Featured Motorcycle Brands

If you're a fan of American MotoGP riders, you might want to have a stiff drink or two, before you read the rest of this post.

Motegi MotoGP, Turn 1, Lap 1, John Hopkins gets a good start from his 2nd place qualifying position and as he follows Valentino Rossi into turn one, he is taken out from behind by a sideways Loris Capirossi who has overcooked the corner. The resulting crash takes out six riders, including all four of the Americans in the race.

Riders involved were:

1.) Loris Capirossi (instigator)
2.) John Hopkins (victim)
3.) Max Biaggi (collected)
4.) Kenny Roberts (collected)
5.) Colin Edwards (collected)
6.) Nicky Hayden (collected)

No serious injuries, but Hopkins Roberts and Capirossi all seemed quite sore and were taken to the medical center. Capirossi has a fractured foot, should make next GP. Hopkins banged and bruised but should be ok for next GP, Roberts dislocated elbow, might miss next GP.

The race continued, with Rossi and Tamada trading the lead, followed by Melandri on a Yamaha and Nakano on a Kawasaki. As the race wound-down, Gibernau, Bayliss and Barros languished down in fifth thru seventh places. Meanwhile, Tamada took the lead from Rossi for good and pulled-out a 4+ second lead. As the race wound-down, Nakano passed Melandri for third and Bayliss crashed-out of fifth.

--MORE--

In the end, Tamada won over Rossi, while Nakano gave Kawasaki its first ever MotoGP podium.

Final Results
1.) Makoto Tamada (Honda) (Inspired ride)
2.) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) (Consolidated Championship lead)
3.) Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) (improved bike, great ride, lucky not to have to race the six crashers)
4.) Alex Barros (Honda) (Lackluster)
5.) Marco Melandri (Yamaha) (Faded)
6.) Sete Gibernau (Honda) (struggled with setup all weekend)
7.) Carlos Checa (Yamaha)
8.) Neil Hodgson (Ducati)
9.) Ruben Xaus (Ducati)
10.) Alex Hofmann (Kawasaki)
11.) Olivier Jacque (Moriwaki Honda)
12.) Jeremy McWilliams (aprilia)
13.) Shane Byrne (Aprilia)
14.) Nobuatsu Aoki (Proton)
15.) Youichi Ui (WCM)