Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) stormed to a personal best fifth MotoGP win of the season at Twin Ring Motegi, the circuit owned by Honda and with Honda Motor Company President Takanobu Ito cheering him on.

Adding to the celebration was that Pedrosa was joined on the podium by San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Alvaro Bautista, who earned his second MotoGP podium a day after it was announced he had re-signed with the Gresini Honda team. And in his return to racing after a two month injury lay-off, world champion Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC213V) finished fifth as he prepares to be as race fit as possible for his home grand prix at Phillip Island in two weeks’ time.

Starting from the middle of the front row, Pedrosa stalked early leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) until the 12th of 24 laps, when he made a clean pass in the right hand turn five. Pedrosa controlled the pace for the duration, opening up a second gap on the 14th lap and pushing it up to 1.6s a lap later. The gap remained constant until there were four laps to go when he put it near two seconds and over on lap

By winning for the second year in a row at Motegi, Pedrosa closed the championship points gap on Lorenzo to 28, 310 to 282,with three races remaining. Stoner sits third in the championship with 197 points.

The victory was also a celebration of Twin Ring Motegi, the circuit which signed on to host the Japanese Grand Prix through 2018.

Bautista caught up to Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) on the 14th lap and the fight for third was on. The Spaniard patiently waited until the 20th lap before making his move. Crutchlow tried to strike back, but Bautista had the counter-measure.

The race for the final podium spot went down to the final lap but ended prematurely when Crutchlow ran out of gas. That gave Bautista a clean path to his second MotoGP podium. (He was also third in the San Marino Grand Prix.) And the podium moved him to a career high fifth in the championship.

Stoner was not sure what to expect when the race started. His surgically repaired right ankle gave him limited mobility and denied him the lean angle needed to get around the track’s many slow corners. He was also on a race bike for the first time in two months, using muscles that had mostly lain dormant since the accident in Indianapolis.

Stoner was up as high as fourth before being passed by Andrea Dovizioso (Yamaha) seven laps from the finish. By then he was physically exhausted, both from having to compensate for his injured ankle and the demands of racing, which he had not experienced for months.

Still, it was an important first step on his return to the race track. Now he has a few days off before the steamy heat of Malaysia, then his home grand prix at his beloved Phillip Island, where he will be looking to win for the sixth time in succession.

Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) finished four seconds behind Stoner while battling a pair of issues. The first was mechanical. Damage from a crash in qualifying prevented him from steering his LCR Honda MotoGP RC213V properly. The carry-on effect was that he had to ride the motorcycle differently and after 10 laps began to feel the onset of arm pump.

Michele Pirro (San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR) scored the final point in 15th place. The MotoGP rookie did not feel that the stop-start circuit suited his machine, though he was able to finish in the points, an important consideration for the first year CRT team. Now he was looking forward to the next few tracks which he believes will better suit the characteristics of the Honda CNR1000RR-powered machine.

The MotoGP paddock is busy packing up for the trip to the Malaysian Grand Prix where practice starts in less than five days’ time.


Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: Race winner

“ It was a hard race because the pace was very fast from the beginning. I tried to understand the bike, as yesterday we had a lot of chatter so I didn't know how it would be today. In the beginning it wasn't too bad, but then it got a little worse during the race. I managed it as best I could and I stayed with Jorge [Lorenzo], I was able to get a better line out of the corner and pass him and then I put in some good laps and controlled the gap. Jorge tried to stay with me, but then decided to settle for the second place.

We did what we needed to do and it's just a pity that there is no one else who can stay with us because every race I win, he's been second. But anyway, it's a great feeling to win races and we are doing it now. Thanks to Honda and the whole team, I'm really happy to win again here in Motegi!”


Alvaro Bautista, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 3rd

“A beautiful great weekend with the signing of the contract for next season with Gresini Racing. I am very happy today. I knew we could do well and fight for the podium, because yesterday we had been shown to have a good race pace. I tried and I did it. I did not start very well, I lost some positions, but I quickly recovered. Then when I caught (Cal) Crutchlow I saw that we were riding at the same rate, and so I tried to keep a safe distance so as not to overheat the brakes For five laps I pushed more and I attacked and I have to say that the battle with him was beautiful and I enjoyed it. I am very happy for the guys in the team who have always worked a lot with the Showa to give me a good performance, for the sponsors and the HRC that is giving us all the support and I hope to continue like this for the next races.”

Casey Stoner: Repsol Honda: 5th

“ I'm a little disappointed to be honest. We slowly improved over the weekend and got the bike to a point we were pretty happy with in warm up. At the start of the race I felt had the pace to stay with Dani [Pedrosa] and Jorge [Lorenzo] and the bike was feeling pretty good. Then as the race progressed my body started to suffer and ache in ways I didn't expect. We had the pace to run a lot higher and be on the podium but unfortunately I couldn't manage it physically today. A big thanks to my team, they gave me a fantastic bike today, but I couldn't do anymore in my condition.”

