Marc Márquez won in the early hours of Sunday (4) the Japan GP, the 16th round of the 2026 MotoGP season. The Ducati rider started from second on the Motegi circuit and took the lead of the race on lap 11 of 24, after overtaking Jorge Martín. From there, the current champion remained always about one second ahead to secure the victory.
Second place went to Martín, the Aprilia rider who couldn’t keep pace with Márquez after being passed. Marco Bezzecchi, aboard the other official Aprilia, completed the podium in third, followed by Enea Bastianini, fourth on a Tech3 KTM, who sought a podium position on the final lap. Raúl Fernández, with a Trackhouse Aprilia, finished fifth.
Ai Ogura finished the race in sixth place with the Trackhouse Aprilia, while Pedro Acosta, on a KTM, was seventh. Francesco Bagnaia, riding for Ducati, crossed the line eighth, ahead of Fermín Aldeguer, ninth on the Gresini Ducati. Luca Marini, on a Honda, was tenth.
The sole Brazilian on the MotoGP grid, Diogo Moreira abandoned the Motegi race on lap nine of 24. The LCR Honda rider, who had claimed second in the Sprint on Saturday, crashed at Turn 9 and exited the race.
MotoGP continues the 2026 season next Sunday, with the Indonesia Grand Prix at the Mandalika circuit.
See how the race unfolded
The race began with Jorge Martín holding the lead in the early meters, followed by Marc Márquez and Marco Bezzecchi, who benefited from Pedro Acosta’s rough start to take third place. Diogo Moreira dropped one position early on and slid from ninth to tenth at Motegi.
Acosta dropped to fifth and came under pressure from Enea Bastianini, who overtook him on the second lap. The KTM rider, winner of the Austrian GP two weeks earlier, was also passed by the two Trackhouse riders, first by Raúl Fernández and then by Ai Ogura, dropping to eighth.
On the third lap, Fernández came under pressure from Ogura, in a battle for fourth. Martín maintained the lead, but was always closely followed by Márquez, Bezzecchi, and Álex Márquez. Moreira remained ninth. On the fifth lap, Álex completed the long lap and lost fourth place to Bastianini, and served a second long-lap penalty on the seventh lap, dropping to ninth behind Moreira.
Martín remained in the lead, now followed only by Márquez, who pulled nine tenths ahead of Bezzecchi. The Ducati rider finally arrived at the front by the eighth lap, beginning to duel for the race lead at Motegi. On the ninth lap, Diogo Moreira crashed at Turn 9, abandoning the Japanese Grand Prix.
On lap 11, Márquez seized the lead as Martín opened the door and took the advantage. The Aprilia rider tried to retake the lead on the following lap but rode over the green area, leaving the circuit. In the mid-pack, Fernández defended himself from Ogura and Acosta, in a battle for fifth place.
Márquez built an eight-tenths gap over Martín on lap 15, while Bezzecchi tried to close in on Márquez’s teammate to contest second. A lap later, Acosta passed Ogura and moved into sixth, immediately attacking Fernández for a top-5 position.
With 18 laps completed, Márquez extended his pace to a one-second advantage over Martín. On the 20th lap, Jack Miller and Álex Márquez, in separate incidents, crashed. The Australian rider rejoined the fight, while the Spaniard retired. At the same moment, Acosta managed to pass Fernández, but was overtaken by his rival again and then overtaken by Ogura, dropping to seventh.
Johann Zarco was another casualty, crashing at Turn 10 and leaving the race. Further ahead, Bastianini began to close in on Bezzecchi in the penultimate lap. Márquez went on to take the win, followed by Martín and Bezzecchi.
