2015 MotoGP- Dani Pedrosa's Apotheosis Win At The Home Of Honda

• Oct 11, 2015
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The Motul Grand Prix of Japan race started out to be a wet race with Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez starting up in the first line. The race kicked off with Rossi leading the riders into turn 1 and 2, soon after which Lorenzo took over the 1st place and started moving away from other riders. Rossi was at 2nd place with constant threats coming in from Dovizioso. 2 laps after the race and Lorenzo had already created a space between himself and Rossi of over 2 seconds. Dani and Marquez were at 4th and 5th places, having a gap of over 4 seconds between them and Dovizioso.

Stefan Bradl went off the track with 18 laps to go and thus sending him to the back of the line in the race. Jack Miller soon crashes out but thankfully gets back on. By now the race was more or less the same, with Lorenzo having a lone run at the front, with Rossi trying to hold Dovizioso in bay and 4+ seconds behind was Pedrosa, followed by Marquez.

It was Danilo Petrucci now who crashed out with 16 laps to go, thus ending the race for him. Soon Dani Pedrosa kept closing in to Dovizioso, riding faster and harder. The Ducati rider, Andrea Iannone had to end the race after having some mechanical problems in his bike (that was a sad end for Iannone). With around 14 laps to go, Dani overtakes Dovizioso and sets his next target, Valentino Rossi. Meanwhile Marc with his injured left hand, did a fairly good job, defending his 5th place. Dani was on a charge as he kept getting closer and faster, he was just waiting for the tires to heat up to the right temperature and once it was done, he started to ride like he was on fire. Maverick Vinales crashes with just 10 laps to go. With just 9 laps to go, Dani Pedrosa overtakes Rossi for 2nd place. It is by this time that the Yamaha's and Ducati's tires started giving away and it was more of a struggle to keep themselves without crashing.

Honda on the other hand had a better grip on their tires and so it was easier for Dani to push even harder. We thought that Dani would hold his second position, giving Lorenzo a better chance in the championship standings and not push any harder but to our surprise, Dani Pedrosa absolutely kept flying. His next target was #AllHailLorenzo who by now started experiencing problems with his tire which stopped him from pushing the bike really hard as the track started to dry out. Jack Miller crashes out for the second time and this time, he was out of the race. Dani leads the race overtaking Lorenzo with 6 laps to go. Dani did not stop there as he started to ride away from the two Yamahas even farther. Lorenzo now faced threat by his own team-mate, Rossi who kept closing in for Lorenzo. Lorenzo made a mistake, running wide and Bingo Rossi took the chance and made his move and was now in second place.

Lorenzo now concentrated not to crash and Rossi, pretty much the same and also maintaining his second position as that is what was more crucial for him than to win the race in first place. With five laps to go, Marc Marquez overtakes Dovizioso for fourth place. The race went the same till the last lap where Paul Espargaro crashed out.

Dani took home his 1st grand prix victory of the season, finishing first followed by Rossi and Lorenzo. Marquez finished at fourth position and Dovizioso at fifth. This was one of the best performances by Dani Pedrosa who we thought couldn't even make past the fourth position, took his time and then finally made his move, moving harder and faster to the first place and thus winning the Title for him in this race. The race was totally unpredictable and exciting at the same time. Rossi now creates a substantial gap between himself and Lorenzo by further extending the Championship lead by 18 points over Lorenzo. What could happen over the coming races, will Rossi extend the gap or will Lorenzo close up to Rossi again? Stay tuned to BikesIndia as we will bring you the in-depth analysis of upcoming races ahead of the season.

By: Rakesh Gowda