Japanese GP with Boris – The race boot was finally drained again…

MotoGP with Boris
Motegi

It’s such a joy to see Jack Miller win a race. His emotional high is so very contagious, both Simon Crafar, who interviewed him after the race, and I, teared up along with Jack.

Here he was, a bloke refused an extension of his Ducati Factory contract for another year, and easily one of the best and most popular riders on the grid, reduced to playing wingman for Pecco Bagnaia at Ducati’s behest for the rest of the 2022 season.

And Jack is an honourable and dutiful soldier. He played the wingman all along. Until this weekend. He decided he’d win the race instead. And he so did that. He smashed them, dominating from almost the very start.

Pecco, Ducati’s anointed child and second on the championship ladder, found himself flubbing around in ninth, being shadowed and tormented by fellow Ducati rider (but from another team), Enea Bastianini, as he tried to get past the championship leader, Fabio Quartararo. 

It’s all about points, as you know. Fabulous is both defending and chasing a title, and Pecco is his nearest rival. And Ducati want a Rider’s Championship so bad they’re like dole-day meth freaks waiting for their dealer to arrive.

The dealer may yet still arrive. But that arrival was delayed (and perhaps imperilled) some when Pecco fell off trying to pass Fabulous. He almost took Fabulous out as well, but luck kept the Frenchman’s championship hopes alive.

Pecco is now blaming the Beast for his woes. Seems like he feels the Beast was putting him under too much pressure, what with a title at stake. 

But when one of the Beast’s Gresini bosses was asked by Simon Crafar about the alleged team orders from Ducati HQ, the man replied that yes, he had heard of them, but they had nothing to do with him because he wasn’t running a factory Ducati team, and the Beast was free to do as he pleased to win races.

Which sounds pretty fair to me. Ducati have eight bikes on the grid. And while they can have a word to Jack about giving Pecco a hand, ordering six other riders not to pass Pecco is not going to fly.

But let’s go back to where this all started on Friday, at a rain-lashed Motegi, where Japanese fans have waited since 2019 for the circus to come back. 

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Practice and Qualifying were delayed, then extended, then delayed again. All sorts of bullshit was going on, and the weather was not co-operating. Except it had been promised that Sunday, race day, would be sunny and beaut.

Marc Marquez was again the name on everyone’s lips. He had been quick in the rain, and had whacked himself on pole. The glugging and roaring was everywhere. “He’s back! The King has returned!” 

I did not see it like that. Sure, he’d put himself on pole during a wet qualifying. Lots people could have done that, and one or two might have, except for those wretched yellow flags, which killed fast laps-times dead. 

Marc was also rubbing his shoulder and shaking his bad arm a lot. He might have put himself on pole, but banging out 22 laps at a dry Motegi, which is the second-hardest-braking track behind Austria, is a whole other thing.

And just to demonstrate how unusual qualifying was, Brad Binder had put himself in third behind Zarco in second. Zarco’s second meant nothing. He’s not been able to capitalise on a good starting position since back when back-flips were fashionable.

Vinales was sitting on fourth, Martin on fifth, and Aleix Espargaro – who’d had three separate cracks at Turn Three in a wet FP2, missed all three and went to sulk in his pit for a while – had managed a quick wet lap to get onto sixth.

The two leading championship contenders were ninth (Fabulous) and 12^th (Bagania). Miller was in sixth. It all looked and felt very weird.

But Sunday was sunny and warm as promised. Happily, the weirdness didn’t stop. On the Warm Up lap – that’s the one where they do a lap, grid back up, then start the race – Aleix starting bobbing his head up and down and mashing his controls. My wife, who was watching the race with me, asked me what was wrong with him.

“He’s either having a stroke, a bee has flown into his helmet, or there is something wrong with his bike,” I said, as Aleix did not ride to his grid position, but headed for the pits, where he threw his bike on the ground, and jumped on his second bike, which was fitted with a soft rear tyre.

Apparently, someone or something had engaged his Aprilia’s eco-mode engine map. That’s the map that keeps the bike revving low and running slow on the sighting lap, conserving petrol for the race. And it would not disengage. Or Aleix could not disengage it. Or something. So he started from pit lane with the wrong tyres.

That was him sliding further down the championship ladder. The others were already racing when Aleix left pit lane.

Martin grabbed the lead, Miller bounced off Zarco a little, and Marquez was shunted backwards from pole, while Brad Binder and Jack Miller tucked in behind Martin.

Fabio leaned a little on Luca Marini, and Pecco found himself in 12^th, before waking up, or maybe hearing Tardozzi screaming in the garage, moved to 11^th. 

Jack was on it and on it hard. He made quick work of Binder and set off after Martin, while Oliveira, back in fourth, was the fastest man on the track. 

Jack easily caught Jorge Martin and passed him hard and fast, almost immediately eking out a half-second advantage. Fabulous was back in eighth, Pecco held onto 11^th, and Marc was keeping it together in fifth behind Oliveira. 

But the man behind Pecco was the Beast, and he put it past Bagnaia, exchanged some paint, and suddenly Pecco found himself racing as hard as he could for 11^th place. 

Miller started to increase his gap – it looked like a tenth of a second a corner, and Martin tried to stay with him, which he did for a while. 

Maverick was behind Marc in sixth and his team-mate, the hapless, self-proclaimed Captain of the Aprilia team, was last. Ahead of him were two of the wildcard Japanese riders, Tsuda and Nagashima, and a very sore Taka Nakagami, who was riding with two mangled fingers on his right hand thanks to his run-in with Marc the round before at Aragon. 

Aleix got past them, and settled down to limp along at the back of the field, nursing his soft rear tyre.

Jack was almost a second clear of Martin, and then it was 2.2-seconds back to Oliveira. Pol Espargaro, in ninth, seemed to be holding up Pecco and the Beast, while Luca Marini was amusing himself by tormenting Maverick for sixth place. 

The Beast soon got fed up with Pecco NOT passing Pol, so he started showing them both his front tyre, and did not see Nagashima crash way behind them. 

Jack Miller just kept piling it on. His lead just got bigger and bigger and I was starting to wonder when he’d crash. I’m sorry, but he does that to me every time. He hares off, looks great, then eats gravel. I hoped this time would be different. 

Beast made the pass on Pecco, and Pecco looked to be struggling to stay with him, especially when the Beast went past Pol a short time later. 

Tsuda, riding for the injured Joan Mir, somehow managed to set his bike on fire, and quickly retired from the race. I thought a red flag would be imminent, and that would have caused a re-start and Jack’s amazing lead would have been for nothing. But no oil had been dropped, only yellow flags came out, and on we went.

Luca finally passed Maverick for sixth place, Darryn Binder crashed out, and Miller was now 4.2 seconds clear and still accelerating away. It was amazing to see. 

Rins retired with mechanical problems, just as Brad Binder started to close in on Jorge Martin for second spot. Bags was likewise closing in on Beast, and managed to pass him in Turn 12. And found himself behind Fabulous.

That was the two championship leaders right there. Pit boards were waved, information was passed, and three laps from the end, everyone dialled it up a notch.

Marquez passed Oliveira for fourth place, Binder passed Martin for second.

Pecco crashed out trying to get around Fabulous. And Miller just went faster. And faster. And faster. Until the chequered flag appeared. Jack won by almost 3.5-seconds (so he may have slowed down a bit at the end), and it was a face-slapping monster of a win. 

Fabulous, by dint of not falling off, extended his championship lead. Pecco, chasing one extra point in his effort to pass Fabulous, got no points. Aleix Espargaro finished in 16^th. He also got no points.

Of course, they are both still well in it. Fabulous has a fight on his hands, for sure. But both Jack and the Beast have a mathematical chance of winning the thing too.

Thailand is gonna be a belter. Race day looks likely to be wet…

2022 Motegi MotoGP Race Results

MotoGP Championship Points Standings