Marc Marquez has cut Jorge Martin’s MotoGP championship lead to just two points after taking a hard-fought victory at the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi.
The Ducati rider started from pole and completed a dominant weekend by following up Saturday’s Sprint victory with another win in Sunday’s main race. It was Marquez’s 79th premier-class victory and another major step in his pursuit of the championship lead.
Martin made the perfect start from pole, leading into Turn 1 and initially keeping Marquez behind. The Aprilia rider resisted sustained pressure through the opening laps, trading fast times with Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi as the three remained closely matched at the front.
The decisive moment came on lap 11 when Marquez made his move at Turn 9. The Ducati rider slipped up the inside of Martin and immediately began to build a gap.
Once in front, Marquez was able to pull clear by more than a second and controlled the remainder of the race to take the chequered flag.
Martin admitted afterwards that he had given everything he had, but simply could not match Marquez’s pace.
“Even on one of my good days, it was impossible to beat him,” the Aprilia rider said.
Despite missing out on victory, Martin’s second-place finish keeps him at the top of the championship standings. However, with Marquez now only two points behind, the title battle has become increasingly tight with the remaining rounds ahead.
The fight for the final podium position was much closer.
Marco Bezzecchi spent the early part of the race running with the leaders but eventually found himself under pressure from Enea Bastianini. The Tech3 KTM rider produced a strong late charge, recovering a one-second deficit and closing rapidly on Bezzecchi in the final laps.
The pair went head-to-head all the way to the finish, with Bezzecchi managing to hold on to third by just 0.089 seconds.
Behind them, Raul Fernandez won a close battle for fifth after fighting with Trackhouse Aprilia team-mate Ai Ogura and Pedro Acosta. Fernandez crossed the line ahead of Ogura in sixth, while Acosta finished seventh after recovering from an early drop to eighth.
Francesco Bagnaia brought his factory Ducati home in eighth, while Fermin Aldeguer produced one of the strongest recoveries of the race by climbing from 16th on the grid to ninth.
Luca Marini completed the top 10 as the highest-finishing Honda rider, while Fabio Quartararo led Yamaha in 12th.
Tyre strategy also played a major role after Saturday’s Sprint exposed severe degradation issues. Following an extended warm-up session, every rider opted for the hard rear tyre for the Grand Prix, prioritising durability for the longer race distance.
The difficult conditions nevertheless claimed several riders. Diogo Moreira, Johann Zarco and Alex Marquez all crashed out, while Jack Miller remounted after his own fall to finish 19th and last.
Ultimately, Motegi belonged to Marquez. After taking both the Sprint and Grand Prix victories, he leaves Japan just two points behind Martin, setting up an increasingly intense championship fight as MotoGP heads into its next rounds.
