Spain's Marc Marquez wrapped up his third straight MotoGP championship with victory at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday after title rival Andrea Dovizioso fell on the penultimate lap while trying to find a way past the Honda rider.
The 25-year-old is now tied with Australian Mick Doohan on five premier class world titles, with only Italian's Valentino Rossi (seven) and Giacomo Agostini (eight) having won more.
Marquez, who had sealed two of his previous titles at Motegi, moved 102 points clear of Ducati’s Dovizioso with three races remaining.
Dovizioso started on pole and led for most of the race before Marquez, who had started sixth on the grid, made his move with four laps left.
Marquez had been on the Italian's tail for much of the race and the pressure eventually told on the Ducati rider as he relinquished the lead.
Dovizioso attempted to move back past Marquez on the penultimate lap but pushed it too far and came off his bike. He recovered but eventually finished 18th.
That left Marquez knowing he was going to secure his fifth title as he completed his final lap, shaking his head in disbelief at the achievement.
"I feel really, really good," said Marquez after celebrating with the Honda team, who were joined by the company's CEO Takahiro Hachigo at the manufacturer's home race.
"After Aragon I already felt, I already imagined that it will be here, but the good thing is when you have the first chance (to win the title), then you do it."
In a bizarre turn of events, Marquez dislocated his shoulder while celebrating on the track with British rider Scott Redding.
"I just lay there on the asphalt and my brother and Jose put it in again," motorsports website Crash reported the champion as saying.
"It was not the first time; maybe it was my weak point of the season because I dislocated it many times during training at home.
"In December I need to make a stop with the doctor and for next year it will be perfect."
Redding apologised for his role in the incident, adding: "Congratulations to @marcmarquez93 with 7 titles on there my babbbie. Once we were rivals "big rivals" now we have nothing but respect and fun!!! Sorry for the dislocated shoulder....."
Marquez pipped Dovizioso on the final lap of the Thailand Grand Prix last time out and while he did leave it quite as late at Motegi the result was the same.
“I was able to follow Andrea, then I say okay, I will try to use the same strategy as Thailand, attack before the last lap because I felt like they had something,” he said.
“I was pushing really hard and he did a mistake."
“I disappointed because he deserves to be here on the podium with us, but okay, the big boss will enjoy it."
Dovizioso, who was the championship runner-up to Marquez in 2017, will have to wait another year for a shot at his first MotoGP premier class title.
"The battle (with Dovizioso) has been great all year," said an exuberant Marquez.
"Dovi had been a great opponent throughout the year and coming into this he was very, very fast.”
LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow was second after a brilliant performance that saw the Briton hang with Marquez and Dovizioso until the final stages.
Another Spaniard, Alex Rins, was third for Suzuki.
The next stop is the Australian Grand Prix next weekend.
Ailing Svitolina halts news conference after Kvitova win
Elina Svitolina had little time to celebrate her victory over Petra Kvitova at the WTA Finals on Sunday. The Ukrainian fell ill in the post-match news conference following her 6-3, 6-3 triumph at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Svitolina tore up the form book by beating her Czech opponent for the first time in eight attempts dating back to 2014 but the 24-year-old soon halted questions about her win when she became light-headed in the media centre.
After leaving the stage and taking a few minutes to compose herself, Svitolina refused to elaborate on the exact nature of her illness, saying "I'm just not feeling good" when asked what the problem was.
Svitolina, who crashed out in the round robin phase of her debut appearance at the eight-woman season-ending tournament a year ago, will be hoping she can recover in time for her second White Group match on Tuesday.
Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki and Karolina Pliskova are the other players in the pool, with Svitolina due to play the winner of that contest next.
Before she fell ill, Svitolina spoke of how important it was to finally beat a player who had a 7-1 head-to-head advantage over her before Sunday's clash.
"Definitely was very important for me. You know, winning this match, definitely gives me lots of confidence," she told reporters.
"I mean, this win definitely now I want to take, you know, as one to go forward, and for all those people and haters that were saying that I don't deserve to be here and I'm not good.
"So, yeah, I think this, until the next match I can really enjoy this win."
After she returned to the stage, Svitolina said she hoped to recover in time for what she expected to be another tough match.
"It's not going to get harder and harder. It's already very, very hard, each match. I already had the match today which was, you know, extremely hard for me, because I lost seven times against her," she added of Kvitova.
"So, I mean, you couldn't ask for a harder start, I think.
"So it's going to be good match next match. I will just try to recover and be ready for the next one and, be ready for anything and just fight."
Bolt's agent says Mariners make contract offer
Eight-time Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt has been offered a contract by Australian professional side Central Coast Mariners, according to his agent Ricky Simms.
Speed king Bolt, 32, scored two goals for Mariners in a trial match this month as he seeks a switch to soccer.
"In response to the media stories, yes, Usain has been offered a contract," Simms was quoted as saying by Fairfax Media, declining to comment further.
Bolt, who retired from track and field last year, was not involved in Mariners' A-League opener against Brisbane Roar on Sunday, after which coach Mike Mulvey said he knew nothing about any contract for the Jamaican.
"That's for a few pay grades above my level," Mulvey was quoted as saying in Australian media. "I do appreciate how important this story is for the rest of the world.
"But you have a look at our frontline today and you wonder if he could get into any of those positions, wouldn't you?"
Isner welcomes Wimbledon's new tiebreak rule
Tennis's marathon man John Isner has welcomed Wimbledon's decision to introduce tiebreaks at 12-12 in the final set.
The American became something of a Wimbledon cult hero when beating France's Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the fifth set in 2010 - a record-breaking duel lasting 11 hours five minutes and spanning three days and in which the last set alone (eight hours 11 minutes) would have broken the previous longest-match record.
After his 2010 exploits Isner, 33, was involved in the second-longest Wimbledon match in this year's semi-finals when he went down 26-24 in the fifth set to South Africa's Kevin Anderson - a battle lasting six hours and 36 minutes.
That led to further calls to bring in sudden-death tiebreaks and Wimbledon's organisers announced this week that next year's Championships would use them after 24 games in deciding sets.
"I have said all along 12-all is good," he told BBC Radio 5 on Sunday. "That is sensible - you're getting people who like the advantage and people who like tie-breaks.
"It is bucking tradition but a lot of people believe that is not a bad thing."
The world number 10 even joked that the new ruling should be named after him.
"The next match that gets to that, they should just say we will now play the Isner Rule," he said.
"I don't think they are going to do that, but I think I've been a big driving force for it."
Wimbledon has followed the U.S. Open which has employed tiebreaks at 6-6 in deciding sets, but by allowing a set to reach 12-12 organisers say they are maintaining tradition and allowing dramatic deciding sets to evolve.
The Australian and French Opens do not have final set breakers.
"It may be that Wimbledon acting like this could drive them to do it as well," Isner said.
"There is drama enough in a tie-breaker. You could argue there is more drama in that."