With three races to go, the 2017 MotoGP championship seems more or less decided – the final showdown is going to be between Marc Marquez and Andrea Dovizioso, and it’s definitely going to go down to the wire at Valencia.
Now you may say that Marquez looked totally in control of the championship battle after back to back wins in Misano and Aragon. However, at Motegi, Dovizioso pounced back to win a last-lap thriller from Marquez, cutting the Spaniard’s lead to just 11 points after 15 of 18 rounds.
The weather in Motegi was mostly damp or wet over the entire weekend. The race day was no different as it continued to rain relentlessly at the Twin-Ring Circuit. Johann Zarco of Tech3 Yamaha was a surprise since he took pole position, ahead of Danilo Petrucci of Pramac Ducati and Marquez. Although Dovizioso’s pace in the wet was impressive, he qualified 9th.
Come race day, the order changed drastically within a few laps after the start. Jorge Lorenzo took an early lead and was chased by Petrucci, Marquez, Zarco and Dovizioso. Dovizioso quickly displaced Zarco and was now going head-to-head with Marquez. Meantime, Petrucci took the lead from Lorenzo, the Italian yet showcasing his riding prowess in wet weather conditions.
Lorenzo started falling back, meaning Marquez was now up to second and Dovizioso was third. Zarco overtook Lorenzo but surprisingly the Frenchman was hounded by the two factory Suzuki riders – Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins. Valentino Rossi crashed out and that was probably the end of his tenth title hopes this year.
Back in front, Marquez was now gaining on Petrucci while Dovizioso was also in the mix. Both the riders overtook Petrucci almost at the same time. From then onwards, it was a tense duel between the top-two championship contenders. With six laps to go, Dovizioso made a move on Marquez to lead the race. The Italian tried building a gap but to no avail. Marquez bounced back and took back his position with three laps remaining.
In the final two laps, Marquez looked strong and had half a second lead over Dovizioso. However, it seemed Marquez was right on the limit in the final lap as he nearly crashed while trying to keep Dovizioso at bay. Dovizioso took full advantage of Marquez’ mistake and with the help of his GP17’s firepower, he overtook Marquez in the straight line with two corners to go. Marquez took the last corner plunge on Dovizioso – reminiscent of Austria earlier in this season, albeit at Motegi it was soaking wet. Marquez, however, ran wide and Dovizioso took the chequered flag.
Petrucci made it to the podium yet again in third place, while Suzuki had an eventful run on their home turf with Iannone in fourth and Rins in fifth. Lorenzo finished sixth, ahead of Aleix Espargaro and Zarco, while Maverick Vinales and Loris Baz completed the top ten.
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