Barros' outstanding race was particularly impressive as he was having his first ever experience riding the RC211V four-stoke, with all his previous 2002 races being completed on two-stroke machinery. The Brazilian took the lead on lap five and despite later being relegated to second for two laps, held off the close attentions of the newly crowned world champion when it mattered.

Overjoyed with his record-breaking win, Barros said: "First of all I have to thank HRC for giving me this opportunity. The four-stroke is very good, and from the first lap of practice I was surprised how fast and easy it was to ride. I tried to race with a good rhythm because I was not sure how the rear tyre would be in the last few laps. I then tried to keep a leading pace but Valentino overtook me on the straight. Then he made a mistake under braking and I got past him again. I went as fast as possible to stay ahead from then on and got the new record on the last lap, which I am very happy about."

For recently crowned world champion Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda Team RC211V) the Motegi race was an uncharacteristically difficult event and despite leading for four laps running at the front throughout, he had to fight for his 20 points.

"This was maybe the hardest race of the year, because the setting of the bike was not perfect," said Rossi in a post-race interview. "Every time I entered a corner I was fighting with it, so second position is not so bad. The battle with Alex was good, especially as we have the same bike now."

An all-Honda podium was completed by two-stoke rider Loris Capirossi (West Honda Pons NSR500), who maintained station a short distance behind the leaders for most of the race, only slowed in the final laps.

"I had a very good practice here and we were 100% ready going into this race," said Capirossi after his immense achievement. "On the last two laps I went a little bit more easily because I think there was no chance to catch Valentino and Alex - and impossible to overtake. Despite that I am happy to make this result on a two-stroke."

Tohru Ukawa (Repsol Honda Team RC211V) completed Honda's domination of the top four places, after a somewhat solitary ride on his RCV, which proved to be the fastest machine through the Motegi speed trap all weekend, being clocked at 288.2km/h in morning warm up. His 13 points were vital to his Repsol Honda team, as it secured the Teams' Championship with three meetings to go and promoted the rider himself to second in the championship again.

"After the previous round at Rio I was very disappointed to crash and lose second position in the championship," said Ukawa. "The way we were going in early practice I wasn't too hopeful for the race. I couldn't match the pace at the front today but I leave my home race second in the championship again."

Jurgen van Den Goorbergh (Kanemoto Racing Honda NSR500) scored three points for his 13th place, after some radical pre-race set-up alterations.

"I was a little bit desperate before this race so we decided to use warm up, and the two laps of pre-race warm up, as a test for some very different suspension settings," said a relieved van Den Goorbergh. "I wasn't sure that we would score points or even finish the race, but it made such a difference that I was able to race against Hopkins, Harada and the others, and score some points."

The last point on offer went to Tetsuya Harada (Pramac Honda NSR500), who took his two-stroke to 15th place.

Daijiro Kato (Fortuna Honda Gresini RC211V) retired from the race after his machine suffered a mechanical problem on lap seven, finally pulling out on lap nine. The local rider, who had qualified on pole, was challenging for his first MotoGP win at the time, making his retirement a particular disappointment to him and his team.

"That was a really unlucky day," said a dejected Kato. "I would have liked to have taken my first MotoGP win in front of my own public. I thought I would have the perfect chance after taking pole position and having such a perfect warm-up. Something broke on the bike and I had to return to the garage."

Quotes

Alex Barros, West Honda Pons: 1st: " I would like to congratulate HRC, and most of all my team, for having given me the opportunity to ride this fantastic bike. The RC211Vis an easy bike to ride and the technical guys in the West Honda Pons team have worked exceptionally hard to achieve this result. I had no experience of how the bike would react during the final laps and I was worried that the tyres might let me down. For this reason I rode with much care, but when Rossi passed me I decided it was the moment to take risks. I gave 100% on the last lap to win the race and this was reflected in my final lap time which was the fastest lap of the race. Obviously I am extremely happy and I would love to repeat this victory in one of the next races."

Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda Team: 2nd: " The whole weekend has been not so good really. I was sick at the beginning and we never really found the right set-up for the bike. It was one of the hardest races of the year for me. I got a good start but really had trouble controlling the bike into corners on the brakes. I try so hard and nearly crash several times. I would like to congratulate Barros. He rode a great race and we had a good fight. In the end, second is not so bad; I tried everything. I prefer to stay on two wheels and not end up off the circuit!"

Loris Capirossi, West Honda Pons, 3rd: " The podium finish is a magnificent result, taking into account that I finished very close to the four-strokes of Alex and Valentino. I really think I have had a great weekend here, in both practice and the race itself. Today I went out with my mind firmly set on giving it everything I had to try and score a result like this. I am happy with this third position, which I think is the most I could have hoped for with a bike of these characteristics. I congratulate my mechanics on their work and also Alex on his victory. Today is a good day for the team."

Sito Pons: "Obviously I am very satisfied with the performance of my two riders and a lot  the team members who have deserved this success after a very tough year. I am very proud of them all, Alex and Loris were quite simply brilliant and they have once again demonstrated that they are two of the best riders in the championship. They are clearly the great winners of the day."

Tohru Ukawa, Repsol Honda Team: 4th: " "After Rio I was really disappointed to crash and to lose second position in the championship. The way we were going in early practice I wasn't too hopeful for the race. However the team worked really hard and we managed to get a better package and the bike actually felt pretty good in the race. I couldn't match the pace at the front and I leave my home GP with second place back in the Rider's Championship. I am pleased that my result today with, Rossi's runner up position, have secured the Team Championship for the Repsol Honda Team."

Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Kanemoto Racing team: 13th: "I was a little bit desperate before the race, I was not sure I would get points, or even finish the race. We made some radical changes to the machine settings overnight, and in the warm up and I tested them by doing two pre-race warm up laps to check out the front end chatter problems that had caused us so much grief in qualifying. After the warm up laps I put new tyres in before the start, that, and the drop in temperature were a big bonus to us, the front-end chatter was 50% less than yesterday. So much better that I could run faster times in the race than I had in qualifying. I was able to fight it out with Harada, Hopkins and Yoshikawa in the race. I thought I would get 12th from Yoshikawa, I got passed him on the last lap but he had the power to get passed me before the end. I only had one bad 'moment' in the race. That was when Yanagawa's Kawasaki engine blew. I had just pulled off my last tear off and the oil spray covered my visor. I couldn't see and missed my braking point, luckily not by much!"

Team owner - manager Erv Kanemoto: "Until the race we had had a terrible weekend, but today everything went better than we could have expected after qualifying in 20th place. Basically everything went much better for us. The lower track temperature, combined with the setting changes we made overnight, were a huge help. We are reasonably happy with the result. The lap times were consistent, Jurgen was running faster times today than in qualifying, the tyres performed consistently, and he was consistently faster at the end of the race."

Daijiro Kato, Fortuna Honda Gresini, dnf: "It was a really unlucky day. I would really liked to have won in front of my home public, and I thought I would go well in the race after taking pole position, and a perfect warm up. Something on the machine broke and I had to retire at the garage. I'm really worried and I hope to do better in Malaysia."

Fausto Gresini: "This race confirmed that this year is not really lucky for us and we cannot have a happy day even if we made a good job and a big sacrifice. Daijiro was going well: fastest in practice, perfect during the warm up, and he wasn't struggling at all to stay with the leaders. The podium was close for us today, but now we will fly to Malaysia to find success."