the fuel tank went dry. Bautista scored his second MotoGP podium of the year and his career.
Crutchlow’s teammate Andrea Dovizioso finished fourth but was not in contention for a podium finish having suffered brake problems on his Yamaha.
World champion Casey Stoner finished fifth in his return to racing after injuring his ankle at Indianapolis.
Stefan Bradl (Honda) came home a disappointing sixth and a short ways a away from Stoner after racing Stoner and Dovizioso over the first half of the race.
Valentino Rossi scored seventh after riding the race all by himself.
Rossi’s teammate, Nicky Hayden, was probably a bit envious of Rossi’s race. Hayden had Yamaha test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga on his tail from start to finish.
Ben Spies crashed out today at the start of the second lap while running in third place.
The CRT superbikes were greatly out-paced at Motegi yet there was plenty of drama in the minor league race. Randy De Puniet, the usual CRT division winner, crashed on the first lap and retired at mid-race. De Puniet’s teammate, Aleix Espargaro was the top CRT rider with Colin Edwards a couple seconds behind.
In the post-race press conference neither Pedrosa or Lorenzo looked particularly happy. The way things are going Pedrosa will win all the remaining races and lose the championship while Lorenzo will lose the remaining races yet win the championship.
Next race: Sepang, October 21.
Rider Files 