Stefan Bradl, LCR Honda MotoGP: 6th

“We had a little problem today due to yesterday’s crash: Unfortunately I was not really able to steer the bike and after 10 laps I was struggling a lot and I have never had such a big problem with the arm pump. At the beginning I could easily follow the group in the front of me with Stoner and Dovizioso, but the problem with my breaking hand got worse and worse lap by lap and I could not go any faster. I had to slow down and managed to finish the race 6th. It’s a bit frustrating and this was surely not a perfect weekend for us but I aim to bounce back in Malaysia next weekend.”

Michele Pirro, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 15th

“I was hoping to get a better result, but in the end I must say that the result that we brought home that's fine. We managed to finish the race and for us this is already an important goal. We still have to work and do it in the next races on tracks that perhaps may better suit the characteristics of our bike.”

Pole position : 1m44.969s (164.654Km/h) Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha
Fastest lap : Lap 4 - 1m45.589s (163.687Km/h) Dani Pedrosa, Honda
Circuit record lap : 1m45.589s (163.687Km/h) Dani Pedrosa, Honda, 2012
Circuit Best Lap : 1m44.969s (164.654Km/h) Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, 2012

Event results - Round 15 - Race 1

1 Dani Pedrosa 42m31.569s SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
2 Jorge Lorenzo 4.275 SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
3 Alvaro Bautista 6.752 SPA HONDA Honda Gresini
4 Andrea Dovizioso 16.397 ITA YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
5 Casey Stoner 20.566 AUS HONDA Repsol Honda Team
6 Stefan Bradl 24.567 GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
7 Valentino Rossi 26.072 ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
8 Nicky Hayden 36.724 USA DUCATI Ducati Team
9 Katsuyuki Nakasuga 36.794 JPN YAMAHA Yamaha YSP Racing Team
10 Hector Barbera 1'10.729 SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing Team
11 Karel Abraham 1'15.658 CZE DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing
12 Aleix Espargaro 1'22.769 ESP ART Power Electronics Aspar
13 Colin Edwards 1'24.968 USA SUTER NGM Forward Racing
14 James Ellison 1'29.388 GBR ART Paul Bird Motorsport
15 Michele Pirro 1'34.612 ITA HONDA Honda Gresini
16 Roberto Rolfo 1'50.853 ITA ART Speed Master
17 Cal Crutchlow DNF GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
18 Danilo Petrucci DNF ITA IODA Came IodaRacing Project
19 Ivan Silva DNF ESP BQR Avintia Racing MotoGP
20 Randy De Puniet DNF FRA ART Power Electronics Aspar
21 Ben Spies DNF USA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
22 Yonny Hernandez DNF COL BQR Avintia Racing MotoGP


Championship standings

1 Jorge Lorenzo 310 pts SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
2 Dani Pedrosa 282 pts SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
3 Casey Stoner 197 pts AUS HONDA Repsol Honda Team
4 Andrea Dovizioso 192 pts ITA YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
5 Alvaro Bautista 144 pts SPA HONDA Honda Gresini
6 Valentino Rossi 137 pts ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
7 Cal Crutchlow 135 pts GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
8 Stefan Bradl 125 pts GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
9 Nicky Hayden 101 pts USA DUCATI Ducati Team
10 Ben Spies 88 pts USA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
11 Hector Barbera 70 pts SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing Team
12 Aleix Espargaro 55 pts ESP ART Power Electronics Aspar
13 Randy De Puniet 53 pts FRA ART Power Electronics Aspar
14 Karel Abraham 37 pts CZE DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing
15 Yonny Hernandez 28 pts COL BQR Avintia Racing MotoGP
16 Michele Pirro 26 pts ITA HONDA Honda Gresini
17 Colin Edwards 25 pts USA SUTER NGM Forward Racing
18 James Ellison 22 pts GBR ART Paul Bird Motorsport
19 Jonathan Rea 17 pts GBR HONDA Repsol Honda Team
20 Mattia Pasini 13 pts ITA ART Speed Master
21 Ivan Silva 11 pts ESP BQR Avintia Racing MotoGP
22 Danilo Petrucci 11 pts ITA IODA Came IodaRacing Project
23 Toni Elias 10 pts SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing Team
24 Katsuyuki Nakasuga 7 pts JPN YAMAHA Yamaha YSP Racing Team
25 Steve Rapp 1 pts USA APRILIA Attack Performance
26 David Salom 1 pts ESP BQR Avintia Racing MotoGP
27 Roberto Rolfo 0 pts ITA ART Speed Master
28 Franco Battaini 0 pts ITA DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing
29 Chris Vermeulen 0 pts AUS SUTER NGM Forward Racing
30 Aaron Yates 0 pts USA BCL GPTech

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