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MOTEGI, Japan - World champion Jorge Lorenzo won the 2013 Japanese MotoGP ahead of championship leader Marc Marquez on Sunday to ensure the MotoGP title race goes down to the November's final round of the season at Valencia. Spain.
The Yamaha rider rode a brilliant race from pole holding off rookie Marquez for 22 laps at the Motegi Twin Ring track and frustrating his fellow Spaniard's championship ambitions for the second week in a row.
Honda rider Marquez still leads the championship by 13 points, however, and fourth in Spain on Nov 10 will guarantee he becomes the youngest champion in the 64 years of the premier class of MotoGP racing.
'IT'S A PLEASURE'
The 20-year-old's team mate Dani Pedrosa was third, ending his slim hopes of winning the title, while Honda's Alvaro Bautista ensured a Spanish sweep of the top four places.
"This track is normally better for them so winning here in Honda's home race... is a pleasure," Lorenzo said after the race. "It's been a really hard, physical race but I really kept my concentration and I really wanted this victory."
A first attempt to seal the title at Phillip Island in Australia the previous week ended with disqualification for Marquez after a pit-board error by his team and victory for Lorenzo.
Marquez's incident-packed debut season continued even on Sunday morning when he slid off his bike and careered across the trackside gravel in the final practice session.
After fog and rain combined to wipe out the first day and a half of the weekend, though, the Honda-owned track was bone dry at the start of the penultimate race of the season. Lorenzo lined up with Marquez beside him but by the first corner two Yamahas led with Valentino Rossi's excellent start taking him to second.
Any hopes that Rossi might obstruct the inevitable Honda charge were dashed on lap when the seven-times World champion misjudged his braking and Marquez and Pedrosa swept past. They quickly closed the one-second gap to Lorenzo but the 26-year-old Yamaha rider showed exactly why he's won two World titles with a near faultless ride to claim his seventh win of the season and the 30th of his MotoGP career.
'TOO MUCH ON THE LIMIT'
Marquez admitted later: "It was a difficult race for me because of this morning's big crash but also because it was my first time on this track. I tried to follow Jorge. In the middle of the race it looked like we were stronger but in the end I saw that Jorge tried to push a little bit more.
"I felt I was too much on the limit and I said 'OK, 20 points for the championship'. Valencia will be another race and very interesting for sure."
Marquez's 17-year-old brother Alex earlier won the Moto3 race for his first GP series victory in an action-packed encounter that also kept that title race alive, while Pol Espargaro's victory in the Moto2 race sealed the championship for the Spaniard.
Japanese MotoGP result
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 42min34.291
2 Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda 42min37.479
3 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 42min38.883
4 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda 42min54.046
5 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda 42min57.101
6 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 42min58.928
7 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha 43min01.787
8 Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha 43min05.260
9 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati 43min11.301
10 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati 43min17.235
11 Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Japan) Yamaha 43min27.636
12 Colin Edwards (US) FTR 43min37.504
13 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia 43min41.131
14 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati 43min42.509
15 Yonny Hernandez (Colombia) Aprilia 43min52.531
Points standings
1 Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda - 318
2 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha - 305
3 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda - 280
4 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha - 224
5 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha - 188
6 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda - 160
7 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda - 146
8 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati - 133
9 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati - 118
10 Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha - 107
11 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia - 88
12 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati - 57
13 Michele Pirro (Italy) Ducati - 50
14 Colin Edwards (US) FTR - 40
15 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia - 36
Moto2 result
1 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Kalex 28min15.162
2 Mika Kallio (Finland) Kalex 28min16.506
