Pedrosa wins dramatic Japan GP

Dani Pedrosa

The GP began with pole setter Stoner launching into turn one ahead of the field, while team mate Dovizioso jumped the start from the front row, with Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) and Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) both following suit.

Ducati Team’s Valentino Rossi crashed out of the first lap, forcing Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) off track, dropping the American down the order. Meanwhile Stoner appeared set to take another victory, leading clear and free until running off the track on lap five. Shortly thereafter Hector Barberá (Mapfre Aspar) went down, while Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) ran off track after lapping in fourth position.

The top-3 finishers on the podium

Lorenzo made his way across the line in second, while Stoner rose to third. Simoncelli and Dovizioso took their ride through penalties and then engaged in a battle to the finish, with the San Carlo Honda Gresini rider holding off Dovizioso to take fourth.

Three Americans followed next, with Spies sixth in front of Hayden and Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3). Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) avoided any drama to finish ninth as did Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) who finished tenth. Crutchlow was 11th despite a runoff in addition to his ride through penalty.

That left Kousuke Akiyoshi (LCR Honda) to take 12th, as his team mate Toni Elías crashed out after lapping in sixth position. Shinichi Ito (Honda Racing Team) was the final finisher of the race in 13th, while Damian Cudlin who rode in place of an injured Capirossi on the Pramac Racing team crashed near the end of the race, and �lvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) went down while running in fourth position.

Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) did not participate in the race after taking the decision not to ride. The Czech rider was still feeling the after-effects of a light head concussion sustained in a crash in the opening lap of the Arag¢n race.

Stoner’s lead at the top of the Championship over Lorenzo now stands at 40 points with three rounds of the 2011 season remaining.

DANI PEDROSA – 1st – World Championship Position: 4th with 195 points
"I'm super happy with this victory, for the team that has been working so well, for HRC because this is the first win in Motegi with the Repsol Honda Team and for myself because it is the first time I've won here in MotoGP after doing so in 125cc and 250cc. The race was strange at the beginning with Stoner and Dovi really fast on the first few laps, they pulled away and then Casey had some problem and Andrea had a ride through due to his jump start. I was alone in front with Lorenzo very close, but I tried to put my head down and push every lap to pull away. I'm really happy because at this track I've had a mix of good and bad results and some bad injuries, so come back one year later and win in MotoGP is fantastic".

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