2015 Japanese MotoGP: Pedrosa wins Motegi thriller

  • Oct 11, 2015
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Dani Pedrosa exploited the tricky conditions at Motegi to full advantage as he thrashed his opponents to claim a convincing win while Valentino Rossi finished in second place ahead of Lorenzo to extend his championship lead to 18 points

2015 Japanese MotoGP Jorge Lorenzo

A triumphant Jorge Lorenzo came into Motegi after a thrilling victory at Aragon and Valentino Rossi finishing third behind Dani Pedrosa that reduced the championship lead of the Italian rider to just 14 points. Lorenzo was fast throughout the weekend but so was Rossi and the level of competition between both the riders could be understood from the fact that only 0.081 seconds was the margin of Lorenzo’s pole. But it wasn’t a sunny afternoon as Lorenzo would have ideally liked but a wet track that awaited the Yamaha riders on race day at Motegi. Rossi made a brilliant start and took the race lead going into the first corner of the race. Given the wet conditions, many felt that Rossi would dominate proceedings as Lorenzo has struggled on wet surfaces in the recent past. But surprisingly that wasn’t to be. 

Lorenzo was quick in his response and regained the race lead within a matter of few corners and started to run away from Rossi. The two time MotoGP champion was almost a second ahead of Rossi and was on fire. At the back of the grid Marc Marquez was struggling as he was soon passed by Andrea Dovizioso for third position. The Ducati rider was showcasing great pace and was soon catching up with Rossi. The MotoGP legend responded in a positive manner and somehow managed to maintain a consistent gap ahead of his country mate. Dani Pedrosa who had ridden a wonderful race in Aragon continued his form in Japan as he soon passed his team-mate to take fourth place. 

2015 Japanese MotoGP Valentino Rossi

Among all this drama, Lorenzo was in a zone of his own as he registered one after another fastest lap of the race. The Spanish rider had won the previous two editions of the Japanese Grand Prix and seemed destined for a hat trick as he was now more than 3.5 seconds ahead of Rossi. The pecking order remained unchanged in the following laps whereas Ducati rider Andrea Iannone had to retire owing to mechanical problems, his first nonpoint scoring finish in the 2015 season.  With the race track drying up both the Yamaha riders were struggling as their tyres were starting to degrade while Pedrosa was on a charge and cutting down the lead of his rivals. With 12 laps in the race remaining he passed Dovizioso for third position and was around 4 seconds behind Rossi.

2015 Japanese MotoGP Dani Pedrosa

Such was his supreme race pace that he passed The Doctor within a span of three laps and grabbed the race lead after further two laps! Pedrosa was flying around Motegi to the delight of the Repsol Honda team while the Yamaha pair was busy nursing their tyres to the finish line. Lorenzo’s faster lap timings in the initial stages of the race meant he had burned down his tyres faster than Rossi and he was coming under tremendous pressure from his team-mate. With 5 laps remaining in the race, Lorenzo ran wide and somehow managed himself from going into the gravel trap. Rossi grabbed this opportunity with both hands and took second place to the delight of the Japanese fans.

2015 Japanese MotoGP winners
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Pedrosa was relentless ahead of them and crossed the finish line by a massive lead of 8.5 seconds. Rossi finished in second place and was visibly jubilant while Lorenzo came home a dejected third place as he had the race win almost in his kitty. For Pedrosa it was his first win of the 2015 season and his 50th career Grand Prix victory. Rossi was visibly exhausted but was seen smiling on the podium as he now leads the championship with a lead of 18 points with only three races remaining. 

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