3 Thomas Luethi (Switzerland) Suter 28min18.541
4 Xavier Simeon (Belgium) Kalex 28min23.582
5 Julian Simon (Spain) Kalex 28min25.477
6 Nicolas Terol (Spain) Suter 28min26.526
7 Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Speed up 28min27.880
8 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Suter 28min30.771
9 Takaaki Nakagami (Japan) Kalex 28min33.576
10 Mattia Pasini (Italy) Speed up 28min35.841
11 Anthony West (Australia) Speed up 28min45.921
12 Marcel Schroetter (Germany) Kalex 28min46.296
13 Axel Pons (Spain) Kalex 28min46.497
14 Gino Rea (Britain) FTR 28min46.667
15 Sandro Cortese (Germany) Kalex 28min46.963
Moto2 points
1 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Kalex - 265
2 Scott Redding (Britain) Kalex - 224
3 Esteve Rabat (Spain) Kalex - 204
4 Mika Kallio (Finland) Kalex - 185
5 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Suter - 151
6 Thomas Luethi (Switzerland) Suter - 146
7 Takaaki Nakagami (Japan) Kalex - 145
8 Nicolas Terol (Spain) Suter - 125
9 Johann Zarco (France) Suter - 123
10 Jordi Torres (Spain) Suter - 106
11 Simone Corsi (Italy) Speed up - 92
12 Xavier Simeon (Belgium) Kalex - 84
13 Julian Simon (Spain) Kalex - 74
14 Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Speed up - 66
15 Anthony West (Australia) Speed up - 53
Moto3 result
1. Alex Marquez (Spain) KTM 39min45.953
2 Maverick Vinales (Spain) KTM 39min45.980
3 Jonas Folger (Germany) Kalex 39min53.703
4 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) Mahindra 40min01.842
5 Romano Fenati (Italy) FTR 40min04.276
6 Jack Miller (Australia) FTR 40min04.385
7 John McPhee (Britain) FTR 40min04.392
8 Niklas Ajo (Finland) KTM 40min11.561
9 Niccolo Antonelli (Italy) FTR 40min11.903
10 Brad Binder (South Africa) Suter 40min18.886
11 Jakub Kornfeil (Czech Republic) Kalex 40min19.020
12 Livio Loi (Belgium) Kalex 40min19.184
13 Philipp OEttl (Germany) Kalex 40min19.621
14 Alan Techer (France) TSR 40min24.959
15 Hyuga Watanabe (Japan) FTR 40min25.212
Moto3 points
1 Luis Salom (Spain) KTM - 300
2 Maverick Vinales (Spain) KTM - 298
3 Alex Rins (Spain) KTM - 295
4 Alex Marquez (Spain) KTM - 200
5 Jonas Folger (Germany) Kalex - 163
6 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) Mahindra - 144
7 Jack Miller (Australia) FTR - 110
8 Alexis Masbou (France) FTR - 84
9 Efren Vazquez (Spain) Mahindra - 71
10 Jakub Kornfeil (Czech Republic) Kalex - 68
11 Romano Fenati (Italy) FTR - 68
12 Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Malaysia) KTM - 65
13 Brad Binder (South Africa) Suter - 62
14 Niklas Ajo (Finland) KTM - 62
15 Arthur Sissis (Australia) KTM - 5
The Yamaha rider rode a brilliant race from pole holding off rookie Marquez for 22 laps at the Motegi Twin Ring track and frustrating his fellow Spaniard's championship ambitions for the second week in a row.
Honda rider Marquez still leads the championship by 13 points, however, and fourth in Spain on Nov 10 will guarantee he becomes the youngest champion in the 64 years of the premier class of MotoGP racing.
'IT'S A PLEASURE'
The 20-year-old's team mate Dani Pedrosa was third, ending his slim hopes of winning the title, while Honda's Alvaro Bautista ensured a Spanish sweep of the top four places.
"This track is normally better for them so winning here in Honda's home race... is a pleasure," Lorenzo said after the race. "It's been a really hard, physical race but I really kept my concentration and I really wanted this victory."
A first attempt to seal the title at Phillip Island in Australia the previous week ended with disqualification for Marquez after a pit-board error by his team and victory for Lorenzo.
Marquez's incident-packed debut season continued even on Sunday morning when he slid off his bike and careered across the trackside gravel in the final practice session.
After fog and rain combined to wipe out the first day and a half of the weekend, though, the Honda-owned track was bone dry at the start of the penultimate race of the season. Lorenzo lined up with Marquez beside him but by the first corner two Yamahas led with Valentino Rossi's excellent start taking him to second.
Any hopes that Rossi might obstruct the inevitable Honda charge were dashed on lap when the seven-times World champion misjudged his braking and Marquez and Pedrosa swept past. They quickly closed the one-second gap to Lorenzo but the 26-year-old Yamaha rider showed exactly why he's won two World titles with a near faultless ride to claim his seventh win of the season and the 30th of his MotoGP career.
'TOO MUCH ON THE LIMIT'
Marquez admitted later: "It was a difficult race for me because of this morning's big crash but also because it was my first time on this track. I tried to follow Jorge. In the middle of the race it looked like we were stronger but in the end I saw that Jorge tried to push a little bit more.
"I felt I was too much on the limit and I said 'OK, 20 points for the championship'. Valencia will be another race and very interesting for sure."
Marquez's 17-year-old brother Alex earlier won the Moto3 race for his first GP series victory in an action-packed encounter that also kept that title race alive, while Pol Espargaro's victory in the Moto2 race sealed the championship for the Spaniard.
Japanese MotoGP result
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 42min34.291
2 Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda 42min37.479
3 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 42min38.883
4 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda 42min54.046
5 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda 42min57.101
6 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 42min58.928
7 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha 43min01.787
8 Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha 43min05.260
9 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati 43min11.301
10 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati 43min17.235
11 Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Japan) Yamaha 43min27.636
12 Colin Edwards (US) FTR 43min37.504
13 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia 43min41.131
14 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati 43min42.509
15 Yonny Hernandez (Colombia) Aprilia 43min52.531
Points standings
1 Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda - 318
2 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha - 305
3 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda - 280
4 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha - 224
5 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha - 188
6 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda - 160
7 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda - 146
8 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati - 133
9 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati - 118
10 Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha - 107
11 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia - 88
12 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati - 57
13 Michele Pirro (Italy) Ducati - 50
14 Colin Edwards (US) FTR - 40
15 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia - 36
Moto2 result
1 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Kalex 28min15.162
2 Mika Kallio (Finland) Kalex 28min16.506
3 Thomas Luethi (Switzerland) Suter 28min18.541
4 Xavier Simeon (Belgium) Kalex 28min23.582
5 Julian Simon (Spain) Kalex 28min25.477
6 Nicolas Terol (Spain) Suter 28min26.526
7 Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Speed up 28min27.880
8 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Suter 28min30.771
9 Takaaki Nakagami (Japan) Kalex 28min33.576
10 Mattia Pasini (Italy) Speed up 28min35.841
11 Anthony West (Australia) Speed up 28min45.921
12 Marcel Schroetter (Germany) Kalex 28min46.296
13 Axel Pons (Spain) Kalex 28min46.497
14 Gino Rea (Britain) FTR 28min46.667
15 Sandro Cortese (Germany) Kalex 28min46.963
Moto2 points
1 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Kalex - 265
2 Scott Redding (Britain) Kalex - 224
3 Esteve Rabat (Spain) Kalex - 204
4 Mika Kallio (Finland) Kalex - 185
5 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Suter - 151
6 Thomas Luethi (Switzerland) Suter - 146
7 Takaaki Nakagami (Japan) Kalex - 145
8 Nicolas Terol (Spain) Suter - 125
9 Johann Zarco (France) Suter - 123
10 Jordi Torres (Spain) Suter - 106
11 Simone Corsi (Italy) Speed up - 92
12 Xavier Simeon (Belgium) Kalex - 84
13 Julian Simon (Spain) Kalex - 74
14 Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Speed up - 66
15 Anthony West (Australia) Speed up - 53
Moto3 result
1. Alex Marquez (Spain) KTM 39min45.953
2 Maverick Vinales (Spain) KTM 39min45.980
3 Jonas Folger (Germany) Kalex 39min53.703
4 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) Mahindra 40min01.842
5 Romano Fenati (Italy) FTR 40min04.276
6 Jack Miller (Australia) FTR 40min04.385
7 John McPhee (Britain) FTR 40min04.392
8 Niklas Ajo (Finland) KTM 40min11.561
9 Niccolo Antonelli (Italy) FTR 40min11.903
10 Brad Binder (South Africa) Suter 40min18.886
11 Jakub Kornfeil (Czech Republic) Kalex 40min19.020
12 Livio Loi (Belgium) Kalex 40min19.184
13 Philipp OEttl (Germany) Kalex 40min19.621
14 Alan Techer (France) TSR 40min24.959
15 Hyuga Watanabe (Japan) FTR 40min25.212
Moto3 points
1 Luis Salom (Spain) KTM - 300
2 Maverick Vinales (Spain) KTM - 298
3 Alex Rins (Spain) KTM - 295
4 Alex Marquez (Spain) KTM - 200
5 Jonas Folger (Germany) Kalex - 163
6 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) Mahindra - 144
7 Jack Miller (Australia) FTR - 110
8 Alexis Masbou (France) FTR - 84
9 Efren Vazquez (Spain) Mahindra - 71
10 Jakub Kornfeil (Czech Republic) Kalex - 68
11 Romano Fenati (Italy) FTR - 68
12 Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Malaysia) KTM - 65
13 Brad Binder (South Africa) Suter - 62
14 Niklas Ajo (Finland) KTM - 62
15 Arthur Sissis (Australia) KTM - 5
