Miller wins in Motegi, Quartararo gets some breathing room

Clearly, this 2022 season has many surprises in store. A week after the fall of fabio quartararo in the first round in Aragon, it is the turn of his two opponents for the title to play to eat their black bread. 

Even before the start of the warm-up lap, Aleix Espargaro suffered a technical problem forcing him to return to the box to change bikes and start from the pit lane. Despite all his efforts and determination, the Catalan ultimately failed to reach the points in 16^e position. 

Third on the grid, Brad Binder took the lead on first braking ahead of pole-sitter Marc Marquez and the first Ducati of Jorge Martin. From the third row, Jack Miller made a great start to finish the first lap in third position. 

After three laps, the Australian had already got rid of Binder and then Martin to take control of hostilities. From there, he was never worried again by setting a pace that no one could follow. Miller scored his fourth victory in the premier class, his first since the French GP last year. 

The other two steps on the podium were decided between Binder and Martin until the last lap. The South African finally got the last word to claim his second podium of the year (after that in Qatar). Just over a week after his return, Marquez finished just off the podium ahead of Miguel Oliveira, Luca Marini and Maverick Viñales. 

An eighth place with a taste of victory

The whole point of this race took place a little further down the hierarchy. If Quartararo did not have to deal with Espargaro, he nevertheless had to keep an eye on Francesco Bagnaia who was determined to continue his rise to the championship. Pointed in eighth position, the Frenchman had to put himself in the red so as not to concede anything to his opponents. Bagnaia was then 11^e after four rounds. Even if he had to lose to Luca Marini, nothing worrying for Quartararo. But after being left behind and manhandled once again by Enea Bastianini, Bagnaia gained ground on Bastianini and Quartararo, who was then back in the wake of Maverick Viñales. 

Bagnaia managed (with a little help?) to gain the upper hand over Bastianini and follow in Quartararo's wake. At the start of the last loop, it was up to the one who finished in front of the other... When braking for turn 3, Bagnaia tried to pass to the inside, but the maneuver was a little too optimistic and the driver Ducati made a mistake, losing 8 points overall on Quartararo.

THE FALL of Francesco Bagnaia 😱#JapaneseGP ▶: https://t.co/Q9uXtTYtRy pic.twitter.com/zQAjC3DvQw

— CANAL+ MotoGP™ (@CanalplusMotoGP) September 25, 2022

Quartararo is now 18 lengths ahead of Bagnaia and 25 ahead of Espargaro. Enough to breathe a little before finding himself at Buriram, the circuit on which he missed victory in the last lap in 2019 against Marquez. 

The classification of the Japanese Grand Prix: