2010 MotoGP - Motegi Photo Gallery

Valentino Rossi back in chart-topping form, in spite of his lingering should injury.

Suzuki's Loris Capirossi posted the ninth-fastest time in practice at the Motegi circuit in Japan after having surgery on his hand.

Nicky Hayden: “The session didn't start so well, I had a brake problem and had to come in after one lap and just generally struggled to get into a rhythm over my first couple of runs. After that we made a change and immediately I felt better and improved my time. Unfortunately halfway around my next lap I made a mistake in the hairpin and crashed."

Jorge Lorenzo closed the hour-long practice session in Motegi just three tenths of a second off the pace of his teammate and was pleased overall with his performance.

Jorge Lorenzo: "We are much better here than in Aragon, which is a relief. I don't have the new engine yet like Valentino, I hope we can use it soon, but anyway here we lose much less in the straight compared to at the last race and we have better acceleration.”

Jorge Lorenzo has a 56-point advantage over Honda's Dani Pedrosa and is almost certainly going to win the 2010 championship.

In addition to being pleased with his performance during practice, Valentino Rossi was also happy with his new M1 engine.

Valentino Rossi: "I'm really happy about today, it's honestly a big surprise for me to be first! I was expecting to suffer a lot here with my shoulder because there are so many hard braking areas but in fact they are all quite straight so I was happy to find I was okay.”

American Ben Spies suffered a low-speed tumble while evaluating a soft option front tire at the Motegi circuit.

San Carlo Honda's Marco Simoncelli finished 10th in practice ahead of his teammate, Marco Melandri.

Valentino Rossi: “I know it's only Friday but it's a long time since I have been in front like this so I have to enjoy this sweet feeling! I know there's a chance of rain for the rest of the weekend, which is a pity, and if it is wet we will do our best.”

Casey Stoner: “From the first setting we tried to the second one we made a huge step forward, but after that, as I got more used to the track and found my braking points, we went a little bit backwards with the set-up."

Aussie Casey Stoner hopes to have things dialed in with the hard option tire before Sunday's race.

Italian Andrea Dovizioso took his first premier class pole in Japan by a margin of 0.054 seconds ahead of Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi.

Colin Edwards took fifth in Saturday's qualifying session ahead of his Monster Yamaha teammate, Ben Spies.

Ducati's Nicky Hayden only managed the 11th-quickest time during qualifying and was more than one second off the pace of Andrea Dovizioso.

Valentino Rossi: “As I said yesterday I expected to suffer more with the shoulder, but I am feeling quite good and when I brake in a straight line here I don't have too much pain. I am so happy about all of this.”

Jorge Lorenzo will start off the front row for the first time in 2010 after taking fourth in Saturday's qualifying session.

Jorge Lorenzo had the quickest lap in the second free practice session on Saturday at Motegi.

Valentino Rossi: “We have improved in every area here. Firstly we have made a big step with our setting, then we have the new engine from Yamaha which is enabling us to push more and be faster on the straights, plus we have slightly harder Bridgestone tires here than in Aragon and they are working better for me.”

Valentino Rossi finished second in qualifying and was just 0.054 seconds off the pace of Andrea Dovizioso.

Valentino Rossi earned his first front row start since Le Mans back in May.

San Carlo Honda's Marco Simoncelli took eighth during qualifying and will start Sunday's race at Motegi from the third row.

Ben Spies: “I am actually really happy to be on the second row again because at the start of the session I was fighting a lot of stuff with the electronics. The chassis set-up is not so bad but some issues with the electronics made the bike really hard to ride. If we can figure out the electronics the bike will be a lot easier to ride, so having the feelings I'm having with the bike, I'm super happy to be in the top-six."

Aussie Casey Stoner continued a recent string of strong results by taking third during qualifying at Motegi.

Japan cheering for their local favorite, Hiroshi Aoyama, who finished seventh-place at the Motegi circuit.

Colin Edwards had his highest finish of the season at Motegi after he took fifth behind championship leader Jorge Lorenzo.

Toni Elias is one step closer to clenching the 2010 Moto 2 Championship after winning at Motegi ahead of Julian Simon.

Jorge Lorenzo: "This was a big battle between Valentino and I, two warriors with the killer instinct. I have to say that at some points I do not think he was completely fair, we were both on the limit but some of his moves were maybe a bit too much and he touched me and pushed me wide when I don't think it was right."

The 2010 MotoGP podium at Motegi (from left to right): Andrea Dovizioso, Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi.

The 2010 Moto 2 Podium at Motegi (from left to right): Julian Simon, Toni Elias and Karel Abraham.

Jorge Lorenzo (#99) and Valentino Rossi (#46) had a thrilling race-long battle for third-place, and things became incredibly tense in the final three laps when Rossi and Lorenzo touched fairings.

Valentino Rossi (#46): "What a great race. Of course I would have preferred to be battling for the win, but anyway it was a great feeling, a real show and I want to congratulate Jorge because he was very strong and didn't give up!”

Ben Spies: “Considering everything that happened this weekend with me not being totally happy with the bike and then running off early on, I'm extremely happy to finish eighth, especially coming from 15th."

Ducati's Casey Stoner (#27) had a good start and took the victory by 3.868 seconds ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (#4).

Casey Stoner: “This win feels great. I could have never imagined when I began my first season in Grand Prix at 16 years of age that I would reach this level and all I can say is that it is an honor to be alongside such great names."

2010 MotoGP - Motegi Photo Gallery

See photos of the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix in the 2010 MotoGP Motegi photo gallery.