Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) was in dominant form to win the 16th round of the 2022 MotoGP™ World Championship at the Mobility Resort Motegi in the Motul Grand Prix of Japan. He led throughout the race, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) following him across the line in a distant second place, and Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) taking third.
During the course of the race, Miller set a new circuit race lap record of 1’45.198, breaking the previous record set by Jorge Lorenzo back in 2014.
After the rain disruption of Saturday, the sun was shining on Sunday as the riders lined up on the grid here for the first time since 2019. All riders chose the Hard front MICHELIN Power Slicks, while all three rear options were used, with the majority going for the Medium rear.
Unusually for a MotoGP race weekend, Friday’s track action started in the afternoon due to the logistics of travelling directly to Japan from Spain. This meant there was just one extended Free Practice session on that day, and the FP4 session was removed completely from the weekend’s schedule.
FP1 took place in dry conditions, despite the ever-present threat of rain, and with Saturday’s forecast showing rain, the need to set a top-ten lap time was greater than ever. The factory Ducati riders rose to the occasion and used their MICHELIN Power Slick tyres and the power of their machines to claim the top two places. Jack Miller was in top spot with a lap time of 1’44.509, his teammate Francesco Bagnaia was in second, with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in third, just 0.049 seconds behind Miller. The times were very close, with the top-ten riders separated by less that three-tenths of a second.
On Saturday, FP2 was very wet, with heavy rain and standing water causing problems for the riders, although on the plus side it gave the MICHELIN Power Rain tyres a thorough workout and allowed the riders to work on wet settings. This weather continued throughout the day and led to the cancellation of FP3 due to safety concerns.
Unfortunately, the rain did not ease during the afternoon, which led to the MotoGP Qualifying sessions being delayed, and it also meant that yesterday’s lap times decided the first 10 riders taking part in Q2 – with just the two additional places up for grabs in Q1. These conditions also scuppered any chance of seeing a new all-time circuit lap record.
The rain stopped for the start of Q2, but the wet conditions played into the hands of the brave, the wet weather specialists and the two Prima Pramac Racing riders coming through from Q1. It was a fight that saw Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) take his first pole position in more than 1,000 days with a lap time of 1’55.214 on his MICHELIN Power Rain tyres, ahead of Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) and Brad Binder who took second and third places on the front row, respectively.
Commenting after the Motegi race, Piero Taramasso, Michelin Two-Wheel Motorsport Manager, said: “As we have not been to Motegi since 2019, there was some concern about how the track surface may have changed, but the lap times in Friday’s session were very positive. The compounds were the same as used in 2019, but the rear casing design was making its debut here. Saturday was a tricky day for the riders due to the depth of surface water on the track and a greasy feel to the asphalt, but even taking these extreme conditions into account, our rain tyres worked very well.
“Fortunately for the spectators the race was dry, but the single dry practice session gave the teams very limited time to work on dry settings. The Hard front was the tyre of choice for the riders due to its good grip and stability, while at the rear all three options were used, highlighting the uncertainty brought about by the minimal time available to put many laps on the slicks. Despite this, the performance of the MICHELIN Power Slicks was very good, with personal best laps being set in the latter stages of the race, and Jack setting a new race lap record.”