Dani Pedrosa won his first race of 2015 and claimed his 50th career victory by taking advantage of the tire deterioration of Jorge Lorenzo to claim an unexpected win at Twin Ring Motegi. The Spaniard continued his streak of winning at least one race in every MotoGP season and spoiled himself with a 30th birthday present.
The Movistar Yahama teammates Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi started next to each other on the front row on a damp track, with Rossi entering the Japanese Grand Prix weekend with a 14-point lead over the Spaniard in the championship standings.
The Doctor briefly grabbed the lead at the start before Lorenzo got ahead of him. Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez fell to sixth on the first lap after starting on the front row and would never be a factor in the race; he was nursing a hand injury suffered during training after the last race at Aragon. Lorenzo pulled out to more than a 3-second lead over his teammate Rossi, who was chased by Pedrosa for second. Pedrosa got around Rossi on Lap 15 and tried to chase down Lorenzo for the lead as the Yahama riders were experiencing visible front tire wear as the laps wound down and Pedrosa closed in.
Pedrosa took the lead from Lorenzo on Lap 18, with Rossi closing on his teammate from third. The Honda rider pulled away from the two Yamahas who had to deal with their deteriorating tires on the drying track. Rossi finally got around Lorenzo for second with five laps to go after Lorenzo went wide on his ill-handling bike. Once Pedrosa took the lead, he was able to pull away from his pursuers. Rossi pulled away from Lorenzo, who struggled to hang on to the final podium position.
Pedrosa scored a long-overdue win, with Rossi hanging on to finish second. Lorenzo was able to struggle to a third-place finish which had a major impact on his pursuit of the championship. Rossi takes an 18-point lead into the next race at Phillip Island.
There were multiple retirements during the 24-lap race: Stefan Bradl went off track on Lap 7 at Turn 5, Danilo Petrucci crashed out for the second race in a row on Lap 9, Andrea Iannone pulled off track on Lap 10 with mechancial issues, ending his season points streak, Maverick Vinales lost the front end at Turn 11 and slid off on Lap 13, Jack Miller went off-track and continued early in the race before crashing out with eight laps to go and Pol Espargaro crashed on the last lap of the race.
In Moto2 action, Johann Zarco won his seventh race of the season for Ajo Motorsport. Zarco had been awarded the 2015 championship on Friday after the only rider other still mathematically eligible to best him, Tito Rabat, was unable to race due to injury. The race was reduced to 15 laps after a two-hour delay to the morning warm-up sessions due to poor track conditions. Seven riders crashed during the abbreviated contest.
The Moto3 race was won by Niccolo Antonelli in a 13-lap sprint. Points leader Danny Kent failed to clinch the title after a poor start relegated him to a sixth-place finish. Multiple riders were victims of the tricky track conditions and crashed.
Next up for the MotoGP World Championship is the Pramac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Philip Island, set for October 18.
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