Motegi, Japan - Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo dominated at the Twin Ring Circuit in Motegi, winning his second consecutive MotoGP of 2014 - after his heroic victory in the rain at Motorland Aragon two weeks earlier - and his second in a row at the difficult Japanese circuit.
Nevertheless, all the glory went to Honda golden boy Marc Marquez, whio clinched his second consecutive world title with three races to spare, with a fighting second place after a race-long battle with Lorenzo's veteran Yamaha team-mate, Valentino 'The Doctor' Rossi.
South Africa's Brad Binder also had a very good day in the office, finishing in the middle of a dramatic five-way thriller for the lead in the Moto3 race that went right down to the wire, taking his second podium of the season.
MOTOGP
Rossi got a perfect start off the the front row to lead pole-sitter Andrea Divizioso (Ducati) and Lorenzo into Turn 1, but the latter son disposed of of the first Ducati rider to start a Grand Prix from pole since 2010, to move up behind his team-mate.
He wasn't the only one, however, as Dovizioso as Marquez began to pressure him, so he made his move earlier than usual, passing Rossi on lap four, and taking advantage of fresh tyres, clear air and new back markers to set a new lap records of 1m43.350s four laps later.
Nobody at the Twin Ring circuit on the day had an answer for that and Lorenzo was able to hold the advantage, moving away to open a gap of 2.7 seconds by the end.
Rossi, on the other hand, came under increasing pressure from the two works Hondas; Marquez made his first attempt at a pass on lap 10, but Rossi struck back in the last corner of the circuit to demote the world champion-elect back to third.
This was important, since Rossi knew that if Marquez finished second he would nail down the title. Even when Marquez passed him again with a classic move on the brakes into the hairpin, Rossi hung like grim death, ready to take advantage of the slightest opportunity to keep the series alive for another coupe of weeks.
But that was not to be, as the The Doctor came under pressure from Pedrosa in the closing stages and had to push his Yamaha to the limit to stay ahead of the diminutive Spaniard and hang on to third by just more than half a second.
Next, five seconds off the pace, were Dovizioso and Ducati privateer Andrea Iannone, with Stefan Bradl (Honda) and the satellite Tech3 Yamahas of Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith rounding out the top 10, 20 seconds furhter adrift.
The result was Lorenzo's 54th career Grand Prix win, equalling the record of five times world champion Mick Doohan and moving him up to joint fifth on the all-time winners list.
It also put him just three points behind Rossi, fourth on 227 while his team-mate was tied for second with Pedrosa on 230.
MOTO2
Swiss rider Thomas Luthi (Suter) rode superbly from second on the grid, taking the lead on the first lap and managing the gap throughout the race for his first win since 2012 and his second podium of the season.
He finished 1.209sec ahead of the increasingly impressive Maverick Vinales (Kalex) who pushed hard in the final laps. Esteve Rabat, also Kalex-mounted, rode steadily to third, running fifth early in the race after a slow start but doing enough to collect crucial championship points.
Johann Zarco (Caterham Suter) looked to be in contention for a podium result in the early stages but was ultimately fourth, while Mika Kallio (Kalex) could only manage fifth. Julian Simon (Kalex), Franco Morbidelli (Kalex), Hafizh Syahrin (Kalex), Ricard Cardus (Tech 3) and Xavier Simeon (Suter) rounded out the top 10 while Rabat's lead in the standings increased to 38 points with three races to go.
MOTO3
Jack Miller (KTM) and Danny Kent (Husqvarna) were both in the hunt for victory on the final lap but ran wide, allowing the new world champion's younger brother to grab the lead and open a 25 point gap at the head of the standings with three races remaining.
Marquez came home just 0.357sec ahead of Efren Vazquez (Honda) who had brilliantly worked his way through from 14th on the grid. Binder picked up the second podium of his career in third, having run with the front group throughout.
John McPhee (Honda) was fourth, whilst Miller and Kent banged fairings on the last lap; Miller recovered to finish fifth, 1.1sec adrift, while Kent came home 1.8sec behind the winner in seventh.
KTM trio Romano Fenati, Ennea Bastianini and lex Rins, completed the top ten. Rins ran wide early on the first lap and made his way back up from 25th place.