MotoGP Blog

Situated in Honda’s flagship “Mobilityland”, Motegi is an odd circuit within a circuit with two start/finish grids around the track and a tight, twisting character formed of straights punctuated by sharp corners. Agility is the order of the day.

With the rain and the reduction in the amount of track time at each event this season, the teams only had one 45-minute session in the dry to get the motorcycles tuned to the conditions and the track.

This would be a race of unknowns. On the grid, nobody really knew what they had underneath them. Would the tyres last? Right gearing? Hard enough suspension settings? As is the racer’s way, all these thoughts and concerns were gone with the lights. Rossi was off the line well, unlike Stoner who immediately had to contend with Vermeulen, showing his wet weather form in the dry for once. Back in the centre of the 4th row, Pedrosa pulled off one of his rocket starts, and seeing the riders in the three rows in front bunch over to the right side of the track swung his Honda out to the clear air on the left. Arriving at he first right-hander, he simply rode around the outside of the pack end up in front of Stoner, and by the third corner had Vermeulen in the bag too.

Stoner would later complain of judder from the front brake from the start of the race. He certainly looked to be unsure of the Ducati at first and slipped gradually backwards as he was mugged first by Lorenzo and then Dovizioso. One more slip in the rankings would be endured by the Aussie though - but not yet.

Meanwhile, out in front Rossi made hay while the Japanese sun shone. Quickly establishing a gap, he appeared to have the confidence in his set-up that the others lacked. Lorenzo made his move on Vermeulen to begin the chase of Rossi and Pedrosa.

Hayden’s race was ended early when rookie Takehashi outbraked himself and plunged into the back of the American, wiping both of them out. What does Hayden need to do to catch a break on the Ducati? A weekend without adding to his injuries would probably feel like a victory to him.

Further down the order, Melandri showed Toseland the edge of the track before closing in and making the pass he would have been dreaming of - taking the scalp of Stoner on the Ducati. Without hesitation Marco also passed Vermeulen. CV was beginning to suffer a failure of his quickshifter, and was fighting off Stoner, and both of them were gifted their places back by a wide-running Melandri. Melandri then spent the next couple of laps regaining his position by passing the Suzuki again - he would finish behind the Ducati.

The race began to settle a little from here. The front four forming a pack of sorts, Lorenzo towing Pedrosa and Dovizioso up to Rossi, with Stoner managing to ride around his brake issues giving chase in the distance. The massive effort Rossi was putting in, and his discomfort with the set-up of his Yamaha were indicated by his left leg hanging off the bike under braking, skating the tarmac in anticipation of a slip of the tyre. Seeing Lorenzo’s view from the on-board camera, he must have scented a weakness in the champion, as he was able to hold his line without drama. Later Rossi would report a mid-section of the race in which he had a problem - undiagnosed - which held him up for a while. It looked like his Yamaha would not hold his line in the tight corners; a front tyre issue perhaps? Lorenzo took the lead in lap 9 despite Rossi’s best efforts to hold him off.

Stoner’s race started to improve in lap 10, able now to match the leader’s pace but it was too late. Although he would close he would not challenge for the higher positions. Pedrosa was having a fantastic race, seeing the Rossi/Lorenzo battle play out in front of him. Forgetting his injuries he discovered he could stay with them. He would later say in an interview in which we saw an all-too-rare a flash of his personality, that once he got to third he hoped to hold it for a few laps. After he was still there several laps later he was surprised and hoped for more - and so it went for the rest of the race.

Rossi and Lorenzo’s pace began to slow in unison, allowing the Hondas of Pedrosa and Dovizioso to close in. Further back in the race, Toseland was having a decent race for the Brit, circulating in 8th while Gibernau would lose the front end and slip into the gravel. Gibbers would ride back to the pits, sit in the garage for a few laps, before realising he could possibly pick up some points by just being on track. Ultimately he was not classified in the race, 7 laps down at the finish with his critics asking why he was bothering.

With 8 laps to go, Lorenzo found himself with fresh air behind him as Rossi dropped back to the front of Pedrosa’s bike. Dani can hardly have believed it as he attacked Rossi. Switching places three times in a lap, Rossi looked his most uncomfortable while Pedrosa kept probing. Pedrosa would hold second position the next lap, while this seemed to spur Rossi to find a solution to the Yamaha problem. He would force his way past Pedrosa with 6 to go at turn 11, the tight, off-camber right-hander at the end of the back straight. Rossi was right on the edge in an all-or-nothing move. He would not allow Pedrosa back past him again.

The front pack would hold these positions to the end of this race of unknowns with one exception. Dovizioso would fall to Stoner who, his problems banished, looked the most lively of the leaders. Time and laps were against Stoner though, and he was unable to close further on the front three. Lorenzo held his nerve and his line to take a very well managed, calm, assured victory which was only dented by Lorenzo’s bike stalling when he stopped to plant his flag. Pedrosa hung in for third, injuries not bothering him any more, while Stoner arrived back in the garage in 4th and in a foul mood. Melandri held a stunning sixth on the Hayate Kawasaki, looking like he has found out why he loves racing again.

It is early days in the championship as yet, but it is looking like this could shape up to be a four-way fight for the victory: Rossi, Lorenzo, Stoner and Pedrosa all stand as potential winners. Will Jerez give us a better idea?

MotoGPBlog Man of the Weekend: Marco Melandri for his cracking, racing performance on the Hayate, announcing that he still has it and he is back. Very close in second place was Pedrosa, showing that his talent is undiminished by injury.