Motogp Round 17

AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Japanese national bird - Green Pheasant

AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan

Motegi

Circuit info

           Motegi Circuit 

Circuit info

Length: 4.801 m / 2.983 miles

Width: 15m

Left corners: 6

Right corners: 8

Longest straight: 762 m / 0.473 miles

Constructed: 1997

Modified: 1997

Race Length:         MotoGP    Moto2    Moto3
Laps        2/3 of laps               Total Distance
24              -                       115.2 km - 71.6 miles

Introduction:

Located amongst the vast natural beauty of the northern Kanto district, the twin ring circuit at Motegi in Japan consists of a 1.5 mile oval and a 2.9 mile road course constructed to international standards. Built by Honda as the ultimate test facility in August 1997, the road circuit became home to MotoGP in 2000 whilst the oval is designed to introduce American motorsports culture to the country.

Twin Ring Motegi is a major attraction for motorsports fans all year round as it is the venue for the Honda Collection Hall, a museum which houses an illustrious collection of motorcycle, car and racing machines from throughout the ages. The complex also includes a safety and riding school, dirt track, go-karts, hotel, restaurant, shops and event halls and currently employs some 300 staff.

MotoGP Race Classification 2012

Motegi, Sunday, October 14, 2012

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	26	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	162.6	42'31.569
2	20	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	162.3	4.275
3	16	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	162.1	6.752
4	13	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	161.5	16.397
5	11	1	Casey STONER	AUS	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	161.3	20.566
6	10	6	Stefan BRADL	GER	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	161	24.567
7	9	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	160.9	26.072
8	8	69	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Team	Ducati	160.3	36.724
9	7	21	Katsuyuki NAKASUGA	JPN	Yamaha YSP Racing Team	Yamaha	160.3	36.794
10	6	8	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Pramac Racing Team	Ducati	158.2	+1'10.729
11	5	17	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Cardion AB Motoracing	Ducati	157.9	+1'15.658
12	4	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Power Electronics Aspar	ART	157.5	+1'22.769
13	3	5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	NGM Mobile Forward Racing	Suter	157.3	+1'24.968
14	2	77	James ELLISON	GBR	Paul Bird Motorsport	ART	157.1	+1'29.388
15	1	51	Michele PIRRO	ITA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	FTR	156.8	+1'34.612
16		84	Roberto ROLFO	ITA	Speed Master	ART	155.8	+1'50.853

MotoGP Qualifying Classification 2013

Motegi, Saturday, October 26, 2013

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time	Gap 1st/Prev.
1	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	293.8	1'53.471
2	93	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	301.5	1'54.129	0.658 / 0.658
3	69	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Team	Ducati	293.7	1'54.539	1.068 / 0.410
4	26	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	300.8	1'54.542	1.071 / 0.003
5	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	295.8	1'54.732	1.261 / 0.190
6	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	295.8	1'55.036	1.565 / 0.304
7	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	GO&FUN Honda Gresini	Honda	299.6	1'55.135	1.664 / 0.099
8	6	Stefan BRADL	GER	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	299	1'55.610	2.139 / 0.475
9	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Power Electronics Aspar	ART	288.7	1'55.719	2.248 / 0.109
10	68	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	Ignite Pramac Racing	Ducati	294.2	1'55.998	2.527 / 0.279
11	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	293.7	1'56.058	2.587 / 0.060
12	21	Katsuyuki NAKASUGA	JPN	Yamaha YSP Racing Team	Yamaha	294	1'56.125	2.654 / 0.067
13	38	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	289.3	1'57.114	3.643 / 0.989
14	5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	NGM Mobile Forward Racing	FTR Kawasaki	284.2	1'57.297	3.826 / 0.183
15	29	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Energy T.I. Pramac Racing	Ducati	288.9	1'57.347	3.876 / 0.050
16	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	Came IodaRacing Project	Ioda-Suter	281.8	1'57.540	4.069 / 0.193
17	14	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	Power Electronics Aspar	ART	281.7	1'57.715	4.244 / 0.175
18	7	Hiroshi AOYAMA	JPN	Avintia Blusens	FTR	287.6	1'57.994	4.523 / 0.279
19	70	Michael LAVERTY	GBR	Paul Bird Motorsport	ART	283.7	1'58.540	5.069 / 0.546
20	23	Luca SCASSA	ITA	Cardion AB Motoracing	ART	281.9	1'58.802	5.331 / 0.262
21	71	Claudio CORTI	ITA	NGM Mobile Forward Racing	FTR Kawasaki	282.3	1'59.617	6.146 / 0.815
22	8	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Avintia Blusens	FTR	284.4	1'59.646	6.175 / 0.029
23	50	Damian CUDLIN	AUS	Paul Bird Motorsport	PBM	280.5	2'00.982	7.511 / 1.336
67		Bryan STARING	AUS	GO&FUN Honda Gresini	FTR Honda	274.9	2'02.712	9.241 / 1.730
52		Lukas PESEK	CZE	Came IodaRacing Project	Ioda-Suter	277.9	2'02.932	9.461 / 0.220

Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Motegi

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, Motegi 

Nicky Hayden, Ducati Team, Motegi QP 1

Marquez, Lorenzo, Hayden, Repsol Honda Team, Yamaha Factory Racing, Ducati Team,

Moto2 Qualifying Classification 2013

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time	Gap 1st/Prev.
1	36	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	253.6	2'01.248
2	19	Xavier SIMEON	BEL	Maptaq SAG Zelos Team	Kalex	245.6	2'01.452	0.204 / 0.204
3	5	Johann ZARCO	FRA	Came Iodaracing Project	Suter	247.8	2'01.484	0.236 / 0.032
4	3	Simone CORSI	ITA	NGM Mobile Racing	Speed Up	249	2'01.501	0.253 / 0.017
5	97	Rafid Topan SUCIPTO	INA	QMMF Racing Team	Speed Up	246.7	2'01.733	0.485 / 0.232
6	80	Esteve RABAT	SPA	Tuenti HP 40	Kalex	251.9	2'02.103	0.855 / 0.370
7	40	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Tuenti HP 40	Kalex	250.7	2'02.166	0.918 / 0.063
8	77	Dominique AEGERTER	SWI	Technomag carXpert	Suter	246.2	2'02.169	0.921 / 0.003
9	52	Danny KENT	GBR	Tech 3	Tech 3	248.5	2'02.255	1.007 / 0.086
10	54	Mattia PASINI	ITA	NGM Mobile Racing	Speed Up	247.1	2'02.405	1.157 / 0.150

Mika Kallio, Marc VDS Racing Team,

Moto2 Motegi QP

Moto2 Motegi QP

Moto3 Qualifying Classification 2013

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time	Gap 1st/Prev.
1	42	Alex RINS	SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0	KTM	209.3	2'09.387
2	25	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	Team Calvo	KTM	209.2	2'10.310	0.923 / 0.923
3	12	Alex MARQUEZ	SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0	KTM	212.8	2'10.313	0.926 / 0.003
4	39	Luis SALOM	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	212.8	2'10.656	1.269 / 0.343
5	8	Jack MILLER	AUS	Caretta Technology - RTG	FTR Honda	209.1	2'10.671	1.284 / 0.015
6	32	Isaac VIÑALES	SPA	Ongetta-Centro Seta	FTR Honda	205.7	2'10.881	1.494 / 0.210
7	23	Niccolò ANTONELLI	ITA	GO&FUN Gresini Moto3	FTR Honda	206.5	2'11.011	1.624 / 0.130
8	91	Hiroki ONO	JPN	Honda Team Asia	Honda	210.1	2'11.057	1.670 / 0.046
9	94	Jonas FOLGER	GER	Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3	Kalex KTM	210.4	2'11.223	1.836 / 0.166
10	33	Sena YAMADA	JPN	Team Plus One & Endurance	Honda	203.1	2'11.518	2.131 / 0.295

Alex Rins, Estrella Galicia 0,0, Motegi QP

Moto3 Motegi QP

Moto3 Motegi QP

Motogp News

Lorenzo masters wet Motegi for crucial pole

Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo delivered a great performance in an extended Motegi qualifying session to take pole position for Sunday’s race.

