MotoGP returnee enjoys “quite amazing” Motegi comeback
Somkiat Chantra says he was “much happier” during his one-off Japanese MotoGP appearance than throughout the 2025 season.
Somkiat Chantra was left “much happier” with his Japanese MotoGP weekend than the whole of the 2025 season.
Chantra rode in Japan in place of Joan Mir, who has been too unwell to ride since after the Misano race in mid-September.
The Thai rider therefore returned to the premier class of grand prix racing with the Honda HRC squad, making his first appearance in the category since he moved to WorldSBK at the end of last year.
Chantra’s 2025 MotoGP season, the only one he had taken part in, was tough, missing several races through injury, taking a best finish of only 13th, and scoring only seven points during the season.
Moving to WorldSBK did not go smoothly either, with injury affecting the first part of his season, as it did for his team-mate Jake Dixon, and even since he has been fully fit the Thai rider has not featured in the top-10.
Returning to MotoGP in Japan, though, Chantra was able to be in the points in Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, finishing 15th in his first race with the factory Honda team and in his first race with Michelin tyres in just over 10 months.
“I'm so happy,” said Somkiat Chantra after the Japanese MotoGP.
“Compared to last year, this year I was much, much happier. Even I got three points, but I feel it was quite amazing because this time, even though I came for [a replacement ride], I feel like I had a chance.
“I was so happy because I can stay with all the riders, I can have some fight and also some fun with the riders. I was so happy.”
Chantra explained that he never needed to change much on the bike all weekend from the first session, only adapting the engine braking in a couple of corners.
“For me, on Friday, when I tried the bike on the FP1, I come, I take the bike, I go out, and when I come back, I say to the team ‘The bike, everything was correct, I don't need to change anything’, because the power, the traction, the engine brake was working well,” Chantra said.
“Just some corners I adapt with the engine brake, maybe only two or three corners, and that's it, and the bike, everything was [well] done.
“I'm just riding and trying to adapt with the bike, and that's it. The bike was working well. [Sunday] was amazing for me.”
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
