Marc Marquez won the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi and cut Jorge Martin’s lead in the 2026 MotoGP championship to two points. It was Marquez’s fourth MotoGP victory at the circuit, his third grand prix win in the last four races and his third Sprint-and-grand-prix double since Aragon.

Patience set up the pass

Martin made the stronger start and kept Marquez behind him through turn one of the 24-lap race. The factory Ducati rider did not force the same immediate attack that had worked in the Sprint. Instead, he first worked out how much grip and performance the rear tyre could provide before raising his pace.

Marquez set the fastest lap on the fifth tour and then began closing on Martin. The decisive move came a few laps later at turn nine, putting Marquez at the front. From there, he focused on managing the pace and the risk rather than trying to build the biggest possible gap at once.

Tyre choice shaped the race. Michelin had taken the soft rear out of the allocation, and every rider went with a medium front and hard rear. Marquez said his only pre-race experience with the hard rear had come in the warm-up. That led him to stay patient on the opening lap and wait three laps before pushing to close the gap, overtake Martin and establish control.

A milestone for Ducati, then Mandalika

Marquez said he collected 37 points at Motegi. The victory was also Ducati’s 100th with Gigi Dall’Igna at the head of Ducati Corse. Marquez praised Dall’Igna and his staff, while pointing to the small areas of development that Ducati continues to pursue in its fight against its two main rivals.

The championship now moves to Mandalika in Indonesia. Marquez has yet to finish a grand prix at the circuit, which is regarded as one of the calendar’s toughest venues for tyre degradation. Aprilia is expected to suit the track better than Ducati, making the next round an immediate test of whether Marquez can carry his momentum onto a circuit with a different balance of demands.