After a week away from racing, MotoGP is back to start the Asian part of the calendar. This weekend, the riders are at Mobility Resort Motegi for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Last year, Francesco Bagnaia took victory after a tough season. Joining him on the podium was his teammate Marc Márquez in second. While M. Márquez did not win the race, he won the World Championship. Joan Mir managed to take the final place on the podium for Honda at their home circuit.
Neither Moto2 nor Moto3 had the best races with both having runaway winners. In Moto2, it was Daniel Holgado who took the win by 1.3 seconds over Jake Dixon and Diogo Moreira, rounding up the podium. Moto3 saw David Muñoz pull a 1.6-second gap to win the race over José Antonio Rueda, with Máximo Quiles a further 0.6 seconds behind.
Mobility Resort Motegi
The Motegi circuit has been home to the Japanese Grand Prix since 1999. The circuit was built by Honda in 1997 as a specialist test facility, taking a home circuit to a whole new level.
The circuit is 4.8km (2.98 miles), meaning the race will be completed over 24 laps. With eight left corners and six right corners, the circuit has created some classic racing over the years. The current lap record is held by Bagnaia, set in qualifying last year at 1:42.911.
What to Expect
With the MotoGP championship being wide open, it is very hard to predict. Last year, the Ducatis were dominant, and only two Aprilias raced, but they did not do too badly.
As always with Moto2 and Moto3, anything could happen. Moto2 has been very competitive this year, so hopefully we will see some good racing. Moto3 sees the first match point for Quiles as he has the chance to win the World Championship this weekend. He will win the World Championship if Álvaro Carpe finishes 10th or below. There are plenty of different stories to look out for this weekend.
This Weekends Schedule
Note all of the times are in CEST.