Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden (Photo: Getty Images/Kazuhiro Nogi) » More Photos

"My start was a disaster again, the bike just won't start," said Hayden of the clutch dramas. "I mean it's like starting a 300-horsepower bike with a switch. Normally, I'm used to getting awesome starts and making up so much ground. I let it out and the front end just came straight up.

"I probably had the best first two corners of my life and got back inside the top 10, and then Elias and I duked it out hard; we came together one time."

Watched by 63,000 spectators at a sun-blessed Motegi, the display by Capirossi was majestic. Leading from pole position, he led every lap, holding off the challenges of Melandri and then Rossi.

Rossi moved into second on lap 15 and immediately surged for the lead, but Capirossi responded over the final five laps to win by five seconds.

"I think that was a pretty amazing race," said Capirossi after beating his 2005 race winning time by 17 seconds. "My target was to get a great start and go, and I pulled a small gap on Marco but then my pitboard told me Valentino was coming very quick, so I had to go faster. To win in Japan is fantastic for our team."

Rossi's second place was his fourth consecutive podium.

"When I passed Marco I pushed to try and catch Loris and set the fastest lap, but Loris opened the throttle again and he was just too fast," Rossi said.

Melandri made a great start and raced with Capirossi early, before conceding to a charging Rossi.

"It's nice to be on the podium at Honda's home race," Melandri said.

"At the start I thought I had the pace to lead the race, but when the tire started to go off I had take some risks so I decided to bring it home in third place."

After a bold pre-race prediction of "taking points from Nicky to do my job for the team," Rossi's teammate Edwards was a lonely eighth at the end.