Dani Pedrosa fell heavily Friday during Free Practice 2 at Motegi, suffering a right-collarbone fracture that will exclude him from the Grand Prix. Dani will take a flight back to Spain later this evening in order to undergo surgery. The Repsol Honda rider will be replaced by HRC test rider Hiroshi Aoyama.

Marc Marquez started the weekend on a positive note, doing productive work on the setup of his RC213V. He set the second-fastest lap time in FP1 and the fourth-best in FP2. He showed a good pace in both sessions despite a small crash in the afternoon, when he was trying the harder front tyre option. He immediately re-joined the action and further improved his lap time.

Marc Marquez

4th

“I’m very sorry for Dani, as it seemed that he was really coming back to his usual speed. I just wish him a quick recovery. Regarding today, honestly, the feeling was better than I was expecting here. I thought we would struggle a bit more, but from the beginning I didn’t feel so bad and we were able to do a good job on the bike. In the afternoon I had a small crash when I was trying the harder front tyre spec and I was trying to push a bit more, but I was able to continue on the same run and improve my lap time, which is a positive. I know that our opponents are quite strong here, but we’re not far off.”

Dani Pedrosa

“I’m obviously very sad about what happened, as I was looking forward to racing in Japan at Honda’s home circuit and one of my favourite tracks. I was on the out-lap of my last run in FP2 when I momentarily lost the rear entering turn 11, and when the tyre found grip again it launched me in the air. There’s not much more to say; now I just want to focus on recovering in order to get back on my bike as soon as possible. My best wishes to Hiro (Aoyama), who is replacing me and will race in front of his home crowd.”

Hiroshi Aoyama

“First of all, I’m very sorry for Dani and I wish him a fast recovery. This definitely is not the best way to come into a race, but anyway, I’ll try and give my best for Honda in front of my friends and fans. I won’t be able to use my racing number, as 7 has already been taken by Mike Jones, so I’ll use 73, which is the number I used in my first season in the 250cc GPs.”

MotoGP 2016
Practice Round 15   Japan

Results Session

Sunny
Humidity
35%
Track Temp
32°C
Air Temp
21°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
Location Information

Located amongst the vast natural beauty of the northern Kanto district, the twin ring circuit at Motegi in Japan consists of a 1.5 mile oval and a 2.9 mile road course constructed to international standards. Built by Honda as the ultimate test facility in August 1997, the road circuit became… read more.

Length 4.801 kilometres / 2.983 miles
Width 15 metres
Left corners 6
Right corners 8
Longest straight 0.762 kilometres / 0.473 miles
Constructed 1997

Twin Ring Motegi, Haga District, Tochigi, Japan - View in Google Maps

www.twinring.jp/english

Records

Pole Position 1m 43.018s (167.7km/h) Pedro Acosta (KTM, 2024)
Race Lap 1m 44.461s (165.4km/h) Jorge Martin (Ducati, 2024)
Race Time 42m 09.790s (163.9km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2024)
2024 Sprint Winner Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati)
2024 Race Winner Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati)