Just a few weeks after winning the MotoE World Championship, Mattia Casadei had the opportunity to compete in the Moto2 World Championship this weekend.

The Italian rider was called up by Fantic Racing to replace the injured Borja Gómez, allowing him to explore the intermediate category again.

Naturally, it was a challenging task as he had to adapt to a new bike and a new team, ultimately finishing in 26th place. This marked an improvement compared to his last experience when he retired at the 2021 Emilia Romagna GP.

O conteúdo Mattia Casadei, from winning the MotoE title to the Moto2 Japanese GP aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

The Japanese MotoGP GP turned out to be a frustrating experience for Miguel Oliveira. The CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team rider entered the pits just moments before the red flag while he was fighting for a top position – all due to water infiltration in his helmet. He ended up being classified in 18th place.

Before the issues, the rider was chasing a podium finish and told SportTV that he had already figured out where he could attempt to overtake Marco Bezzecchi: ‘The bike was working well, the conditions were very tricky – especially at the start when there wasn’t much rain. It was very difficult to get the tyres to work and to get grip, especially in that initial rain, which is always the slipperiest. Braking for turn three was the most challenging part. But then, when it started raining more, I felt good, I was behind Bezzecchi, and I clearly understood where I could push a bit more and try to pass him. But it didn’t happen’.

Oliveira also said: ‘When I started having visibility problems, I even said to myself, «Miguel, don’t give up, don’t give up, keep going». But it became unmanageable for me; I couldn’t see anything at all. And it’s sad because it’s something that has never happened to me before, so I leave Japan a bit emotionally empty. But it is what it is’.

O conteúdo ‘I leave Japan a bit emotionally empty’– Miguel Oliveira aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Marco Bezzecchi finished in fourth place in the Japanese MotoGP GP after being overtaken by Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) just before the race was red-flagged. Consequently, he conceded more points to Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) in their pursuit of the championship’s top spots, as both of these rivals finished first and second in this race, respectively.

The Italian rider from the Mooney VR46 Racing Team expressed to the official MotoGP website that he regrets missing out on the podium near the end but still considers the result satisfactory. ‘I feel good. Of course it’s a shame to lose the podium just two laps before the red flag, but unfortunately I had an issue with the windscreen and I couldn’t really see nothing – together with all the rain, that was a lot, it was difficult to me to be faster than I did. It’s a shame because Marc passed me in that final two laps. But at the end the fourth place is ok, we took some points and now we can think about Indonesia’.

Now further from the top of the World Championship, Bezzecchi assured that this is not his focus: ‘Well, I’m not looking to much to the championship. Of course I wanted to be closer to the guys, but first of all in the race, try to fight with them. And then the championship is more a consequence of this. But we are still there, so we keep working and we keep fighting’.

O conteúdo ‘I’m not looking to much to the championship; I want to fight with them in the race’ – Marco Bezzecchi aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Francesco Bagnaia is once again in contention for the MotoGP title, but in 2023, the situation is different from 2022. The Ducati rider now has fellow manufacturer riders as his main rivals, even though they are from different teams, whereas last year’s battle was with Fabio Quartararo, from Monster Energy Yamaha.

When asked in a press conference about how different it is to compete for the title with riders from the same manufacturer rather than from different ones, the Italian responded:

– The best thing is that like this anyone can’t say we have team orders. Last year was something that have been talked many times. This is the best thing. And fighting with other Ducati also means that if you are competitive, your main contenders also know where you are doing the difference. It’s good for Ducati, for sure, to have three guys at the front. But I prefer because it’s more difficult.

O conteúdo ‘Like this anyone can’t say we have team orders’ – Francesco Bagnaia aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Pedro Acosta expressed his satisfaction with finishing on the last step of the podium at the Japanese Grand Prix in Moto2, behind the winner Somkiat Chantra and second-placed Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia/Kalex).

‘It was a really tough race. I made a mistake in the first corner. I miscalculated the start… After that, I stayed at a distance that I couldn’t recover from. However, this podium counts more than others because I wasn’t as good as in other weekends. These are good numbers and points for the championship. We’re doing a good job’, said the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider to DAZN.

Regardless of what happens for the rest of this season, the 19-year-old Acosta has already confirmed that he intends to stay in the Moto2 World Championship next season, although he doesn’t know which team he will be racing for, whether he continues with KTM or switches to another squad.

O conteúdo ‘These are good numbers for the championship’ – Pedro Acosta aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Victory and championship lead. Jaume Masiá won the Japanese GP and took over the top spot in the Moto3 World Championship, which comes in the decisive stage of the season.