Following Friday’s cancellation of practice sessions due to weather conditions at the AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan, the premier class riders were given a special 75-minute qualifying heat on Saturday afternoon.

Defending World Champion Lorenzo made full use of the extended session, getting straight out onto the wet circuit to start working on his race set up. Having initially swapped top spot with rival Marc Marquez early in the session he then dropped down the timesheets.

After some work on set-up he was back, rising quickly to second after a third of the time had gone, 0.1s from Marquez on top. The P1 position continued to change hands until with 15 minutes to go, when Lorenzo put the hammer down and delivered a perfect 1’53.965 lap to go over half a second clear.

Whilst his rivals were able to improve, so was he, dropping even further to a 1’53.471 in the final seconds to secure pole 0.65s ahead of Marquez.

“I’m really happy,” reflected Lorenzo. “It was not so simple because my last memory of the rain was Assen. At the beginning I was a little bit scared and didn't want to crash. We were lucky to have the extended qualifying time to get used to the track. Little by little I got confidence and finally I felt really good with the bike and the grip of the track, especially under braking. It doesn't matter if it’s wet or dry tomorrow, it’s not my problem to think about it, I have to ride in whatever conditions we have. A wet race would be better for the championship though!”

His teammate Valentino Rossi was also looking comfortable around the Motegi circuit. The nine-time World Champion was one of the few who climbed to the top of the timesheets early in the session with a 1’59.304. He continued to be a key protagonist, regularly swapping positions in the top four places with his rivals.

With 30 minutes remaining Rossi had taken provisional second on the grid, just 0.12s from Pedrosa on pole. The last minutes as usual saw a flurry of activity as his teammate took a stunning pole position. Rossi eventually took fifth place at the end of the session with a 1’54.732 second lap.

The Italian later stated, “The result is not so bad, I hoped to arrive on the front row, I’m not so far but I am behind. I was in a better shape when it was full wet and felt better with the bike. When there was less water on the track and some places were quite dry I was able to improve my time a little but not enough for the front row. Tomorrow will be a surprise because if it is dry we will have to make the best set up in the morning warm up and try to arrive competitively for the race.”

Ben Spies announces retirement from racing

Ducati and Ben Spies have announced that the American is to retire from racing competition. The Ignite Pramac Racing rider has competed in only two MotoGP™ races so far this season in a year heavily affected by injuries.

Ducati Motor Holding and Ben Spies announced today that the American will not be racing in 2014 after the parties reached agreement to resolve Ben’s current contract with the Italian racing manufacturer,’ reads a Saturday statement.

‘The 29-year-old Texan had signed a two-year agreement with Ducati at the end of last season to race in MotoGP™ in 2013 and 2014 as part of the factory-supported Ignite Pramac Racing Team.’

Having injured his right shoulder while competing with Yamaha Factory Racing in the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix, Spies required further rehabilitation this year and suffered a further setback when he crashed in free practice at Indianapolis.

‘The resulting operations on both shoulders have left Spies feeling that his physical ability to ride next year remains in question and a decision was jointly made by Ducati and Ben to release Ben from any requirement to race in 2014,’ the statement adds.

Ben Spies

Ben Spies:

“I had such high hopes for racing for Ducati and Ducati has been incredibly supportive of me during this challenging year, so I am tremendously disappointed that I have not been able to fulfill my personal goals and team goals with Ducati. I want to thank everyone from racing organizations, factories, teams and all my fans for helping me and supporting me throughout my career. I never dreamed that I would reach the level of success that I have over the past 20 years of racing, but the time has come to stop and I do so with great sadness.”

