MOTEGI, Japan — Marc Marquez rode his Ducati Lenovo machine to his seventh MotoGP victory of the season in Sunday’s Motul Grand Prix of Japan.
Winning at Motegi for the fourth time, Marquez trimmed his championship defecit to a mere two points heading to the next round in Indonesia.
“It was very important to try to get as close as possible to the maximum 37 points, and we managed to do that, so I’m very happy,” Marquez said. “The race was tough, especially when I was behind Jorge [Martín], but I knew that if I could get into the lead, I would have good pace. Jorge tried to attack, but I pushed a little harder and that was enough to make the final two laps a bit more comfortable. There are still plenty of races to go, with different situations and different circuits. We’ll try to be consistent.”
It was the 2024 World Champion, Jorge Martin, who collected a vital 20 points to hold onto the title race lead, while teammate Marco Bezzecchi kept his cool under intense late pressure from a charging Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) to pick up a podium finish.
Bastianini finished fourth with Raul Fernandez fifth for the Trackhouse MotoGP team.
