Motegi MotoGP race

09:12 What a stunning race. And we will hopefully get to do it all again in a week's time in Australia. Do join us then – in the meantime, here's our race report. Check out Autosport.com for the latest reaction throughout the day:

MotoGP Motegi: Dovizioso beats Marquez in wet epic to cut points gap

Andrea Dovizioso closed the gap on MotoGP points leader Marc Marquez after coming out on top in an epic dice for glory in the wet at Motegi

09:06 Trophies done. Anthems done. Rain showers replaced by champagne showers. All is well in the world of MotoGP.

09:03 Podium time. Three very happy riders at a very wet Motegi.

09:01 Will the Marquez/Dovizioso fight stay this good-natured heading into the final three rounds? We can't wait to find out.

09:00

09:00 Dovizioso: "I knew I had a last chance at the back straight, at Turn 11, but he was pushing, it was too far and the tyre was finished. But he did a mistake and I was able to catch him, I did a perfect corner at Turn 10, but I knew the last corner with Marc is always very difficult. I tried to close everything but he found a way to try...

"The drop of the rear tyre was so high. But we did a good job from first practice, so thank you to the team."

08:58 Marquez: "It was amazing today. The two guys that are fighting for the championship fighting until the last corner.

"On the last lap I saw there was a small advantage but I did a few mistakes, and at Turn 8 a big mistake. I lost a lot. I knew the Ducati was faster on the back straight, even in the braking point. I tried at the last corner...

"At this circuit I knew he would be very, very strong."

08:57 Here's Petrucci: "Yeah, I decided to take the risk and go with the extra-soft. I got something more in the beginning but I decided to not push a lot. I saw the others were a lot far behind and thought, 'Maybe I'm pushing too much'.

"In the end I tried to stay with Dovi and Marc but the middle part of the tyre was very, very used and my bike wheelspins. I decided a podium position is always OK!"

08:54 Oh, there were other people in that race? Here's the points scorers:

1 Dovizioso
2 Marquez
3 Petrucci
4 Iannone
5 Rins
6 Lorenzo
7 A Espargaro
8 Zarco
9 Vinales
10 Baz
11 P Espargaro
12 Nakasuga
13 Lowes
14 Barbera
15 Rabat

08:52

08:52 Dovizioso is back in parc ferme. Cue happy Italian celebrations.

08:51 Marquez just lumped one down the inside into the final corner and briefly took the lead, but it was never going to stick. Dovizioso cut back underneath and blasted to the line to win and cut the championship deficit to 11 points.

08:50 Marquez did damn well to even stay on the bike when he had his wobble at Turn 8. Didn't have to stand the bike up as such, but it was a big moment. Leg went up and everything. Dovizioso didn't need asking twice.

08:49 Wild scenes in the Ducati garage. Stunning, stunning victory for Dovizioso. Epic final-lap showdown. MotoGP 2017 gets better and better.

08:49 ...BUT ANDREA DOVIZIOSO HOLDS ON TO WIN THE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX!

08:48 Marquez fights back into the final corner...

08:48 Dovizioso got close after Marquez's error, and mugged him under the brakes into the big stop at the end of the back straight.

08:48 DOVIZIOSO IS THROUGH!

08:47 Marquez keeping clear through the first half of the lap. Looking good for the Honda man...but he's just had a big wobble!

08:47 Zarco's dropped to eighth. Late struggle for the Tech 3 man. Lorenzo up to sixth.

08:47 Last lap: Marquez vs Dovizioso. Just under half a second between them.

08:46 Marquez keeping it together in front. He's just edged a couple of tenths clear of Dovizioso. Just over a lap remaining now.

08:44 Marquez won't be stopped though, and he slips back ahead. He then withstands another attack from Dovizioso and starts the penultimate lap in the lead.

08:43 But Dovizioso fights back! He throws it down the inside into the fast Turn 7 and retakes the lead. Stunning fight.

08:43 Marquez! He's done it! Aggressive, ruthless pass down the inside into Turn 3. That's a superb move. The championship leader's back in front.

08:42 Marquez back to within 0.3s of Dovizioso. Every time we think this might be done it changes. Three laps to go...who knows what will happen next.

08:41 Iannone's past Rins for fourth! Nice little scrap between team-mates, that, in a dismal year for Suzuki.

08:41 Dovizioso's lead had gone out to a second but Marquez has pulled it back to 0.6s. Is this going to swing one more time before the end? Four laps left.

08:40 Iannone wastes no time in following his Suzuki team-mate past Zarco for fifth.

08:39 Rins has finally passed Zarco for fourth. He's been eyeing that position almost the entire race.

08:39 Massive, massive move from Dovizioso. Marquez looked to have eked out a crucial gap but the Ducati fought back and he's edging clear after hitting the front. The gap is 11 points as it stands. Game very much on.

08:37 Dovizioso leads! He nails Marquez into Turn 5!

08:37 Fastest lap of the race from Dovizioso, 1m56.568s, this isn't over yet!

08:35 It looked like Marquez might have broken Dovi, but the Italian's fought back. Stellar first sector and the gap's down to 0.4s again.

08:34 This is a big lap from Marquez, he's putting some key daylight (well, spray) between himself and Dovizioso.

08:34 Petrucci over a second behind Dovizioso now so it's works Honda vs works Ducati for the win in terms of a direct wheel-to-wheel battle.

08:33 Crutchlow got going again pretty quickly after his earlier pitlane visit, but he's shunted again. This time he's gone down at Turn 11.

08:33 If it stays like this, Dovizioso trails Marquez by 21 points. If Dovizioso can get in front, he'll trail by 11 points.

08:31 Dovizioso is all over Marquez. This isn't just about Motegi, this is about the title – can the Ducati send one down the inside, and send a big message in the championship battle in the process?