Fantastic win for Pedrosa in Motegi with impressive 5th for Stoner

Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa clinched victory for the second year in a row in Honda's backyard in Motegi, with team mate Casey Stoner holding on to take 5th.

It is Dani's fifth win of 2012 - his record in MotoGP, and he also equals his podium record in a single season (13 in 2004). It is another important points haul as he chases down current Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo in the fight for the 2012 MotoGP title, with just three rounds now remaining. With Lorenzo leading from pole, the two Spaniards ran away from the rest of the pack. Dani matched Lorenzo lap for lap, not allowing him to pull an advantage, and recorded a new record race lap of 1'45.589 on lap 4. Then on lap 11 Dani made his move and lead the race to the chequered flag, winning by 4.275 seconds and marking a new record race time of 42'31.569. With this victory, Dani maintains his position as the only rider to record victories at Motegi in all three classes.

In his first race back since surgery, 2011 Champion Casey Stoner started from 7th on the grid. He managed to make up two places on the first lap and rode a strong race to finish 5th with his damaged ankle affecting his riding ability.

There is no rest now as the riders and teams pack up and leave Japan immediately, headed for round sixteen in Malaysia next weekend. Dani, 2nd in the Championship with 282, trails Lorenzo by 28 points. Casey lies 3rd in the Championship with 197 points.

["It was a hard race because the pace was very fast from the beginning. I tried to understand the bike, as yesterday we had a lot of chatter so I didn't know how it would be today. In the beginning it wasn't too bad but then it got a little worse during the race. I managed it as best I could and I stayed with Jorge, I was able to get a better line out of the corner and pass him and then I put in some good laps and controlled the gap. Jorge tried to stay with me, but then decided to settle for the second place. We did what we needed to do and it's just a pity that there is no one else who can stay with us because every race I win, he's been second. But anyway, it's a great feeling to win races and we are doing it now. Thanks to Honda and the whole team, I'm really happy to win again here in Motegi!".

["I'm a little disappointed to be honest. We slowly improved over the weekend and got the bike to a point we were pretty happy with in warm up. At the start of the race I felt had the pace to stay with Dani and Jorge and the bike was feeling pretty good. Then as the race progressed my body started to suffer and ache in ways I didn't expect. We had the pace to run a lot higher and be on the podium but unfortunately I couldn't manage it physically today. A big thanks to my team, they gave me a fantastic bike today but I couldn't do anymore in my condition".

| 2| Jorge Lorenzo| 4.275| SPA| YAMAHA| Yamaha Factory Racing Team|
| 3| Alvaro Bautista| 6.752| SPA| HONDA| San Carlo Honda Gresini|
| 4| Andrea Dovizioso| 16.397| ITA| YAMAHA| Monster Yamaha Tech 3|
| 5| Casey Stoner| 20.566| AUS| HONDA| Repsol Honda Team|
| 6| Stefan Bradl| 24.567| GER| HONDA| LCR Honda MotoGP|
| 7| Valentino Rossi| 26.072| ITA| DUCATI| Ducati Team|
| 8| Nicky Hayden| 36.724| USA| DUCATI| Ducati Team|
| 9| Katsuyuki Nakasuga| 36.794| JAP| YAMAHA| Yamaha Factory Racing Team|
| 10| Hector Barbera| +1'10.729| SPA| DUCATI| Pramac Racing|
| 11| Karel Abraham| +1'15.658| CZE| DUCATI| Cardion AB Motoracing|
| 12| Aleix Espargaro| +1'22.769| ESP| ART| Aspar Team MotoGP|
| 13| Colin Edwards| +1'24.968| USA| SUTER| NGM Mobile Forward Racing|
| 14| James Ellison| +1'29.388| GBR| ART| Paul Bird Racing|
| 15| Michele Pirro| 1'34.612| ITA| HONDA| San Carlo Honda Gresini|
| 16| Roberto Rolfo| 1'50.853| ITA| ART| Speed Master|
| 17| Cal Crutchlow| DNF| GBR| YAMAHA| Monster Yamaha Tech 3|
| 18| Danilo Petrucci| DNF| ITA| IODA| Ioda Racing Project|
| 19| Ivan Silva| DNF| SPA| BQR-FTR| BQR|
| 20| Randy De Puniet| DNF| FRA| ART| Aspar Team MotoGP|
| 21| Ben Spies| DNF| USA| YAMAHA| Yamaha Factory Racing Team|
| 22| Yonny Hernandez| DNF| COL| BQR-FTR| BQR|

| 2| Dani Pedrosa| 282 pts| SPA| HONDA| Repsol Honda Team|
| 3| Casey Stoner| 197 pts| AUS| HONDA| Repsol Honda Team|
| 4| Andrea Dovizioso| 192 pts| ITA| YAMAHA| Monster Yamaha Tech 3|
| 5| Alvaro Bautista| 144 pts| SPA| HONDA| San Carlo Honda Gresini|
| 6| Valentino Rossi| 137 pts| ITA| DUCATI| Ducati Team|
| 7| Cal Crutchlow| 135 pts| GBR| YAMAHA| Monster Yamaha Tech 3|
| 8| Stefan Bradl| 125 pts| GER| HONDA| LCR Honda MotoGP|
| 9| Nicky Hayden| 101 pts| USA| DUCATI| Ducati Team|
| 10| Ben Spies| 88 pts| USA| YAMAHA| Yamaha Factory Racing Team|
| 11| Hector Barbera| 70 pts| SPA| DUCATI| Pramac Racing|
| 12| Aleix Espargaro| 55 pts| ESP| ART| Aspar Team MotoGP|
| 13| Randy De Puniet| 53 pts| FRA| ART| Aspar Team MotoGP|
| 14| Karel Abraham| 37 pts| CZE| DUCATI| Cardion AB Motoracing|
| 15| Yonny Hernandez| 28 pts| COL| BQR-FTR| BQR|
| 16| Michele Pirro| 26 pts| ITA| HONDA| San Carlo Honda Gresini|
| 17| Colin Edwards| 25 pts| USA| SUTER| NGM Mobile Forward Racing|
| 18| James Ellison| 21 pts| GBR| ART| Paul Bird Racing|
| 19| Jonathan Rea| 17 pts| GBR| HONDA| Repsol Honda Team|
| 20| Mattia Pasini| 13 pts| ITA| ART| Speed Master|
| 21| Danilo Petrucci| 11 pts| ITA| IODA| Ioda Racing Project|
| 22| Ivan Silva| 11 pts| SPA| BQR-FTR| BQR|
| 23| Toni Elías| 10 pts| SPA| DUCATI| Pramac Racing|
| 24| Katsuyuki Nakasuga| 7 pts| JAP| YAMAHA| Yamaha Factory Racing Team|
| 25| Steve Rapp| 2 pts| USA| N/A| Attack Performance|
| 26| David Salom| 1 pts| SPA| BQR-FTR| BQR|
| 27| Roberto Rolfo| 0 pts| ITA| ART| Speed Master|
| 28| Franco Battaini| 0 pts| ITA| DUCATI| Ducati Team|
| 29| Chris Vermeulen| 0 pts| AUS| SUTER| NGM Mobile Forward Racing|
| 30| Aaron Yates| 0 pts| USA| N/A| GP Tech|

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