Dani Pedrosa fell heavily Friday during Free Practice 2 at Motegi, suffering a right-collarbone fracture that will exclude him from the Grand Prix. Dani will take a flight back to Spain later this evening in order to undergo surgery. The Repsol Honda rider will be replaced by HRC test rider Hiroshi Aoyama.

Marc Marquez started the weekend on a positive note, doing productive work on the setup of his RC213V. He set the second-fastest lap time in FP1 and the fourth-best in FP2. He showed a good pace in both sessions despite a small crash in the afternoon, when he was trying the harder front tyre option. He immediately re-joined the action and further improved his lap time.

Marc Marquez - 4th

“I’m very sorry for Dani, as it seemed that he was really coming back to his usual speed. I just wish him a quick recovery. Regarding today, honestly, the feeling was better than I was expecting here. I thought we would struggle a bit more, but from the beginning I didn’t feel so bad and we were able to do a good job on the bike. In the afternoon I had a small crash when I was trying the harder front tyre spec and I was trying to push a bit more, but I was able to continue on the same run and improve my lap time, which is a positive. I know that our opponents are quite strong here, but we’re not far off.”

Dani Pedrosa

“I’m obviously very sad about what happened, as I was looking forward to racing in Japan at Honda’s home circuit and one of my favourite tracks. I was on the out-lap of my last run in FP2 when I momentarily lost the rear entering turn 11, and when the tyre found grip again it launched me in the air. There’s not much more to say; now I just want to focus on recovering in order to get back on my bike as soon as possible. My best wishes to Hiro (Aoyama), who is replacing me and will race in front of his home crowd.”



Hiroshi Aoyama 

“First of all, I’m very sorry for Dani and I wish him a fast recovery. This definitely is not the best way to come into a race, but anyway, I’ll try and give my best for Honda in front of my friends and fans. I won’t be able to use my racing number, as 7 has already been taken by Mike Jones, so I’ll use 73, which is the number I used in my first season in the 250cc GPs.”


Session Results

1    - LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1'45.151
2    - DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 0.053
3    - VINALES Maverick 25 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 0.097
4    - MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 0.152
5    - CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR LCR Honda Honda 0.350
6    - ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 0.362
7    - ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.381
8    - PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 1.021
9    - PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1.076
10  - ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1.094
11  - BRADL Stefan 6 GER Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1.216
12  - BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1.683
13  - LAVERTY Eugene 50 IRE Aspar MotoGP Team Ducati 1.702
14  - BARBERA Hector 8 SPA Ducati Team Ducati 1.725
15  - HERNANDEZ Yonny 68 COL Aspar MotoGP Team Ducati 1.830
16  - REDDING Scott 45 GBR Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 1.881
17  - NAKASUGA Katsuyuki 21 JPN Yamaha Factory Racing Team Yamaha 1.984
18  - MILLER Jack 43 AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 2.093
19  - RABAT Tito 53 SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 2.821
20  - BAZ Loris 76 FRA Avintia Racing Ducati 3.518
21  - SMITH Bradley 38 GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 3.746
22  - JONES Mike 7 AUS Avintia Racing Ducati 5.804