A tale of a foreseen victory – that’s how the Moto2 Japanese GP race could be described. Somkiat Chantra closed out a weekend of dominance in Motegi with a clear-cut victory, after leading all the sessions from the beginning of the weekend.
Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia/Kalex) had a good start to keep the lead, with Jake Dixon (Inde GasGas Aspar/Kalex) taking the second position. Alonso López (Beta Tools SpeedUp/Boscoscuro) settled into third. After starting fourth, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo/Kalex) dropped to seventh.
On the second lap, Dixon was overtaken by López and Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia/Kalex). At the front, Chantra quickly opened up a gap of more than a second, while Ogura closed in on him.
López stayed in the podium positions until the fifth lap when he started serving his two Long Lap penalties, imposed following an infraction in the Indian GP. Acosta then moved up to third, while his compatriot dropped to seventh.
At the front, Chantra remained solidly in the lead without major challenges, while Ogura also secured the second position. Acosta consolidated third place, with Dixon in fourth and Filip Salac (QJMotor Gresini/Kalex) in fifth.
These positions remained unchanged for much of the race until the end. Chantra secured his second career win with a 1.237s margin over Ogura in a weekend he completely dominated. Acosta completed the podium in third, followed by Dixon and Salac. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS/Kalex) once again lost significant ground to Acosta in the title fight, finishing only 11th. After serving his Long Lap penalties, López dropped gradually in the standings and finished 13th.
Results: