Jorge Lorenzo wins the Japanese MotoGP to take the championship down to the wire

JORGE Lorenzo won the Japanese MotoGP ahead of Marc Marquez meaning the world title will go down to the final race.

An exuberant Jorge Lorenzo celebrates a crucial win on Honda's home soil.

JORGE Lorenzo won the Japan Grand Prix on Sunday ahead of Marc Marquez meaning the MotoGP world championship will be decided in the final race of the season.

The Yamaha rider Lorenzo outperformed championship leader Marquez on a Honda, who came in second after a spectacular showdown, followed by Dani Pedrosa, also on a Honda.

Marquez now has 318 points in the championship, a 13-point gap over his fellow Spaniard Lorenzo with a maximum 25 points left in the season.

Valencia in a fortnight will be the first time in seven years that the world title has gone down to the wire.

Marquez, 20, is bidding to become the youngest ever MotoGP world champion and first rookie title winner for 35 years.

Australians Damian Cudlin and Bryan Staring both finished outside the points in 21st and 22nd places.

Conditions at the mountainous Motegi circuit were dry and sunny on Sunday, after dense fog and torrential rain forced the cancellation of free practice on Friday and Saturday.

In a practice session hours before the race, Marquez crashed at high speed although he walked away unscathed.

RESULTS - MotoGP R17, AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan (24 laps)

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	42m34.291s
2	Marc Marquez	Honda	3.188s
3	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	4.592s
4	Alvaro Bautista	Honda	19.755s
5	Stefan Bradl	Honda	22.810s
6	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	24.637s
7	Cal Crutchlow	Yamaha	27.496s
8	Bradley Smith	Yamaha	30.969s
9	Nicky Hayden	Ducati	37.010s
10	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	42.944s
11	Katsuyuki Nagasuga	Yamaha	53.345s
12	Colin Edwards	FTR Kawasaki	1m03.213s
13	Randy de Puniet	ART	1m06.840s
14	Andrea Iannone	Ducati	1m08.218s
15	Yonny Hernandez	Ducati	1m18.240s
16	Hector Barbera	FTR	1m19.108s
17	Hiroshi Aoyama	FTR	1m21.174s
18	Danilo Petrucci	Ioda-Suter	1m30.546s
19	Michael Laverty	ART	2m23.358s
20	Claudio Corti	FTR Kawasaki	+1 lap
21	Damian Cudlin	PBM	+1 lap
22	Bryan Staring	FTR-Honda	+1 lap
DNF	Aleix Espargaro	ART	+12 laps
DNF	Luca Scassa	ART	+23 laps
DNF	Lukas Pesek	Ioda-Suter	+23 laps