Mary Spies, mother and manager to Ben:

“Wherever Ben has raced over the years - from AMA Superbike to World Superbike to MotoGP™ - he has always felt the warmth and appreciation of the organizers, circuits, teams and fans. We are so grateful to them for their support.”

Paolo Ciabatti, Ducati MotoGP Project Director:

“We had high expectations when Ben joined Ducati in MotoGP™ this year and we really hoped that he would fully recover from his Indianapolis crash injuries and continue to race for us in the future However, we understand the reasons for his decision and respect them. It is really a shame for our sport that Ben will not be racing anymore because in our opinion he is one of the most talented riders in the world. We will miss him and wish him all the best for his future life.”

Hayden on front row for penultimate Ducati race

Former MotoGP™ World Champion Nicky Hayden showed his quality with a strong performance in the 75 minute qualifying practice at the AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan on Saturday.

The American rider secured first front row start for over a year and in his usual affable manner was quick to thank his team and fans, having qualified third.

Hayden adapted well to the unusual conditions, riding smoothly on a wet track which dried slightly towards the end of a specially rescheduled 75 minute QP. The riders went straight into qualifying having seen all free practices cancelled due to weather conditions at Motegi.

The 2006 MotoGP™ title winner occupied the provisional pole spot earlier in the session and his best time of 1’54.539 was enough to eventually take third, with pole man Jorge Lorenzo and championship leader Marc Marquez the only riders to outpace him.

It is Hayden’s best qualifying result since the Jerez 2012 round and gives him a shot at a good race result in his penultimate appearance on the Ducati - before moving to Power Electronics Aspar to ride a Honda again in 2014.

On his QP fortunes he stated, "It was better for me than usual as I was able to get on the front row. I’m a little bitter not to get pole as it looked like I could for a while, but I knew that these guys (Lorenzo and Marquez) would bring something extra and they did. As the track dried out I did not really improve. In the wet we don’t have the same problems we have in the dry, the turning, the chatter, the wheelies they disappear and our bike works really well in the wet."

The 32 year-old added, "Anyway, it’s a front row so we need to enjoy it, we need to take advantage of that and have a good race. Thanks to my team for working as hard as ever in a very difficult moment for all of us, with many changes. Thanks also to the Japanese fans who have endured a hard weekend so far, we want to put on a good show for them on Sunday."

Race Day

Motegi, Sunday, October 27, 2013

MotoGP Motegi RAC

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team, Motegi RAC

  

MotoGP Motegi RAC

MotoGP Motegi RAC

Nicky Hayden, Ducati Team, Motegi RAC

Stefan Bradl, LCR Honda MotoGP, Motegi FP

Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, Motegi RAC

Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Motegi RAC

MotoGP Race Classification

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	162.3	42'34.291
2	20	93	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	162.1	3.188
3	16	26	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	162.1	4.592
4	13	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	GO&FUN Honda Gresini	Honda	161.1	19.755
5	11	6	Stefan BRADL	GER	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	160.9	22.81
6	10	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	160.8	24.637
7	9	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	160.6	27.496
8	8	38	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	160.4	30.969
9	7	69	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Team	Ducati	160	37.01
10	6	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	159.7	42.944
11	5	21	Katsuyuki NAKASUGA	JPN	Yamaha YSP Racing Team	Yamaha	159	53.345
12	4	5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	NGM Mobile Forward Racing	FTR Kawasaki	158.4	+1'03.213
13	3	14	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	Power Electronics Aspar	ART	158.2	+1'06.840
14	2	29	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Energy T.I. Pramac Racing	Ducati	158.1	+1'08.218
15	1	68	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	Ignite Pramac Racing	Ducati	157.5	+1'18.240
16		8	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Avintia Blusens	FTR	157.5	+1'19.108
17		7	Hiroshi AOYAMA	JPN	Avintia Blusens	FTR	157.3	+1'21.174
18		9	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	Came IodaRacing Project	Ioda-Suter	156.8	+1'30.546
19		70	Michael LAVERTY	GBR	Paul Bird Motorsport	ART	153.7	+2'23.358
20		71	Claudio CORTI	ITA	NGM Mobile Forward Racing	FTR Kawasaki	154.4	1 Lap
21		50	Damian CUDLIN	AUS	Paul Bird Motorsport	PBM	153.4	1 Lap
22		67	Bryan STARING	AUS	GO&FUN Honda Gresini	FTR Honda	153.2	1 Lap

