Alex Marquez’s Japanese Grand Prix ended early at Motegi when he crashed while running eighth in the closing stages. The result cut short a weekend in which Gresini Ducati had shown strong pace: Marquez topped Friday practice and occupied fourth place during the opening laps.

The trouble had started earlier. Marquez triggered a first-lap pile-up in the Sprint and was handed a double long-lap penalty. He then fell in warm-up as the riders tried Michelin’s hard rear tyre for the first time. Marquez linked both crashes to the same control error: while leaned over, he put his foot in the wrong position and selected a higher gear instead of downshifting. The bike was left in the wrong gear and reacted abruptly.

Marquez described the mistakes as disappointing. He said the speed was there, but repeating the same error twice in one day was not acceptable. The second fall also had a championship consequence: the non-scoring Motegi weekend cost him eighth place in the MotoGP standings to Pecco Bagnaia ahead of the next round in Indonesia.

Why the hard tyre changed the choices

The reinforced hard rear tyre became the other major talking point of the weekend. Michelin made it the recommended option after blistering affected the soft and medium rear tyres in the Sprint. Its stiffer construction had caused Ducati problems in Austria, yet it was highly competitive on Motegi’s new asphalt.

Riders initially stayed away from it and effectively had to try it during Sunday’s extended morning warm-up. Every rider then selected the hard for the race, even though the standard-casing medium remained available. Marquez said the result surprised the entire paddock because Michelin had paired the stiffer casing with the soft compound on this occasion. That combination is one teams will keep in mind if it appears again at a future race.