Damian Cudlin was top Aussie in the Japanese Grand Prix last Sunday.

Australians Damian Cudlin and Bryan Staring will quickly look to reassert themselves at Valencia’s MotoGP finale following a trying penultimate weekend in Japan.

The pair rode to 21st and 22nd respectively in the weather-affected round, struggling to make headway with minimal time in dry track conditions on Sunday.

It was a promising showing for Cudlin, albeit handed down a penalty point by race direction for unintentionally holding up race leader Jorge Lorenzo in the closing laps.

“The weather really didn’t help us at all this weekend as the one thing we need on the bike is time and going straight into a dry race with very limited track time wasn’t ideal,” Cudlin commented.

“I got into a good rhythm and was riding my own race and I apologise if I held Jorge up but the flags were not clear to me. I’d like to thank the team for their hard work as it has been a difficult couple of rounds but I am happy to record another finish.”

Staring was again disappointed as his maiden MotoGP campaign approaches its ending, hoping to take advantage of track knowledge in the Spanish season-ending race.

“I don’t have much to say today, I think the result says it all,” Staring said. “It has been a weekend to forget and we need to turn the page quickly and start thinking about Valencia. At a circuit I know we should have better fortunes than here at Motegi.”

The Valencia round will take place next weekend on 8-10 November.