Records

Pole Lap:		Jorge LORENZO	1'53.471	152.3 Km/h
Fastest Lap:	Lap: 16	Jorge LORENZO	1'45.736	163.4 Km/h
Circuit Record Lap:	2012	Dani PEDROSA	1'45.589	163.6 Km/h
Best Lap:	2012	Jorge LORENZO	1'44.969	164.6 Km/h

Moto2 Race Classification 

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	40	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Tuenti HP 40	Kalex	152.9	28'15.162
2	20	36	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Marc VDS Racing Team	Kalex	152.8	1.344
3	16	12	Thomas LUTHI	SWI	Interwetten Paddock Moto2	Suter	152.6	3.379
4	13	19	Xavier SIMEON	BEL	Maptaq SAG Zelos Team	Kalex	152.1	8.42
5	11	60	Julian SIMON	SPA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	152	10.315
6	10	18	Nicolas TEROL	SPA	Aspar Team Moto2	Suter	151.9	11.364
7	9	15	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	NGM Mobile Forward Racing	Speed Up	151.7	12.718
8	8	77	Dominique AEGERTER	SWI	Technomag carXpert	Suter	151.5	15.609
9	7	30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	JPN	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	151.2	18.414
10	6	54	Mattia PASINI	ITA	NGM Mobile Racing	Speed Up	151	20.679

Records

Pole Lap:		Mika KALLIO	2'01.248	142.5 Km/h
Fastest Lap:	Lap: 9	Pol ESPARGARO	1'52.028	154.2 Km/h
Circuit Record Lap:	2012	Pol ESPARGARO	1'51.100	155.5 Km/h
Best Lap:	2012	Pol ESPARGARO	1'50.886	155.8 Km/h

Moto2 Motegi RAC1

Pol Espargaro,

Mika Kallio, Marc VDS Racing Team, Motegi 

2013 Moto2 World Champion Pol Espargaro, Tuenti HP 40, Motegi RAC2

2013 Moto2 World Champion Pol Espargaro, Tuenti HP 40, Motegi RAC2

Moto3 Race Classification

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	12	Alex MARQUEZ	SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0	KTM	144.8	39'45.953
2	20	25	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	Team Calvo	KTM	144.8	0.027
3	16	94	Jonas FOLGER	GER	Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3	Kalex KTM	144.4	7.75
4	13	44	Miguel OLIVEIRA	POR	Mahindra Racing	Mahindra	143.9	15.889
5	11	5	Romano FENATI	ITA	San Carlo Team Italia	FTR Honda	143.7	18.323
6	10	8	Jack MILLER	AUS	Caretta Technology - RTG	FTR Honda	143.7	18.432
7	9	17	John MCPHEE	GBR	Caretta Technology - RTG	FTR Honda	143.7	18.439
8	8	31	Niklas AJO	FIN	Avant Tecno	KTM	143.3	25.608
9	7	23	Niccolò ANTONELLI	ITA	GO&FUN Gresini Moto3	FTR Honda	143.3	25.95
10	6	41	Brad BINDER	RSA	Ambrogio Racing	Mahindra	142.9	32.933

