Miller dominates to take victory in Motegi as Bagnaia crashes out on final lap
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Before the race even got started Marc Marquez made a big change with his rear tyre choice, switching from the hard to the soft tyre. As riders came to the end of their formation lap, huge drama unfolded for Aleix Espargaro as the Aprilia rider pitted with a technical issue. Making a very quick bike swap, Espargaro dropped his RS-GP22 and rushed on to his second bike. On pole for the first time in three years, Marquez got a good start but it was Brad Binder who led into turn one.Marquez then lost out to Jorge Martin, who swooped through on both Marquez and Binder to lead by the end of lap one. However, the rider with the best pace was Miller as the Australian made light work of Marquez, Miguel Oliveira, Binder and Martin to lead.After gaining one position apiece, Fabio Quartararo and Bagnaia saw their progress halted as they instead came under pressure from behind. Related 2022 Japanese MotoGP, Motegi Circuit – Race Japanese MotoGP – Warm-up Results: Martin leads, Marquez fallsA mistake from Quartararo on lap five allowed Luca Marini to get back ahead at turn one, while Bagnaia was attempting to fight off Enea Bastianini. As Miller continued his hot pace at the front, Bastianini began a serious charge as he made quick moves on Bagnaia and Pol Espargaro. Miller, who continued setting fastest lap after fastest lap, was now leading by four seconds as the chasing pack had no answer for the factory Ducati rider. In what was turning out to be a race-long fight for sixth, Marini eventually got through on Maverick Vinales as the Spaniard made the same mistake as Quartararo which was running slightly wide at turn one. A massive blowout took place on lap 13 for Joan Mir’s replacement Takuya Tsuda, before Alex Rins returned to pit lane to also retire. Further back, Espargaro’s progress was steady but not enough to score points after finishing 16th.With three laps remaining there were several battles taking shape, none more important than the fight for eighth as Bagnaia was all over the back of Quartararo.Up ahead, Marquez made a lovely move on Oliveira to take fourth place from the Portuguese rider.As Miller rode home for a comfortable victory, a huge mistake in the championship battle unfolded behind him as Bagnaia, who was too hot on the brakes into turn three when attempting to overtake Quartararo, lost the front-end of his Ducati.Bagnaia was seen giving himself a sarcastic round of applause for what was a devastating error from the Italian.
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