Bou earns third victory and Marcelli places fourth in Japan

“I'm very happy with today's result. This race is always special because it is the home of Honda and winning in Japan is very important to us. This victory is also important because of how the championship had been going; now we have some a lead so we are very happy. It was a difficult race. The sections were difficult and we almost failed a few on the first lap. On the second lap the areas dried up a bit and the level of difficulty dropped considerably. For tomorrow's race I imagine that some zones will change because more rain is not expected."

“Things didn't go as I would have liked today. We finished fourth on a somewhat difficult day that was affected by the rain yesterday. The wet is perhaps not the best for me and we picked up a few more points on the first lap. On the second lap the zones dried up a bit and we did better. Tomorrow the sections are sure to be much easier, but I think that, despite the results today, the sections with a higher level favour my riding style. Fourth place is positive for the championship. Tomorrow we will have to be careful, not make mistakes and go for the podium”.

“Today the riders probably had a little more pressure because, with this being Honda's home, they wanted to get a great result. I am very happy with the first place for Toni and also with the result for Gabri, who fought for the podium. Some areas will most probably change tomorrow, but Toni has taken some of the pressure off himself with today's victory and will have a bit of an advantage; Gabri will have another opportunity to get a great result tomorrow."