Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was on pole for the Japanese GP at Motegi for the first time since 2008 – a year he won – but the weekend ended in the gravel for the rider from Tavullia as a mistake early on saw him crash out. Needing just one point from the weekend if Marquez were to win, the Italian slid out as his great Spanish rival took the victory – securing the 2016 MotoGP™ World Championship. Rossi is uninjured after the crash, but sees the crown once again evade him as he searches for his tenth world title.
Valentino Rossi (DNF): “First of all, I would like to say that I‘m OK, fortunately no problems. On the other hand it‘s a shame because I was quite strong and I had a good pace. Unfortunately my start was not fantastic and I lost a position to Marquez and Lorenzo. After that, Marquez was a bit faster than me to overtake Lorenzo, I lost a bit more time behind him, but the pace was good. I was able to push a lot to try and catch Marquez but unfortunately I lost the front. Sincerely, I felt nothing like going into the corner too wide or too deep, but I lost the front and logically I made a mistake.”