During yesterday’s Japanese Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit it was the changing weather conditions which again became the deciding factor.

All eyes were on championship combatants Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi as the lights went out for the start of the Japanese MotogGP, but as he did at Aragon two weeks earlier, Honda rider Dani Pedrosa stole the limelight with a skilful display of on-the-edge riding as the drying track destroyed the wet weather tyres.

Pedrosa not only caught and passed Rossi for second place, he then eroded Lorenzo’s seemingly unassailable lead, dragging Rossi along for the ride. When Pedrosa moved to the front, the Italian followed, relegating Lorenzo to third and placing a tentative finger of the 2015 title by opening his championship lead to 18 points with three races remaining. A lap earlier – with the order Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Rossi – his lead had been reduced to just five points.

pedrosa-win-img1

While third-place Lorenzo struggled to keep his Yamaha M1 ¬and championship hopes on track during the final laps, Pedrosa pulled away from Rossi to claim his first win of 2015 and his 50th grand prix victory.

The championship now moves to Phillip Island this weekend, and while Rossi cannot secure the crown even if he wins and Lorenzo finishes out of the points, the nine-time world champion is now in the box seat to claim the 2015 title.

Grab our bumper, 180-page Australian MotoGP preview issue, on sale Thursday, for all the latest news and gossip from the MotoGP paddock.

MotoGP Race Results: Motegi, Sunday, October 11, 2015

Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time/Gap
1 25 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 147.5 46’50.767
2 20 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 147.1 +8.573
3 16 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 146.9 +12.127
4 13 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 146.1 +27.841
5 11 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 145.7 +35.085
6 10 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda Honda 145.6 37.263
7 9 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 145.6 +37.667
8 8 21 Katsuyuki NAKASUGA JPN Yamaha Factory Racing Team Yamaha 145.2 +44.654
9 7 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Racing Ducati 145.0 +48.572
10 6 45 Scott REDDING GBR EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 144.9 +50.121
11 5 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 144.4 +1’00.535
12 4 72 Takumi TAKAHASHI JPN Team HRC with Nissin Honda 144.4 +1’01.211
13 3 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Aspar MotoGP Team Honda 143.9 +1’11.261
14 2 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 143.7 +1’13.896
15 1 63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Avintia Racing Ducati 143.7 +1’15.421
16 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 143.4 +1’20.507
17 50 Eugene LAVERTY IRL Aspar MotoGP Team Honda 142.9 +1’31.224
18 6 Stefan BRADL GER Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 142.1 +1’46.833
19 64 Kousuke AKIYOSHI JPN AB Motoracing Honda 141.5 +2’00.072
20 24 Toni ELIAS SPA Forward Racing Yamaha Forward 139.1 1 Lap
Not Classified
44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 144.9 2 Laps
43 Jack MILLER AUS LCR Honda Honda 144.0 8 Laps
25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 145.9 11 Laps
76 Loris BAZ FRA Forward Racing Yamaha Forward 139.5 11 Laps
29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Ducati Team Ducati 146.1 14 Laps
9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 145.7 16 Laps