The Japanese GP is always one of the standout weekends of the season, with so many last-lap duels, unexpected moments and unpredictable weather that have changed results. Over the years, Motegi has delivered countless battles, with the Motul Grand Prix of Japan having another opportunity to create history this weekend. However, before the action gets underway, let\u2019s go back in time and relive some of the greatest moments that the Mobility Resort Motegi has to offer!<\/p>\n
2007 \u2013 Stoner\u2019s moment arrives<\/p>\n
The 2007 Japanese Grand Prix was a day Ducati will never forget, with the title being decided in Japan. Dani Pedrosa took an early lead in the tricky conditions before Casey Stoner carved his way to the front, battling with Marco Melandri. Meanwhile, Valentino Rossi moved closer to the podium as the changing conditions forced a flag-to-flag bike swap. After the bike change, Rossi\u2019s hopes began to slip away, momentarily entering the pits again \u2013 followed by an off-track excursion. Loris Capirossi would take victory, but more importantly, Stoner claimed P6, and with Rossi in P13, it was enough for the Australian to become the 2007 World Champion.<\/p>\n
2010 \u2013 Yamaha\u2019s Japan duel: Rossi vs Lorenzo<\/p>\n
Plenty of headlines were made at the 2010 Japanese GP after THAT battle between teammates\u2026 It was an important day in the 2010 MotoGP World Championship, with Dani Pedrosa forced to sit out following a crash on Friday. Casey Stoner held the advantage over Andrea Dovizioso in the opening stages as Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi began the fight for P3. Rossi held the upper hand, with viewers at home treated to some of the most iconic images we’ve seen at Motegi. Stoner clinched victory, defeating Dovizioso by 3.868s, while Rossi earned third, just 0.514s ahead of Lorenzo.<\/p>\n
2015 \u2013 Pedrosa wins as Rossi defeats Lorenzo<\/p>\n
It was another key moment in 2015\u2019s fierce title race, where Jorge Lorenzo stormed into the lead in the early stages at Motegi. It was wet conditions at the start, with Dani Pedrosa carving his way into podium contention in the opening laps \u2013 passing Andrea Dovizioso and eventually Valentino Rossi. Pedrosa continued to put down the hammer, hunting down Lorenzo before making the move with seven laps remaining. Pedrosa took victory by an astonishing 8.573s over Rossi, who extended his Championship lead to 18 points following an error from Lorenzo with five laps to go.<\/p>\n
2017 \u2013 a rain dance for Dovizioso and Marquez<\/p>\n
The 2017 Japanese GP was a weekend that was cemented into the history books, with Johann Zarco starting from pole in wet conditions. As the lights went out, it was Marc Marquez who stole the lead at Turn 1, with P1 swapping hands at the start as Jorge Lorenzo and later Danilo Petrucci had their turn at the front. In the closing stages, the #9 dropped to third, leading to a blockbuster finish to the Grand Prix between Marquez and Dovizioso. The battle hit boiling point on the final lap, with Dovizioso\u2019s decisive move arriving at Turn 11 \u2013 securing victory by 0.249s. Marquez attempted to respond, finishing in second as Petrucci completed the podium.<\/p>\n
2018 \u2013 Marquez clinches the title in Japan<\/p>\n
Finally, we arrive in 2018 on a day that Marc Marquez will never forget as he arrived in Japan with the chance to become World Champion. Sound familiar? It was sunshine on Sunday at Motegi with Dovizioso leading the early laps, looking to stop the #93 from adding another title to his collection. Marquez made his move with four laps remaining, launching a crucial overtake for the Championship at Turn 9. But as Marc moved another step closer to the title, the headlines were made on the penultimate as Dovizioso crashed out \u2013 cementing Marquez as the 2018 MotoGP World Champion.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s not all Japan has to offer, from Makoto Tamada\u2019s home win in 2004, to Valentino Rossi and Marco Melandri\u2019s collision in 2005, and not to forget Jack Miller\u2019s magnificent triumph in 2022. Get ready for another incredible weekend, and keep up to date with all the action as Marc Marquez arrives with the chance to become World Champion!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Japanese GP is always one of the standout weekends of the season, with so many last-lap duels,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,806,805,803,804,85,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-163701","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-motor","11":"tag-motor-sports","12":"tag-motosport","13":"tag-motosports","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-text"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}