MOTEGI, Japan (AFP) - Japan's Makoto Tamada won his home grand prix as world champion Valentino Rossi of Italy claimed second place to take his new Yamaha team closer to its first championship in 12 years.
Riding a Honda from pole position, the 27-year-old Tamada covered 24 laps in 43 min 43.220 sec in the premier MotoGP class at the 4.8-kilometer (three-mile) Twin Ring Motegi circuit, the 12th leg of the 16-round world championship.
Yamaha rider Rossi was the runner-up, tightening his grip on a fourth straight world crown. Rossi now leads the championship by 39 points with four races remaining after the Japan Grand Prix.
"The race was tough and although I don't like finishing second this is a good result for the championship," Rossi said.
The flamboyant 25-year-old, dubbed "the Doctor" for his accurate advice in tuning-up, looks to present Yamaha with its first championship since 1992's win by American Wayne Rainey.
Last year Rossi announced a surprise switch to Yamaha from Honda, with whom he won three world motorcycling MotoGP championships.
Third place went to Shinya Nakano of Japan, on a Suzuki.
"I attacked and overtook Valentino and set my rhythm to the end," said Tamada, who marked his second victory following his first career triumph at the Brazilian motorcycle Grand Prix on July 4.
"The bike was running brilliantly and so were the tyres. I had everything to win," the Japanese said.
His latest victory also helped him save face at his home circuit, where he was stripped of third place in the MotoGP class last year due to dangerous riding.
The race had a sensational beginning when six riders, including Max Biaggi and Loris Capirossi, became tangled in a crash at the first corner.
Barely avoiding the pile-up, Rossi stormed into an early lead in the warm and dry conditions before he was caught and overtaken by Tamada on the sixth lap.
The two riders remained locked in a battle for the next few laps. But Tamada, whose bike had more straight-line speed on the stop-and-go circuit, powered away and opened up a sizeable gap between the pair.
Tamada set a sizzling pace, clocking a lap record of 1 min 48.524 sec on the fifth lap of the race. His lead at the front was never under threat towards the end of the race.
He celebrated with a spectacular wheeley past the chequered flag in front of about 67,000 local fans. "I'm glad to meet local fans' expectations," Tamada said. "I want to thank all the fans here."
Rossi said he had some problems with the front brake, which prevented him from putting on the speed after 10 laps.
But he maintained a careful ride as his rivals in overall standings also struggled on the circuit.
"My pit board told me that Max was out and that Sete (Gibernau) was far behind, so there was no point in taking any risks," Rossi said.
Rossi has spent the season silencing critics who claimed that his outstanding performance for the past three years was largely due to the powerful Honda machines rather than his riding technique.
In the 250cc battle Daniel Pedrosa, the previous year's 125cc champion, led Honda's 1-2-3 finish to easily score his fifth victory of the season, widening his overall lead in the standings.
Toni Elias of Spain made a runner-up finish on a Honda and Hiroshi Aoyama of Japan was third, also riding a Honda.
In the 125cc class, Andrea Dovizioso, now leading overall standings, made an Italian 1-2-3 finish to mark his fourth win of the season in a crash-shortened race.
Fabrizio Lai of Italy finished second in the smallest category, some 11 seconds behind Dovizioso. Third place went to their compatriot Simone Corsi.