Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) secured his third victory of the season at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in an eventful race that saw false starts and many riders venturing into the gravel.
The race started with Dovizioso jumping the start, leading Cal Crutchlow and Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) to follow suit, whilst Stoner made a strong start to take the lead.
Valentino Rossi had a disappointing start to the race, crashing out of the first lap and pushing Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) into the gravel. Spies was able to rejoin, whilst Rossi was forced to retire.
Stoner stretched a gap at the lead, looking set to maintain first until the Australian ran out of track on lap five. Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar) then crashed out and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) lost fifth place after running off the track and dropping back to tenth.
