Motegi proved to be a hard round with plenty of drama during the race on an apparently slippery track. Alex Hoffman and Roberto Rolfo crashed out together on Lap 3, followed by Tohru Ukawa [replacing injured Camel Honda rider Troy Bayliss] on Lap 6. Shinya Nakano retired on Lap 10 after a second engine blew up on him at the circuit this weekend. In the space of three laps a further four riders retired, Sete Giberneau crashing out on Lap 12, Marco Melandri and Valentino Rossi collided on Lap 14, followed by Alex Barros out on Lap 15.

A protest by Honda against Yamaha for the Melandri/Rossi incident was dismissed by Race Direction.

With around half the field out, this race still proved to be fast and furious with Italian Loris Capirossi taking the win after battling a determined Max Biaggi all the way. Swapping places for a few laps, Capirossi finally managed to get past Max on Lap 19 to give Ducati it's first win for 2005. Makoto Tamada held on to take third place on the podium for his Konica Minolta Honda team.

Motegi MotoGP 2005 Race placings:
1.Capirossi
2.Biaggi
3.Tamada
4.Checa
5.Hopkins
6.Edwards
7.Hayden
8.Roberts
9.Elias
10.Xaus

World Championship Standings:
1.Valentino Rossi 261
2.Max Biaggi 149
3.Colin Edwards 133
4.Marco Melandri 126
5.Nicky Hayden 121