‘This victory feels great. As I said in India, I have a lot of desire, and I hope to continue enjoying moments like this with the team. The key has been to keep evolving, give everything working, which is something I’ve always done. And above all, I continue to have the support of the team, something that has never been lacking for me. I am a very affectionate person, and the truth is that I have always received a lot of affection’, highlighted the Leopard Racing rider.

For Masiá, one of the keys to the improvement he has seen over the past few months is the ‘warmth that the team has conveyed. Since the beginning of the season, there has been a predisposition to listen to me, evolve, and look at every detail with the goal of being better, because we are a bit behind compared to other teams in the championship. It’s the details; at the end of the day, we are all human, and every detail matters a lot’, emphasized the new leader of the category.

After 14 rounds, Masiá has 199 points, six more than Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and nine more than the former leader Dani Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3).

O conteúdo Championship leader Jaume Masiá has high confidence aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Despite the setback, Daniel Holgado remains confident. The rider, who had led the Moto3 World Championship since his victory in Portimão in the first round, had a challenging race at the Japanese circuit and now occupies third place in the standings, trailing Jaume Masiá (Leopard Racing/Honda) by nine points and Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) by three. However, this hasn’t diminished his ambition.

‘Of course it’s possible to win. There are six races left, which means many races on challenging circuits where experience plays a role. I’ll have to remain calm, always give my best, and when I can’t win, try to finish the races’, said Holgado(Red Bull KTM Tech3), recalling the race in India, where he ‘finished 18th and narrowly missed fourth place’.

‘I’ll go back home, try to disconnect a bit, train, and prepare for the upcoming races, which will be tough because in Indonesia and Thailand, the heat is incredible. I’ll need to prepare well in terms of cardio to withstand a strong pace’, concluded Holgado, speaking to AS newspaper.

O conteúdo ‘Of course it’s possible to win the championship’ – Daniel Holgado aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

After several challenging months and being away from the desired results, Marc Márquez finally achieved his first podium of 2023 in a premier class race. He finished third at the Japanese GP, right in the home round of his team, Repsol Honda, just behind Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati).

In a press conference, the six-time world champion of the premier class emphasized the importance of the result, which had been sought for a long time: ‘Of course it was an important podium: we were looking for it all the season and arrived very late. But arrived in Honda’s home circuit, in a day that I took profit from the situation, from the weather condition’.

Regarding the development of the race for him, Márquez commented: ‘I tried to manage the race in the best way. When we changed the tyres [bike] on the first lap I knew that the race would be very, very long. And during the race you have different moments: in the beginning I was struggling a little bit too much, but then I was trying to manage the tyre and when the track was in real wet conditions I started to attack and I started to be faster and faster’.

Finally, Márquez praised the riders who finished ahead of him: ‘Massive race from these two guys, that fighting against the championship it’s not easy to take the risk that they take. But we will enjoy the podium’.

O conteúdo ‘It was an important podium; it arrived very late’ – Marc Márquez aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Francesco Bagnaia has lost a significant portion of his gap in the MotoGP World Championship and now has only a three-point margin over Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati). This is with just six rounds remaining in the season.

The Italian Ducati rider said in a press conference that he anticipates an interesting and intense battle, emphasizing the importance of performing well in the upcoming GP:

– I think it will be interesting; it could be a great fight. For sure it’s more intense right now, it’s more difficult. Jorge is in his momentum, but we worked a lot this weekend and finally we found something that helped me a lot on Saturday, and Sunday was a bit better for sure. We will have our time, next races in Mandalika we will fight against Jorge for sure, but also other riders and it will be important to be at the top again.

O conteúdo ‘It could be a great fight; it’s more intense, it’s more difficult right now’ – Francesco Bagnaia aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Miguel Oliveira was classified only 18th in the MotoGP Japanese GP, despite running in the top five and having the potential to reach the podium. Water entering his helmet hindered his visibility, forcing him to enter the pits just moments before the red flag was shown.

The CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team rider told SportTV that even before entering the pits, he had some close calls due to the lack of visibility, and he didn’t hide his frustration with the outcome:

– It happened that I started to lose visibility completely. I couldn’t see anything in front of me. The conditions were really challenging. I had a few scares three laps before I retired, not knowing where to put the wheels, turning too early into the corners because I couldn’t see, not knowing where I could brake, accelerate, so I was riding completely blind. Obviously, now it’s easy to say that I retired maybe half a lap too early, but the conditions were unmanageable. And it was very frustrating, yes.

O conteúdo ‘I was riding completely blind’ – Miguel Oliveira aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.