JapaneseGP: Marc Marquez Completes Motegi Double, Close Martin 2 Points

Marc Marquez completed a dominant weekend double at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan 2026, out-dueling championship rival Jorge Martin over 24 laps at Mobility Resort Motegi to chop the title race lead down to a razor-thin two points heading into the season's trip to Indonesia.

The victory marked Marquez's fourth career triumph at the Japanese circuit and his 79th premier-class win overall, arriving on the very soil where the reigning champion clinched the 2025 title a year earlier — a fitting stage for the Ducati rider's response after a difficult weekend in Austria.

The pre-race talking point centered on tyre selection, with every rider on the 22-bike grid opting for the recommended hard rear Michelin over the medium alternative — a decision made with minimal data after limited running on the compound throughout the weekend. It represented a genuine leap into the unknown ahead of the 24-lap, 115.224km distance, with conditions dry, air temperature at 20°C and the track at 28°C under 59% humidity.

From pole position, Martin grabbed the holeshot to keep Marquez contained behind him at the start, while Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez — serving the first half of a double long lap penalty issued before the race — picked off Pedro Acosta, who was shuffled back to fifth from the outside of the front row. Acosta's afternoon worsened further by Lap 2, as Bastianini, Raul Fernandez and home hero Ai Ogura demoted the Austrian GP winner down to the lower reaches of the top 10.

Alex Marquez and Johann Zarco both began serving double long lap penalties shortly after the start — Alex Marquez's confirmed at 14:05'57 and completed in two stages by 14:13'25, with Zarco's running almost in parallel and completed by 14:11'39 — further complicating both riders' afternoons before the race had even settled into rhythm.

By Lap 5, just 0.4 seconds separated Martin and Marquez at the front as both riders clicked off matching 1:43.6s laps, with Bezzecchi 0.6 seconds further back. Bezzecchi's position solidified as Alex Marquez's first long lap on Lap 5 dropped the Gresini rider to fifth, promoting Bastianini to fourth, before a second long lap on Lap 7 sent Alex Marquez down to ninth — one place behind Tissot Sprint podium finisher Diogo Moreira.

By Lap 10, the gap from the lead duo back to Bezzecchi had stretched to 1.9 seconds, with Martin and Marquez — the reigning World Champions of 2024 and 2025 respectively — trading fastest laps of the race as the real title fight took shape at the front.

The decisive move arrived on Lap 11, when Marquez launched a lunge up the inside at Turn 9, parking his Ducati on the apex to cement the pass on Martin. The response from the Aprilia rider was immediate scrutiny of whether he could fight back — but instead, Marquez's lead began to grow, reaching 0.8 seconds by the start of Lap 15 as Bezzecchi and Bastianini both began lapping quicker than both title protagonists. At that point the gap from Martin back to Bezzecchi stood at 1.3 seconds, with Bastianini a further 1.9 seconds adrift of the podium places.

Martin finally posted a lap quicker than Marquez on Lap 16, trimming the deficit to 0.7 seconds — a gap that held roughly steady over the following lap, keeping the pressure on but never quite entering realistic striking distance.

Marquez answered any suggestion of pressure in emphatic fashion, firing in a 1:43.291 to restore breathing room, extending his advantage to 1.2 seconds on the next lap. The gap oscillated back down to 0.9 seconds as Bezzecchi and Bastianini traded fastest laps of the race between themselves, with Bastianini closing to within 1.2 seconds of Bezzecchi's rear tyre, then a flat second, before setting what would become a sequence of four consecutive fastest laps as the KTM rider mounted a serious late charge for the final podium position.

Entering the final lap, Marquez led by 1.2 seconds in relative comfort, with Martin similarly secure in second. Bezzecchi's position, however, was anything but comfortable — Bastianini's fourth consecutive fastest lap reeled the Aprilia rider in right to the flag, but it wasn't quite enough. Bastianini ultimately set the outright fastest lap of the Grand Prix, a 1:43.041 on Lap 23, in his pursuit of the final rostrum spot.

Crossing the line just over two seconds clear of the battling Aprilias, Marc Marquez completed the Motegi double to claim his 79th premier-class victory, closing the championship gap to Martin to just two points — 333 to 331 — as the series heads to an Aprilia-favoured venue in Indonesia. Martin's second-place finish, his sixth runner-up result of the season, limited the damage and kept him atop the standings, capping a successful weekend for the top two in the title race despite Marquez's victory.

Bezzecchi held on for third ahead of Bastianini, who fell agonizingly short of the podium by less than a tenth of a second after his storming late charge, a result that will sting after four consecutive fastest laps in pursuit of the rostrum.

Raul Fernandez claimed fifth after winning a fierce battle for top-five honours against home favourite Ogura and Acosta, the trio separated by just fractions before Fernandez pulled clear, with a gap of 12.4 seconds back to the Bezzecchi-Bastianini duel ahead. Ogura held sixth with Acosta seventh, completing a tense midfield scrap that ran the length of the Grand Prix.

Francesco Bagnaia finished eighth, 3.4 seconds behind the Fernandez-Ogura-Acosta fight, with Fermin Aldeguer ninth and Luca Marini completing the top 10 for Honda HRC Castrol on home soil. Brad Binder (11th), Fabio Quartararo (12th), Somkiat Chantra (13th), returning rider Maverick Viñales (14th) and Franco Morbidelli (15th) rounded out the remaining point scorers.

FULL RACE CLASSIFICATION

Not Classified: Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing, 17 laps), Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR, 7 laps).

Pole Position: Jorge Martin, 1:42.371. Fastest Lap (New Lap Record): Enea Bastianini, 1:43.041 on Lap 23 (167.7 km/h).

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: TWO POINTS COVER THE TOP TWO

Martin's 333 points hold the narrowest of leads over Marquez's 331 heading to Lombok, with Bezzecchi a further 49 points back in third on 284. Acosta sits fourth on 243 ahead of Ogura (237) and Di Giannantonio (230), while Fernandez rounds out the top seven on 216.

Team Standings: Aprilia Racing leads on 617 points, ahead of Ducati Lenovo Team (495) and SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team (453).

Constructors' Standings: Ducati and Aprilia are locked together at the top on 469 points apiece, with KTM a distant third on 296.

Credit Photo : MotoGP