Hiroshi Aoyama and Dani Pedrosa were the two main heroes of the 250cc Grand Prix of Japan, Hiro taking his first World Championship victory in front of his home fans and Dani recovering from three practice crashes to take a podium finish with a true World Champion’s performance.

It was a perfect weekend for Hiroshi, who started from pole position and moved up to fourth in the championship. The Japanese rider knew just how to handle the pressure of his home race, using it to his advantage and finally taking the victory he was denied at Donington Park.

Dani battled on despite the pain in his left shoulder, which made the hard braking zones at Motegi even more difficult, sticking with a combative lead group of nine riders throughout the race. He set the fastest lap of the race on the fourteenth lap and moved into a podium position just four laps from the end, beating Dovizioso, Stoner, Takahashi, De Angelis and Lorenzo to second place.

The result leaves Dani Pedrosa 63 points clear at the top of the 250cc World Championship with five races remaining, with Aoyama now fourth.

HIROSHI AOYAMA (1^st): “This is an incredible victory for me. To take my first career victory at my home race is more than I could have dreamt of. I’ve been very focused all weekend although it has been tough to stay away from all the people here with me, who I haven’t seen y for a long time. Pole was a good sign but I knew that I couldn’t relax for the race because it was always going to be very tough. That’s the way it turned out. I went out strong from the start, concentrated on my rhythm and seven laps from the end I just pushed with all my strength. I want to dedicate this win to my team and my family, I am so happy.” 

DANI PEDROSA (2^nd): “I suffered a bit today to be honest. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a tough race. The first time I tried to pass Dovizioso in the tunnel there was a problem with the carburetion, Stoner came past and I went backwards again. I found it hard to stay with the pace at the start and the race took a lot out of the right side of my body because I had to force my position on the bike. When I caught De Angelis it got really hard because he wasn’t that fast but he kept the door shut, braked late, and it was impossible to pass him. We touched a few times and in the end I was a bit lucky with the collision between Lorenzo and De Angelis and finished second. This is much more than I expected after Friday, after the second crash, when we wondered if I would be able to race at all. I’m also really happy for Hiro; he had a great weekend and today was his day. He deserves it.”

CLASSIFICATION
1. H. Aoyama (Jap/Ho)  43’52”454
2. D. Pedrosa (Esp/Hon) + 5”313
3. C. Stoner (Aus/Apri) + 7”781
4. Y. Takahashi (Jap/Hon) + 10”222
5. R. De Puniet (Fra/Apr) + 10”763

STANDINGS
1. Dani Pedrosa 226 points
2. Casey Stoner 163
3. Andrea Dovizioso 144
4. Hiroshi Aoyama 123
5. Alex De Angelis 109