Somkiat Chantra cruised to a first win of the 2023 Moto2 season at Motegi to head a Honda Team Asia 1-2 ahead of team-mate Ai Ogura.
The Thai pilot held the lead from pole off the start and soon began to pull clear of the rest as Alonso Lopez began to hold up the riders behind.
The Speed Up racer was soon out the way though after serving a double long-lap penalty, while team-mate Ogura was forced to recover from an average start that left him fourth at the end of the opening lap.
He soon managed to clear Lopez and GasGas’ Jake Dixon, but Chantra had already pulled out north of a two-second advantage by this point. Ogura closed at several points due to a couple of mistakes from the leader, though ultimately Chantra had things under control and eventually took the chequered flag 1.353 seconds clear of Ogura to claim his first win of the season.
Series leader Pedro Acosta extended his points advantage further as he completed the rostrum finishers in third, the Spaniard forced to recover from a compromised start. He later passed Dixon and moved clear to secure third, his cause helped as title rival Tony Arbolino struggled in Japan.
The Marc VDS rider had to battle hard to even hang onto a top ten result, though eventually fell to 11th by the time he crossed the finish line for the final time, Acosta thus opening up a commanding 50-point advantage with just six races remaining.
Dixon meanwhile ended up claiming fourth ahead of Gresini’s Filip Salac, while VR46 Master Camp’s Manuel Gonzalez claimed sixth.
Marcos Ramirez enjoyed a strong run to claim American Racing’s best result of 2023 in seventh ahead of Pons racer Aron Canet, while Zonta van den Goorbergh continued his recent strong run with a second-successive top-ten finish for RW Racing.
Darryn Binder ended up getting the better of Arbolino to secure the last spot within the top ten.
Lopez fell to tenth having served his double long-lap punishment, though struggled for performance thereafter and ultimately came home 13th after a tough day for the Speed Up operation after Fermin Aldeguer failed to score points down in 22nd.
Sam Lowes’ tough final Moto2 term failed to improve after the Brit crashed his Marc VDS-run bike at the final corner just half a dozen laps into the contest. Master Camps Kohta Nozane, Italtrans’ Dennis Foggia, and Pons’ Sergio Garcia all joined Lowes in not reaching the finish in the Japanese Grand Prix.
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