Japan and the Motegi circuit is the site of the latest MotoGP race.
Jorge Lorenzo wants a second championship, and Dani Pedrosa is also in this hunt. But, Casey Stoner, has returned from injury, and could be a major threat, too, after he had to recover from a big crash earlier this year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This is the first of three races in Asia, that take place consecutively at Twin Ring Motegi, in Motegi, Japan.
Carlo Ezpeleta has taken over control of both MotoGP and World Superbike. There's a move afoot to set up two championships that will both keep going despite the economic issues around the globe. Also, a universal ECU unit will be used. Dani Pedrosa is the defending champion of this race. Alvaro Bautista will be back next year and so will Aleix Espargaro and Randy de Puniet. IN qualifying, Cal Crutchlow put in a new lap record and will start third. Dani Pedrosa was number one for a while. But, Jorge Lorenzo snatches pole with a 1:44.969.
Ben Spies fell down in qualifying. But, he wants to get on the podium. Nicky Hayden is tenth with Colin Edwards sixteenth. Lorenzo gets his 50th world championship pole. Nicky Hayden has a fractured hand and wrist. Ivan Silva is back and Roberto Rolfo replaces Mattia Passini. Katsuyuki Nakasuga (who has made a name for himself on the endurance racing motorcycle scene recently) is a wildcard entry for this race. The bikes are on their warmup lap. This circuit is just about three miles and has four long straightaways, and many slow corners. It's a very physical race track. 24 laps scheduled.
At the start, Lorenzo gets the jump from pole. Dani Pedrosa takes the lead and runs wide. Lorenzo comes back with Ben Spies, Cal Crutchlow, and Casey Stoner behind. Alvaro Bautista is seventh. Ben Spies got a good start. Stefan Bradl, Valentino Rossi, and Nicky Hayden round out the top ten. The bikes go through the hairpin, onto the back straight into a 90 degree turn. Randy de Puniet drops his bike on lap one. But, he'll rejoin, after falling in the hairpin. Ben Spies runs off and hits the wall!
Cal Crutchlow is now third. Nakasuga is up to ninth place. Pedrosa and Lorenzo will be battling each other through this race. Ben Spies' crash just ran into the wall and couldn't stop before hitting the wall. These bikes are fast. Moto 3 and Moto 2 bikes can stop. Not a MotoGP bike. Yonny Hernandez also crashes. He may have something wrong with his collarbone. Stoner tries passing Crutchlow, two laps in. Alvaro Bautista passes Stoner. Can he come back by? No. Bautista gets the spot. Andra Dovizioso had a bad start. Jorge Lorenzo sets fast lap at 1:45.727.
He's quicker than Pedrosa. They are in a high speed game of cat and mouse. The bikes go through the V curve and into another turn. The gap is two seconds between Lorenzo and Pedrosa. Alvaro Bautista sets his personal best lap at 1:46.1. Many of the riders are close together on time. Aleix Espargaro is the top CRT bike. Dani Pedrosa is a very smooth rider. Seven laps now complete. Dani Pedrosa can match Jorge Lorenzo at this point. But, you need to ride your own race. The leaders are into the 1:45.9 range going through the third and fourth corners, through a tunnel that has the oval track on top of it. The bikes run through the S curve, the V curve, and the hairpin.
Casey Stoner is hounding Alvaro Bautista. The brakes on these bikes are red hot. Motegi is the toughest track on brakes for these bikes. Eight laps complete. Four laps to halfway. The performance of the brakes will drop off even though they are extremely hot. Every rider, depending on their style, is affecting the brakes. They are carbon discs, just like a Formula One race car. Dovizioso chases Stefan Bradl. He passes Bradl and the two bikes run in lockstep. Dani Pedrosa takes the lead away from Jorge Lorenzo. Can Lorenzo fight back?
Crutchlow and Bautista are only separated by 8/10ths of a second. Twelve laps remain. This race is half over. The championship points will see a twenty some odd point gap between Lorenzo and Pedrosa with three rounds left. Lorenzo has a 33 point lead. But, he had two big issues in the last few races, and he needs to stop the bleeding, even though it's minimal. Pedrosa flies down the back straight. Yonny Hernandez is out and does have a broken collarbone. The battle persists between Cal Crutchlow and Alvaro Bautista.
Pedrosa is opening his lead up. Cal Crutchlow is still being hounded by Bautista. Ten laps remain. Cal Crutchlow slides and manages to save the bike! Yikes! Bautista is right on Crutchlow right now. This is the battle to watch on track. Pedrosa looks to win his fifth race of 2012 and his second consecutive event at Motegi. He's dropping back into the 1:45 bracket. Randy de Puniet is out of this race. Andrea Dovizioso passes Casey Stoner. Stoner takes a tighter line, but can't quite get there. Dovizioso is fifth, Stoner sixth, Bradl seventh, Rossi eighth, Hayden, ninth, and Nakasuga, tenth.
Someone dropped their bike. It might have been de Puniet. He's out. Pedrosa races to the 90 degree corner and continues serenely on in the lead. Just four laps left. Alvaro Bautista is now on the podium. Bautista does a brilliant move on the brakes, Crutchlow tries to pass. But, Bautista makes his aggressive move stick. These guys are all over each other. Crutchlow picks up his pace. Bautista defends. Into the hairpin, Crutchlow loses ground.
Dani Pedrosa is in cruise mode. He'll easily get another win. The Bautista/Crutchlow battle is the big one. Hayden and Nakasuga battle for ninth. But that one isn't important. Crutchlow passes Bautista. They come into the V curve and up to the hairpin. Bautista slides back around. The two riders touch knees! Bautista is pushing. Crutchlow's wheelie, slowed him down. Both these guys just have one podium apiece in MotoGP. Pedrosa is ahead of Lorenzo and he will win five races in the season. He can be the tenth most successful rider in MotoGP, passing on the list, Max Biaggi, and Tony Mang.
Crutchlow closes on Bautista again. A lap and a half remains. It's the last lap. Pedrosa will get back-to-back wins at Motegi. Crutchlow runs wide. Can he close on Alvaro Bautista? Who gets second place? Dani Pedrosa has this race won. Crutchlow loses ground. He's run out of fuel! Oh no! Crutchlow predicted it was going to be close on fuel. Andrea Dovizioso gets fourth. Dani Pedrosa has now won four of the last five races, making it two in a row in Japan!
#26 Dani Pedrosa ESP Honda
Pedrosa becomes the only rider to win in all three classes at Motegi (125cc, 250cc and MotoGP). The next race is the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, next weekend.
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