Despite a good start followed by a solid race in Motegi unfortunately Bo Bendsneyder and Jesko Raffin stayed just outside of the points. Bendsneyder finished 16th in Japan, while Raffin had to settle for 19th. Both riders of NTS RW Racing GP had to come from far. Bendsneyder managed to advance from 27th to 21st in the first lap of the Moto2 race of the Japanese Grand Prix. From there he could win places step by step. After a crash by Mattia Pasini, at whose tail Bendsneyder was sitting for most of the race, the Dutchman was in 16th place. With four laps to go, however, the gap to place 15 was too big (almost four seconds) to be able to fight for the points. A few places behind Bendsneyder, Jesko Raffin switched to test mode when he lost connection due to a gearbox problem. The Swiss had a good start from 22nd place, but lost too much speed due to a touché in the first corner to make an advance.
Bo Bendsneyder (16 at +27.307): “I think we have had a strong race. I had to come from far, but I managed to win a lot in the first lap. There were quite a few crashes over the front, which shows that it was difficult to control the bike when braking hard entering the corners here at the TwinRing. It is a shame that we were unable to score points, but I am happy with how the race went. The team has worked hard – many thanks for that – and we have shown that we can be in a good position.”
Race results:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Time / Gap |
| 1 | Luca MARINI | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 40’57.279 |
| 2 | Thomas LUTHI | Dynavolt Intact GP | 0.560 |
| 3 | Jorge MARTIN | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 3.593 |
| 4 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | FLEXBOX HP 40 | 3.999 |
| 5 | Jorge NAVARRO | Beta Tools Speed Up | 5.236 |
| 6 | Alex MARQUEZ | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 7.345 |
| 7 | Enea BASTIANINI | Italtrans Racing Team | 8.115 |
| 8 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | FLEXBOX HP 40 | 10.460 |
| 9 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Dynavolt Intact GP | 10.711 |
| 10 | Stefano MANZI | MV Agusta Temporary Forward | 12.445 |
| 11 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Beta Tools Speed Up | 12.572 |
| 12 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 14.864 |
| 13 | Somkiat CHANTRA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 15.008 |
| 14 | Dominique AEGERTER | MV Agusta Temporary Forward | 15.778 |
| 15 | Andrea LOCATELLI | Italtrans Racing Team | 23.595 |
| 16 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NTS RW Racing GP | 27.307 |
| 17 | Jake DIXON | Gaviota Angel Nieto Team | 30.304 |
| 18 | Joe ROBERTS | monday.com American Racing | 33.806 |
| 19 | Jesko RAFFIN | NTS RW Racing GP | 36.962 |
| 20 | Philipp OETTL | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 43.682 |
| 21 | Dimas EKKY PRATAMA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 45.143 |
| 22 | Adam NORRODIN | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 59.459 |
| 23 | Xavi CARDELUS | Gaviota Angel Nieto Team | +1’14.661 |
| Not Classified | |||
| Mattia PASINI | Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 | 5 Laps | |
| Marco BEZZECCHI | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 10 Laps | |
| Remy GARDNER | ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team | 14 Laps | |
| Iker LECUONA | monday.com American Racing | 18 Laps | |
| Xavi VIERGE | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 18 Laps | |
| Sam LOWES | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 20 Laps | |
| Nicolo BULEGA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 21 Laps | |
| Lukas TULOVIC | Kiefer Racing | 21 Laps | |
| Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team | 0 Lap |
Source: motogp.com, rwracinggp.com
