In a post-race interview Stoner said he hit a bump in the track which had 70% of its surface relayed after the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster back in April, following the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

The current world champion, Jorge Lorenzo claimed second place.  Lorenzo is now 40 points behind Casey Stoner with just three races to go.

Andrea Dovizioso and Marco Simoncelli finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Japanese MotoGP race results

1) Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Repsol Honda 42′47.481
2) Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 42′54.780
3) Casey Stoner (Aus) Repsol Honda 43′05.861
4) Marco Simoncelli (Ita) Gresini Honda 43′11.031
5) Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Repsol Honda 43′11.172
6) Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha 43′25.085
7) Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati 43′26.648
Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 43′32.504
9) Hiroshi Aoyama (Jpn) Gresini Honda 43′36.555
10) Randy De Puniet (Fra) Pramac Ducati 43′46.503

MotoGP World Championship 2011

1) Casey Stoner (300 points)
2) Jorge Lorenzo (260 points)
3) Andrea Dovizioso (196 points)
4) Dani Pedrosa  (195 points)
5) Ben Spies (156 points)
6) Valentino Rossi (139 points)

Casey Stoner 2010

Casey Stoner did everything right in the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, getting off the line superbly from his third place on the grid and easing past Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso into the lead, where he finished for the second time in as many races.

Stoner had commented before the race that the Motegi track was not among his favourite circuits and he was not expecting too much from the race, but his performance in Japan was nothing short of amazing, finishing almost 4 seconds ahead of Dovizioso.

Given the performance of Dovizioso on the Honda, racing on their home track, you can’t help but wonder what might have been if Dani Pedrosa had not been injured in practise, considering his recent blistering performances.

It would only have added to what was to be one of the most exciting races of the season with the Yamaha riders Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo involved in perhaps the most thrilling scrap of all, fighting for third place.

With no love lost between the team mates, they swapped places several times during the final five laps pf the race with neither rider prepared to yield.

Repeatedly pushing each other and with both riders determined to out brake the other, they provided the most breathtaking riding witnessed for a very long time.

The pair touched bikes on more than one occasion as they fought side by side with two laps to go. Eventually it was Rossi who held the upper hand into the final straight to claim third place.

Champion in waiting Lorenzo was left without a podium place for the second consecutive race, although without Pedrosa in the frame he will only need to finish ninth or higher in Malaysia to claim his first World Moto GP title.

After the race Rossi said that he was determined to beat Lorenzo after the Spaniard had passed him earlier in the race but congratulated Lorenzo on ‘a great battle.’

Lorenzo meanwhile questioned the tactics of the Italian claiming that he did not think Rossi was ‘completely fair.’ Either way both can be congratulated for lighting up the final laps of the Japanese Grand Prix and lets hope for more of the same in the closing stages of the season.

Japan MotoGP results:

1. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati 43:12.266
2. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 43:16.134
3. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 43:17.973
4. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 43:18.487
5. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha 43:39.358
6. Marco Simoncelli (Italy) Honda 43:42.287
7. Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Suzuki 43:44.092
8. Ben Spies (U.S.) Yamaha 43:47.838
9. Randy de Puniet (France) Honda 43:59.830
10. Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) Honda 44:01.864
11. Marco Melandri (Italy) Honda 44:02.265
12. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Ducati 44:02.969
13. Hector Barbera (Spain) Ducati 44:03.688
14. Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Ducati 44:05.109
15. Mika Kallio (Finland) Ducati 44:26.934

Moto 2 race:

1. Toni Elias (Spain) Moriwaki 43:50.930
2. Julian Simon (Spain) Suter 43:51.245
3. Karel Abraham (Czech Republic) FTR 44:00.769
4. Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Motobi 44:01.108
5. Scott Redding (Britain) Suter 44:02.167

125cc race:

1. Marc Marquez (Spain) Derbi 39:46.937
2. Nicolas Terol (Spain) Aprilia 39:49.549
3. Bradley Smith (Britain) Aprilia 39:55.333
4. Pol Espargaro (Spain) Derbi 40:05.810
5. Alberto Moncayo (Spain) Aprilia 40:18.910

X rays confirmed that Pedrosa had broken his collarbone in three places, an injury that will surely end the riders season at put an end to his hopes of overhauling fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo in the race for the championship.

