Alvaro Bautista produced the ideal demonstration behind why Ducati has picked the Spaniard to step in for the injured Jorge Lorenzo for this weekend’s Australian round.

Maverick Vinales has conceded the same set-up and approach which earned him a podium in Thailand could not produce a similar performance from his Movistar Yamaha at Motegi.

Andrea Dovizioso's hopes of claiming a fourth MotoGP win of the season, and delaying Marc Marquez's title celebrations, disappeared on the penultimate lap in Japan.

Marks out of ten at the Japanese MotoGP…  

Valentino Rossi salvaged a 'not bad' fourth place from ninth on the grid, in Sunday's Japanese MotoGP.

After stopping to celebrate MotoGP race and title victory at Motegi with some of his team, and then fellow rider Scott Redding, Marc Marquez suddenly got off his bike and lay down at the side of the track.

Alvaro Bautista will replace the injured Jorge Lorenzo at the factory Ducati team during next weekend's Australian MotoGP. Bautista, who currently rides for the satellite Angel Nieto squad, will thus swap his usual GP17 for Lorenzo's GP18 at Phillip Island.

Marquez wins the Japanese Grand Prix and, with it, his fifth MotoGP title! The Honda stars and title rival Dovizioso broke clear of Crutchlow in the closing stages, but the Ducati rider fell on the penultimate lap to confirm Marquez as champion with three rounds to go.

Fabio Quartararo loses Japanese Moto2 race victory.

Marquez is 2018 MotoGP champion! Riders' World Championship:

Updated race results for the 2018 Japanese Moto2 Grand Prix, round 16 of 19.

Race results from the 2018 Japanese Moto3 Grand Prix, round 16 of 19.

Dovizioso leads Marquez during a dry and bright warm-up for the Japanese MotoGP at Motegi.

UPDATE: Alvaro Bautista will replace Lorenzo at Phillip Island . Jorge Lorenzo will miss next weekend's Australian MotoGP, Ducati has confirmed.

On paper, it looked like a case of everything is different, but not much has changed for Yamaha during qualifying at Motegi.

Dovizioso takes pole position for the Japanese MotoGP at Motegi ahead of satellite stars Zarco and Miller. Title leader Marquez - who fell at the end of FP4 - will start from the back of row two, alongside Crutchlow and Iannone.

Marc Marquez still has his sights set on trying to wrap-up the 2018 MotoGP title from the top step of the podium at Motegi, despite being left sixth on the grid.

Qualifying results from the 2018 Japanese Moto2 Grand Prix, round 16 of 19.

Andrea Dovizioso putting his Ducati on pole position for this year's Japanese MotoGP was not much of a surprise. But having satellite stars Johann Zarco, Jack Miller and Cal Crutchlow as his nearest rivals hadn't been part of the script.

Bautista and home star Nakagami lead Qualifying 1 and now progress to the Q2 pole position shootout, where they will join the ten fastest riders after third practice. The others will start, in the following order, from 13th on the grid onwards…

Xavier Simeon has been confirmed as leaving MotoGP after one season, but will remain with the Avintia Team in 2019 by competing in the new electric MotoE World Cup.

Marquez puts Honda on top for the first time this weekend during FP4 for the Japanese MotoGP, despite a fall in the closing stages.

Qualifying results from the 2018 Japanese Moto3 Grand Prix, round 16 of 19.

Dovizioso stays fastest during a dry FP3 at the Japanese MotoGP, followed by Crutchlow and Zarco. The top ten riders after FP3 (combined times) receive direct access to the second and final part of this afternoon's qualifying session.