Claiming his first victory in over a year, Dani Pedrosa finished ahead of both Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.

Placed top of the podium for the 50th time in his career, Pedrosa’s victory will have certainly been one of the sweetest yet after an injury-plagued spell almost saw the 30 year old Spaniard quit the sport earlier this year.

For championship hopeful Rossi, the gap at the top grew slightly to 18 points as his nearest rival Lorenzo could only third due to consistent tyre issues throughout. However, with 75 points still available, both riders, pundits and fans alike are well aware that the 2015 remains wide open – for Lorenzo and Rossi at least.

Elsewhere, in Moto3, British ace Danny Kent’s title bid grew even stronger thanks to a 6th place finish ahead of nearest rival Enea Bastianini. With Kent now leading the championship by 56 points, it is looking more and more likely that the sport will have its first British champion since Barry Sheene rode to victory in 1977.

With only three races remaining, the 2015 calendar picks up the pace with two races scheduled for the final weekends of October before coming to a close in Valencia on November 8th. And with things so tight at the top of the standings, there’s no telling who will be crowned world champion in just under one month’s time.