It will also deprive Moto GP fans of an exciting finale to the season which has seen Pedrosa in the form of his life while mounting a real challenge to Lorenzo.

MotoGP medical director Michele Macchiagodena said;

“When he crashed he suffered a multiple fracture of the left collarbone, and that requires an operation to have the best chance of returning to racing as soon as possible, but not for this race, of course.

First we need to know when he can be operated on, then we will know when he can race again. We will see him in Australia.

We X-rayed the ankle as well and it is okay. He had old fractures but nothing new, just a small contusion.”

Barring a miracle recovery by Pedrosa, the championship title appears to have been handed to Lorenzo, with Casey Stoner 129 points behind in third place with just four rounds remaining.

It is sad to see Pedrosa out of the race following his recent results and fans have been robbed of a fantastic finale to the season, but Lorenzo has been in consistent form outperforming team mate Valentino Rossi all year even before the Italian broke his leg.

There is a lot a negativity from fans and media regarding Lorenzo, but for me, along with Pedrosa he has been the outstanding rider in this years title race.

Valentino Rossi

One rider thankful for the postponement of the Japanese MotoGP was the Italian Valentino Rossi after suffering an injury in a motocross training accident.

The 31-year-old was sent for X-Rays after the incident, complaining of discomfort in his back following the tumble days after the Losail round of the championship.

Rossi was fortunate to have been left with just bruising to his shoulder and back but was unsure how it would affect him during the race, so the break between rounds gave him the time he needed to repair the damage caused.

This weekend the teams and riders will head to the Jerez circuit where the Fiat Yamaha rider is currently leading the MotoGP leaderboard following his win after the fall of  Casey Stoner’s at the last round in Qatar.

The race due to take place at the Motegi circuit has now been put back until October after it was deemed that the teams and riders would have great difficulty in transporting the equipment and the personnel to the circuit.

The GP has now been scheduled for the 3 October, before the Sepang Grand Prix in Malaysia and the Phillip Island round in Australia.

The Silverstone Circuit

There is to be 18 races in the MotoGP championship series for 2010 which has released by the FIM, with the return of Silverstone for the British Grand Prix for the first time since the 1980’s.

It has also been stated that if any of the races fail to go ahead the new circuit in Aragon in Spain will host the event.

April 11 *        Qatar              Doha/Losail
April 25          Japan              Motegi
May 2             Spain              Jerez de la Frontera
May 23            France             Le Mans
June 6            Italy              Mugello
June 20           Great Britain      Silverstone
June 26 **        Netherlands        Assen
July 4            Catalunya          Catalunya
July 18           Germany            Sachsenring
July 25 ***       United States      Laguna Seca
August 15         Czech Rep.         Brno
August 29         Indianapolis       Indianapolis
September 5       San Marino         Misano
September 19      Hungary            Balatonring
October 10        Malaysia           Sepang
October 17        Australia          Phillip Island
October 31        Portugal           Estoril
November 7        Valencia           Ricardo Tormo - Valencia

*   Evening Race
**  Saturday
*** Only MotoGP class

The MotoGP cost cutting goes a bit further than expected!

The provisional MotoGP Calendar has now been released by the FIM for the MotoGP World Championship of 2010, and hopefully all teams and riders will be on the grid as the economic crisis continues.

Date – Grand Prix – Circuit:
11 April – Qatar* – Losail
25 April – Japan – Motegi
2 May – Spain – Jerez
16 May – France – Le Mans
30 May – Italy – Mugello
6 June - Great Britain – Silverstone
26 June – Netherlands** – Assen
4 July – Catalunya – Catalunya
18 July - Germany – Sachsenring
25 July - United States*** – Laguna Seca
15 August – Czech Republic – Brno
29 August – Indianapolis – Indianapolis
12 September - San Marino & Riviera di Rimini – Misano
19 September - Hungary – Balatonring
10 October – Malaysia – Sepang
17 October – Australia - Phillip Island
31 October – Portugal – Estoril
7 November Valencia Ricardo Tormo-Valencia

* Evening Race
** Saturday Race
*** Only MotoGP class

In the event that one of the circuits is not able to comply with the requirements to hold the scheduled Grand Prix, the Motorland Aragon Circuit would host a reserve “event” on the same day.

Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi took the victory yesterday at the Japanese Grand Prix and also claimed his sixth MotoGP World Championship title.

The Fiat Yamaha rider only needed a third place to regain the title for the first time since 2005 but took the lead from lap fourteen to finish 1.943 seconds ahead of Casey Stoner on the Ducati Marlboro.

Rossi was slow off the line and Stoner took the lead after shooting ahead of pole sitter and team-mate of Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo.

Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda followed Stoner in second with his team-mate Nicky Hayden slotting into third ahead of Lorenzo.

Rossi soon passed Lorenzo to claim third place and set about hunting down the front two riders.  He passed Pedrosa on lap ten before taking the lead four lap later.

Of course, Rossi could not leave the track without one of his awaited antics and did not let his fans down as he stopped at a desk set up on the track with a friend acting as a lawyer.  He produced a helmet with the number 8 as well as him and all the team wearing T-shirts with ‘Sorry for the delay’ written on in Italian.  His lawyer then had Rossi sign the helmet and it was given a stamp, the helmet was later signed by everyone in Rossi’s garage before going to the museum set up in Rossi’s home town.

Rossi dedicated his championship to the late Norick Abe who was killed in a road accident last year and who was a hero of Rossi’s.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider             Bike            Time
 1.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    (B)   43:09.599
 2.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    (B)   +   1.943
 3.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     (B)   +   4.866
 4.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    (M)   +   6.165
 5.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     (M)   +  24.593
 6.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    (B)   +  25.685
 7.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    (M)   +  25.918
 8.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     (B)   +  26.003
 9.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     (M)   +  26.219
10.  John Hopkins      Kawasaki  (B)   +  37.131
11.  James Toseland    Yamaha    (M)   +  37.574
12.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     (M)   +  38.020
13.  Marco Melandri    Ducati    (B)   +  39.768
14.  Sylvain Guintoli  Ducati    (B)   +  45.846
15.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  (B)   +  55.748
16.  Toni Elias        Ducati    (B)   +  59.320
17.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     (B)   +1:12.398

Retirements:

     Rider             Bike           Laps
     Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    (B)  16
     Kousuke Akiyoshi  Suzuki    (B)  0

Casey Stoner Takes A Tumble

The teams and riders head to Japan for the next round of the MotoGP at the Montegi circuit and Valentino Rossi is hoping to wrap up the 2008 Championship for the Yamaha team.

Rossi is currently 87 points ahead of Casey Stoner with still 100 points up for grabs over the next four races, which means that if Rossi finished in the top four at Montegi, the title will be his regardless of where Stoner finishes.

The Rizla Suzuki team will be running with a third bike at the Japanese round with Kousuke Akiyoshi on board for his home round.

The team ran three bikes in Indianapolis, the two usual riders Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi, plus Ben Spies and they did the same again at the Leguna Seca round.

Capirossi has won the race at Montegi for the past three years and is hoping to do the same this year but on a Japanese bike.

Nicky Hayden is hoping to be back on the podium after his victory last time out at Indianapolis for the Repsol Honda team.

After confirmation that Hayden will be riding for the Ducati Marlboro team next year as the team-mate of Casey Stoner, he wants to finish in the best possible place for Honda.

Meanwhile, the boss of the Ducati Marlboro team, Livio Suppo, has suggested that if the injury that Stoner is suffering continues to cause a problem, he could miss the end of the season.

Stoner has been having problems with an old fracture which he received in 2003 and the surgery he will need has a recuperating time of about ten weeks.

As it looks likely that Rossi will win this years championship, it would make sense to get the surgery over with earlier so that Stoner and the team can concentrate on winter testing ahead of the 2009 season.