2022 Japanese MotoGP, Motegi Circuit – Race Results

* Rookie

Jack Miller stormed to his fourth MotoGP victory – but first of the season – with a dominant performance in the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, while Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia disastrously ed out while trying to pass title rival Fabio Quartararo on the final lap.

Miller was joined on the podium by KTM’s Brad Binder and Pramac’s Jorge Martin, in a race that saw Quartararo and Bagnaia battle at the tail end of the top ten and fellow title contender Aleix Espargaro forced to start from pit lane.

• Japanese MotoGP, Motegi – New World Championship standings
• Japanese Moto3 Grand Prix, Motegi – Race Results
• Japanese Moto2 Grand Prix, Motegi – Race Results

Starting from his first pole in three years, Marc Marquez was the only rider to arrive on the grid with a hard rear tyre. He then changed to the soft but a spate of riders – including Bagnaia and factory Ducati team-mate Miller – went in the opposite direction, switching to the hard rear.

Much bigger drama was to follow when third in the championship Aleix Espargaro, due to start ahead of his title rivals in sixth, suddenly pitted at the end of the formation lap due to a technical problem.

The Spaniard literally dropped the RS-GP to the floor as he leapt onto his spare bike and joined the race a distant 25th and last.

Meanwhile, KTM’s Brad Binder turned his first MotoGP front row into the holeshot. But Jorge Martin was soon on the attack, passing both Marquez and Binder to lead the opening lap.

Martin’s reign didn’t last long with another Ducati also on the move. Miller – fastest in the dry on Friday – carving from fifth to first and immediately threatening to pull away.

By the midway stage of the 24 laps, a peerless Miller had pulled a three-second advantage over Martin, with the KTM’s of Binder and Miguel Oliveira, plus Marc Marquez, fighting over the final podium position.

Further back, after being left just 9th and 12th in the wet qualifying, title leaders Quartararo and Bagnaia were still struggling to make an impact in 8th and 10th respectively.

Between them was Aragon winner Enea Bastianini, who had caused Davide Tardozzi to walk away from the TV screen as he launched a close inside pass on future team-mate Bagnaia.

Bagnaia fought back on Bastianini in the closing laps, putting him directly behind Quartararo.

The Italian was close enough to strike on the Yamaha by the penultimate lap, but it ended in disaster when he lost the front while diving for the inside into turn 2, just missing the back of the Frenchman’s M1 as he slid into the gravel.

Aleix Espargaro was also left pointless in 16th place, meaning Quartararo increased his world championship lead to 18 points despite finishing just eighth.

Marc Marquez, who had doubted he had the physical strength to attack for a full distance, settled into fifth for much of the race before snatching fourth from Oliveira with 3 laps to go.

Forced out after two opening lap incidents on his return to MotoGP action at Aragon last weekend, Marquez thus went the full distance for the first time since Mugello in May and equalled his best result of the season.

Binder passed Martin for second at the start of the final lap.

Home star Takaaki Nakagami, riding through the pain of right-hand injuries from Aragon, finished 20th and last.

“4

Also on track this weekend was Suzuki test rider Takuya Tsuda and Honda test rider Tetsuta Nagashima. Both were entered as wild-cards in front of their home fans, although Tsuda was technically replacing the injured Joan Mir.

Tsuda’s race came to a spectacular end when his GSX-RR burst into flames at mid-distance. Fortunately for Miller, red flags were not required. A nightmare final home event for Suzuki was made complete when Alex Rins entered the pits and retired with a mechanical issue.

Riders crept their way to the grid on the warm-up lap, a visible sign of concern over fuel consumption.The absence of Motegi from the calendar in both 2020 and 2021, due to Covid restrictions, meant ten of the full-time riders had never raced at the circuit before in the premier class: Brad Binder, Alex Marquez, Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini, Luca Marini, plus this year’s rookies Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio di Giannantonio, Darryn Binder, Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez.

The tight travel window to transport freight from Aragon meant a revised practice schedule, with a delayed and extended opening practice session running from 15:05-16:20 on Friday. Free Practice 2 was pushed over to Saturday morning, however, a planned FP3 was cancelled due to a thunderstorm and the wet qualifying meant warm-up was only the second dry session of the weekend.

The Thai Grand Prix at Buriram starts on Friday morning.