Marc Marquez won the 2026 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at Mobility Resort Motegi on Sunday, passing championship leader Jorge Martin and completing a sweep of the weekend’s two races.
Martin finished second to retain the riders’ championship lead by two points. His Aprilia Racing teammate Marco Bezzecchi held off Enea Bastianini for third in the 24-lap race, which formed Round 16 of the season.
Marquez overhauls Martin
Martin started from pole after setting a lap record in qualifying and led Marquez into the opening corner. Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez moved ahead of Pedro Acosta behind them, although Alex Marquez still had two Long Lap penalties to serve following his role in a collision during Saturday’s Sprint.
Every rider began the Grand Prix on Michelin’s hard rear tire, the option recommended for the race. The limited running completed on that compound earlier in the weekend left the field with little race-distance data before the start.
Martin and Marc Marquez quickly established themselves at the front. Only 0.4 seconds separated them as they began Lap 5, with Bezzecchi running third and remaining within one second of Martin at that stage.
Alex Marquez served his first Long Lap penalty on Lap 5 and his second on Lap 7, dropping to ninth. At the front, Martin and Marc Marquez continued to trade the race’s fastest laps while pulling away from Bezzecchi.
By Lap 10, the Aprilia rider in third was 1.9 seconds behind the leading pair. Marc Marquez then made the decisive pass on Lap 11, moving inside Martin at Turn 9 and placing his Ducati on the apex to take the lead.
Martin keeps the leader within sight
Marquez opened a lead of 0.8 seconds by the beginning of Lap 15, but Martin prevented him from immediately escaping. Martin reduced the margin to 0.7 seconds on Lap 16 and was marginally faster again on the following lap.
Marquez answered with a 1:43.291 lap, extending his advantage before it grew to 1.2 seconds. Martin remained clear in second while the fight for third tightened behind him.
Marquez crossed the finish line 1.363 seconds ahead of Martin to claim 25 points. The victory was his 79th in MotoGP and his fourth premier-class Grand Prix win at Motegi.
Martin earned 20 points with his sixth second-place finish of the season. It followed his third place in Saturday’s Sprint, where a post-race position penalty for exceeding track limits had dropped him from second.
Bezzecchi withstands Bastianini’s charge
Bezzecchi faced increasing pressure from Bastianini over the closing laps. The Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider set four consecutive fastest laps as he approached the Aprilia, reducing a 1.9-second deficit in the battle for third.
Bastianini began the final lap within striking distance, but Bezzecchi retained the position. Bezzecchi finished 2.252 seconds behind Marquez, leaving him 0.889 seconds behind teammate Martin, and collected 16 championship points.
Bastianini took fourth. Raul Fernandez won the contest for fifth for SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team, finishing ahead of home rider Ai Ogura and Acosta. Francesco Bagnaia placed eighth on the second Ducati Lenovo Team bike.
Fermin Aldeguer and Luca Marini completed the top 10. Brad Binder was 11th, followed by Fabio Quartararo, Somkiat Chantra, the returning Maverick Viñales and Franco Morbidelli in the remaining points-paying positions.
Marquez completes the Motegi double
Sunday’s victory followed Marquez’s win in the 12-lap Sprint, giving the Ducati Lenovo Team rider the full Motegi double.
Marquez had led the Sprint from the opening corner. Martin initially finished second on the road, but both he and Bastianini received one-position penalties for final-lap track-limits infringements.
Those penalties promoted Diogo Moreira to second, giving the Pro Honda LCR rider his first Sprint podium and making him the first Brazilian rider to reach a MotoGP Saturday rostrum. Martin was classified third and Bastianini fourth.
The Sprint also shaped Sunday’s race for Alex Marquez. He made contact with Acosta and Fabio Di Giannantonio at Turn 3 on the opening lap, with all three riders falling. Race officials imposed the two Long Lap penalties that Alex Marquez served during the Grand Prix.
Marquez’s two victories at Motegi reduced a 12-point pre-event deficit to Martin. Martin scored 27 points across the Sprint and Grand Prix, while Marquez collected the maximum available 37.
Two points separate the title rivals
Martin leaves Japan at the top of the MotoGP riders’ standings with 333 points. Marquez is second on 331, with Bezzecchi third on 284.
Bezzecchi is 49 points behind Martin after returning to the Grand Prix podium. In the teams’ championship, Aprilia Racing leads with 617 points, ahead of Ducati Team on 495 and Trackhouse Racing Team on 453.
The result preserved Martin’s championship advantage while leaving no margin between the leading two riders beyond the two-point difference. Marquez’s Grand Prix win alone produced a five-point swing over Martin, supplementing the five points he had gained in the Sprint.
Championship moves to Indonesia
MotoGP now travels to the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit for the Indonesian Grand Prix from October 9 to 11. Martin will arrive as the championship leader, with Marquez two points behind after his maximum-score weekend in Japan and Bezzecchi remaining third.
