MotoGP · Round 16 of 22 · Published 7 October 2026

Marquez Sweeps Motegi and Trails Martin by Two Points

Marc Marquez won both the Sprint and the Japanese Grand Prix at Mobility Resort Motegi, cutting Jorge Martin's championship lead from twelve points to two with six rounds left. Martin took a record-breaking pole, but the Ducati rider was the stronger man when it counted.

Marc MarquezSprint and GP winner, 37 points
Jorge MartinPole, 1m42.371s lap record
333 vs 331Martin leads Marquez
41m31.467sWinning time, 24 laps

Qualifying: Martin snatches a record pole

Martin looked a step behind Marquez heading into the session, then beat him by 0.110s on his final run. His 1m42.371s on the soft rear tyre broke the all-time Motegi lap record of 1m42.811s that Alex Marquez had set in practice the day before. The top seven finished within 0.298s, and Pedro Acosta, fresh from his Red Bull Ring win, completed the front row for KTM.

Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez advanced from Q1, but defending double winner Francesco Bagnaia missed Q2 and lined up 13th.

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time / gap
1	Jorge Martin	Aprilia	1:42.371
2	Marc Marquez	Ducati	+0.110
3	Pedro Acosta	KTM	+0.122
4	Marco Bezzecchi	Aprilia	+0.159
5	Alex Marquez	Ducati	+0.175
6	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Ducati	+0.257
7	Enea Bastianini	KTM	+0.298
8	Raul Fernandez	Aprilia	+0.370
9	Diogo Moreira	Honda	+0.545
10	Johann Zarco	Honda	+0.547
11	Ai Ogura	Aprilia	+0.562
12	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	+0.688
13	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	1:43.007 (Q1)

Max speeds topped out around 320 km/h. Motegi was fully resurfaced for 2026, and the lap record fell twice.

Sprint: Marquez wins, Moreira takes a first podium

Marquez passed Martin through Turn 1 and controlled the 12-lap Sprint. Behind them, Bezzecchi got ahead of Acosta for third, only for Alex Marquez to hit the back of Acosta at Turn 2, taking both out and bringing down Di Giannantonio. Alex Marquez was handed a double long-lap penalty for Sunday.

Martin looked set for a safe second but lost rear grip in the closing laps, his Aprilia visibly shaking. Bagnaia pitted with a piece missing from his rear tyre. Martin and Bastianini then received drop-one-place penalties for exceeding track limits on the last lap, which promoted Honda rookie Diogo Moreira to second and his first MotoGP podium. Marquez left the Sprint seven points behind Martin.

Pos	Rider	Bike	Pts
1	Marc Marquez	Ducati	12
2	Diogo Moreira	Honda	9
3	Jorge Martin	Aprilia	7
4	Enea Bastianini	KTM	6
5	Ai Ogura	Aprilia	5
6	Marco Bezzecchi	Aprilia	4
7	Johann Zarco	Honda	3
8	Raul Fernandez	Aprilia	2
9	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	1

Marquez's winning time was 20m50.376s. Did not finish: Bagnaia, Acosta, Di Giannantonio, Alex Marquez. Points follow the standard Sprint scale (12-9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1).

Grand Prix: Marquez reels in Martin and wins

Blistering in the Sprint led Michelin to withdraw the soft rear tyre and recommend the heat-resistant hard compound, which nobody had run before Sunday. Warm-up was doubled to 20 minutes, and every rider chose the medium front and hard rear for the 24-lap race.

Martin held off Marquez at the start with Bezzecchi third, and led the first ten laps. On lap 11 Marquez attacked at Turn 9 and Martin gave him room. Bezzecchi faded from the fight, leaving a two-man duel, and Marquez steadily built a lead of more than a second before the finish. Martin briefly pulled the gap back to 0.6s but never got close enough to challenge again. The win was Gigi Dall'Igna's 100th with Ducati in MotoGP.

Bastianini was the fastest man on track late on and closed to within 0.078s of Bezzecchi on the line, but could not find a way past for the last podium place. Fernandez, Ogura and Acosta fought over fifth, with the Trackhouse pair getting the better of the KTM. Alex Marquez and Zarco both served double long-lap penalties and then crashed, while Moreira fell after his Sprint high and Jack Miller crashed and rejoined.

Pos	Rider	Team	Gap	Pts
1	Marc Marquez	Ducati Lenovo	41:31.467	25
2	Jorge Martin	Aprilia	+1.363	20
3	Marco Bezzecchi	Aprilia	+2.252	16
4	Enea Bastianini	Tech3 KTM	+2.330	13
5	Raul Fernandez	Trackhouse	+14.815	11
6	Ai Ogura	Trackhouse	+15.210	10
7	Pedro Acosta	Red Bull KTM	+16.928	9
8	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati Lenovo	+20.333	8
9	Fermin Aldeguer	Gresini	+23.545	7
10	Luca Marini	Honda HRC	+25.677	6
11	Brad Binder	Red Bull KTM	+25.853	5
12	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	+30.867	4
13	Somkiat Chantra	Honda HRC	+31.333	3
14	Maverick Viñales	Tech3 KTM	+33.995	2
15	Franco Morbidelli	VR46 Ducati	+34.590	1
16	Alex Rins	Yamaha	+39.228	–
17	Toprak Razgatlioglu	Pramac Yamaha	+39.562	–
18	Fabio Di Giannantonio	VR46 Ducati	+50.816	–
19	Jack Miller	Pramac Yamaha	+71.127	–
20	Johann Zarco	Honda LCR	+2 laps	–
DNF	Alex Marquez	Gresini	–	–
DNF	Diogo Moreira	Honda LCR	–	–

Average race speed 166.4 km/h. Entering the weekend, the race lap record was Bagnaia's 1m44.412s from 2025.

Rider stats from the weekend

Rider	Grid	Sprint	Race	Weekend pts
Marc Marquez	2	1	1	37
Jorge Martin	1	3*	2	27
Marco Bezzecchi	4	6	3	20
Enea Bastianini	7	4*	4	19
Ai Ogura	11	5	6	15
Raul Fernandez	8	8	5	13
Pedro Acosta	3	DNF	7	9
Diogo Moreira	9	2	DNF	9
Francesco Bagnaia	13	DNF	8	8

*Classified after post-race track-limits penalties. Weekend points are calculated from the published Sprint and race classifications using the standard points scales.

Marquez took the maximum 37 points, returning to the track where he clinched the 2025 title to win both races.
Martin gave away five points in the Sprint and another five in the race, so the gap shrank by ten over the weekend.
Bezzecchi is now 49 points off the lead and Acosta 90 behind, which leaves the title as a two-rider fight.
Ogura moved up to fifth overall on his home track, and Moreira scored his first podium before crashing out on Sunday.

Championship standings after round 16

Pos	Rider	Team	Pts
1	Jorge Martin	Aprilia	333
2	Marc Marquez	Ducati	331
3	Marco Bezzecchi	Aprilia	284
4	Pedro Acosta	KTM	243
5	Ai Ogura	Trackhouse Aprilia	237
6	Fabio Di Giannantonio	VR46 Ducati	230
7	Raul Fernandez	Trackhouse Aprilia	216
8	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	164

What comes next

The series heads to the Indonesian Grand Prix at Mandalika, where heat-resistant tyres will again be in use. Aprilia has said it pushed for changes after what it called a clear safety issue with the Sprint tyre blistering, so tyre behaviour will stay a talking point as Martin and Marquez fight over the final six rounds.