Records

Pole Lap:		Alex RINS	2'09.387	133.5 Km/h
Fastest Lap:	Lap: 11	Alex MARQUEZ	1'58.380	146.0 Km/h
Circuit Record Lap:	2013	Alex MARQUEZ	1'58.380	146.0 Km/h
Best Lap:	2012	Danny KENT	1'58.371	146.0 Km/h

Moto3 Motegi RAC

Moto3 Motegi RAC

Alex Marquez, Estrella Galicia 0,0, Motegi FP

Jonas Folger, Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2, Motegi FP

Maverick Viñales, Team Calvo, Motegi FP

Viñales, Marquez, Folger, Team Calvo, Estrella Galicia 0,0, Mapfre Aspar Team

Paddock Girls

AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan2

AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan2

AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan2

AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan2

AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan2

AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan2

AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan2

Motogp News

Lorenzo delighted to take title fight to final round

Reigning MotoGP™ World Champion Jorge Lorenzo delivered a vintage performance at Motegi on Sunday, to ensure he did not relinquish his premier class title at the AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan.

Riding impeccably from pole position the Majorcan rider led the race from start to finish over the 24 lap contest, eventually crossing the finishing line 3.188s ahead of Marc Marquez - to take the title fight to Valencia.

Afterwards he enthused, “Looking at the race classification all the top five after me were Honda riders and normally this track is better for them. So winning at Honda’s home track with Yamaha’s 200th victory in the MotoGP class, when we also took a risk with the soft tyre, was a pleasure. It was a hard race physically but I kept my concentration and I really wanted this victory.”

The Yamaha Factory Racing rider and his crew made a last minute switch to an extra soft tyre option shortly before the race and the gamble paid off.

Lorenzo explained, “We made the decision late on because just before the race the temperature was 10 degrees warmer than in morning practice and I felt better on the softer tyres. I think it was the right choice for me on the Yamaha but maybe for the Hondas they were better on a different tyre.”

Lorenzo’s 51st career victory means the gap between him and Marquez is reduced to 13 points in the standings with just one race remaining. 

Looking forward to the season finale in two weeks time Lorenzo knows he will still be in the hunt at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana. 

“When you look at the Moto3 and Moto2 races today you never know what can happen,” said the 26 year-old. “Until we finish racing we know the championship is not over. I’m not the leading rider so it’s not all up to me, so let’s see how our strategy is at Valencia. I am the rider with the most victories in 2013 and that’s very important.”

Lorenzo’s stunning victory in Japan was his seventh in 2013 and marks the 111th time he has stood on the podium in Grand Prix racing. Meanwhile, Marquez has six wins to his name this year.

Bautista equals best result of 2013

Alvaro Bautista matched his best finish of the season so far by coming home fourth in Sunday’s AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan, equaling his results of Laguna Seca and MotorLand Aragón

Bautista started seventh on the grid at Twin Ring Motegi, slipstreaming his way past LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl for fourth position as Lap 8 commenced.

“After such a strange weekend with everything that has happened and the two crashes – one yesterday and one this morning – the race was more than positive,” the Spaniard commented on Sunday afternoon. “I felt comfortable with the bike this morning but the crash definitely didn't help and the start wasn't perfect either.

“I hadn't done a single lap with the front tyre, so I wasn't sure how it would feel or how hard I could push it. but I built my rhythm up, made some passes and picked up a solid fourth place that could perhaps have been something more if we'd had a better start. Anyway, it is a good finish to a chaotic weekend and that is the most important thing.

“We have consolidated sixth place in the championship and now we need to keep working to take the next step with Showa, Nissin and Honda. We owe it to everybody that supports us, but especially GO&FUN.”

With just a single event remaining in the campaign, Bautista’s advantage over Bradl – who missed the previous two races through injury – is 14 World Championship points as the duo continue to fight it out for sixth place in the riders’ standings.

More Information motogp com

Next Race

Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana  (Spain)

Valenciana

Sunday, November 10, 2013