Japan's Makoto Tamada took advantage of an early collision yesterday and outlasted world champion Valentino Rossi to win the MotoGP Grand Prix of Japan.
Tamada, who started from pole position, completed 24 laps at the 4.8km Motegi circuit in 43 minutes, 43.220 seconds -- 6.168 seconds ahead of Rossi, who finished second on a Yamaha.
"It was great to win in front of the home fans," said Tamada. "Everything started coming together yesterday and I felt like today could be my day. The team worked hard to get the bike perfect and I want to thank them for their hard work."
It was Tamada's second win of the season. The Honda rider won the Rio Grand Prix in July.
Japan's Shinya Nakano, riding a Kawasaki, finished third, 13.396 seconds behind Tamada.
The race began with a major crash on the first turn of the first lap that resulted in six riders going down.
American John Hopkins, who started from the front row, touched off the spill that took down fellow Americans Nicky Hayden, Kenny Roberts and Colin Edwards, along with Italy's Loris Capirossi and defending champion Max Biaggi.
None of the riders were seriously injured but after the crash it quickly became a two-man race between Rossi and Tamada. Rossi led for the first six laps but was overtaken by Tamada on a downhill stretch and never recovered.
"I tried to stay with Makoto to win but it was impossible," Rossi said. "But it was still an important race for me because I picked up 10 points."
Rossi leads the MotoGP championship standings with 229 points, 39 points clear of Spain's Sete Gibernau with four races left. Gibernau, riding a Honda, finished sixth in yesterday's race.
In the 250cc, Spain's Daniel Pedrosa edged compatriot Toni Elias to win his fifth title of the season.
Pedrosa, who started from pole position on his Honda, completed the 23 laps in 43:36.798, 3.174 seconds ahead of Elias. Japan's Hiroshi Aoyama was third in 43:52.789 as Honda riders swept the podium.
With Sunday's win, Pedrosa leads the overall standings with 234 points, 47 points ahead of France's Randy De Puniet.
Earlier, Italy's Andrea Dovizioso won the 125cc race.
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