MotoGP Japanese GP: Live commentary and updates from Motegi

That's a wrap from Motegi, then. As always, stay tuned to Motorsport.com and Autosport.com for the best post-race reaction. And we'll see you in seven days for the next MotoGP live blog adventure, from the steaming heat of Lombok and the Indonesian GP.  This is Richard Asher signing off - thanks for reading along!

Here's the full story of today's race in Japan:

Then again, the next race is in Indonesia. Mandalika is Marc's nemesis, and we got a reminder there last season of just how quickly a campaign can come off the rails. 

As Marquez and Martin make the points race look even more like a two-horse battle, it's fascinating to consider whether we will look back at this race as the perfect illustration of the championship: Martin solid, fast and consistent - but Marc with a small but decisive performance edge. 

As for Japan's other manufacturer, Fabio Quartararo made it to the flag 12th top at least score some points for Iwata. 

After that second place for Moreira in the sprint race yesterday, fate had other ideas for Honda at its home race, as both he and Zarco had crashes. Marini brought the 1966 livery home in 10th place, and Chantra finished an impressive 13th in those retro colours. 

Finally we get the replay of what happened to Alex Marquez. He lost the Gresini Ducati all on his own at Turn 13 - at least that's what the available angles are suggesting. Truly a terrible weekend for Alex.

Back in parc ferme, Marc Marquez has popped a special sticker on his windscreen. It celebrates Gigi Dall'Igna's 100th Ducati win.

Here are your race results: 

RACE

All Stats

 

Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Retirement	Points
1	M. Marquez Ducati Team	93		Ducati	24	41'31.467				25
2	J. Martin Aprilia Racing Team	89		Aprilia	24	+1.363 41'32.830	1.363			20
3	M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Team	72		Aprilia	24	+2.252 41'33.719	0.889			16
4	E. Bastianini Tech 3	23		KTM	24	+2.330 41'33.797	0.078			13
5	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25		Aprilia	24	+14.815 41'46.282	12.485			11
6	A. Ogura Trackhouse Racing Team	79		Aprilia	24	+15.210 41'46.677	0.395			10
7	P. Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	37		KTM	24	+16.928 41'48.395	1.718			9
8	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	63		Ducati	24	+20.333 41'51.800	3.405			8
9	F. Aldeguer Gresini Racing	54		Ducati	24	+23.545 41'55.012	3.212			7
10	L. Marini Honda HRC	10		Honda	24	+25.677 41'57.144	2.132			6
11	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33		KTM	24	+25.853 41'57.320	0.176			5
12	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20		Yamaha	24	+30.867 42'02.334	5.014			4
13	S. Chantra Honda HRC	15		Honda	24	+31.333 42'02.800	0.466			3
14	M. Viñales Tech 3	12		KTM	24	+33.995 42'05.462	2.662			2
15	F. Morbidelli Team VR46	21		Ducati	24	+34.590 42'06.057	0.595			1
16	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42		Yamaha	24	+39.228 42'10.695	4.638
17	T. Razgatlioglu Pramac Racing	7		Yamaha	24	+39.562 42'11.029	0.334
18	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49		Ducati	24	+50.816 42'22.283	11.254
19	J. Miller Pramac Racing	43		Yamaha	24	+1'11.127 42'42.594	20.311
20	J. Zarco Team LCR	5		Honda	22	+2 Laps 41'38.339	2 Laps
dnf	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73		Ducati	18	+6 Laps 32'55.231	4 Laps		Accident
nc	D. Moreira Team LCR	11		Honda	9	+15 Laps 14'58.120	9 Laps
View full results

Fernandez managed to win that battle for fifth, with Ogura finishing his home race sixth. Acosta was unable to threaten them in the end, which represents a massive plummet back to earth for the Spanaird. After winning his first GP last time out, he wasn't even the leading KTM in this one - which must be a curious feeling. 

Like we said, Bezzecchi hung on to third place ahead of the flying Bastianini - just.

Jorge Martin comes home second, hanging on to a SLENDER two-point championship lead in the process.

Bastianini outbrakes himself into Turn 10. Bezzecchi is going to hold on for third. 

Last lap! Bastianini just did it again! But the latest FL might not be enough....

behind the lead pair, it's getting exciting as we pop onto the penultimate lap - there's another FL for Bastianini! He is half a second behind Bez. And there is no let-up in the fight for fifth. 

Speaking of leads, Marc is maintaining his edge over Martin at around a second. 

another fastest lap for Bastianini! But Bezzecchi is responding to Bastianini's pace as he looks to defend his podium position - does he have enough in hand? The lead is 0.8s now. 

it has kicked off in the Trackhouse versus Acosta battle! after some paint-swapping, Fernandez now leads Ogura and Pedro.  Meanwhile, Bastianini just set the fastest lap of the race last time around!

Bastianini is also showing his best pace of the race so far, and beginning to take bites out of Bezzecchi. He's still over a second behind the Aprilia though.

Marc has just set fastest lap! Anyone dreaming that his tyre might drop off can probably dream on...

Acosta can definitely target a top five if nothing else. He's got Fernandez right in his crosshairs as he looks to demote another Trackhouse Aprilia. 

Acosta has passed Ogura to take sixth place. 

Marc seems to have broken Martin: the gap is very nearly a second, which is easy enough for the maestro to manage under normal circumstances. But we're now into the final third of the race. If there are to be any tyre drop surprises, they'll be with us soon. 

One of those behind Chantra is Di Giannantonio, who is showing absolutely no signs of recovery after losing all those spots early. It's unclear whether that has anything to do with the rib and hip injuries he picked up in the lap one crash yesterday.

It's worth mentioning that Somkiat Chantra is 16th, with five riders running behind him. Given how he went in 2025, his one-off comeback is really good! 

While we wait to see if Martin has a response, a reminder that behind the lonely Bezzecchi in third and the lonesome Bastianini in fourth, there'S a good scrap between Fernandez, Ogura and Acosta. The latter has settled since losing that string of positions early on, but a repeat of his Austrian win last time out looks very long odds from here. 

Is that the end of that as far as the lead is concerned? Or will we get a rare head-to-head between Martin and Marquez? Martin's arm pump denied us one at Misano, remember....

Marc surprises Martin with a move for the lead at turn 9! And by turn 11, there's already daylight between Ducati and Aprilia...

Marquez has set another fastest lap but Martin is flying too. The lead pair is half a second quicker than the rest! And the gloves are slowly coming off....

It looks like a proper two-horse race between Martin and Marquez at the moment, with Bez some distance behind. Rather like the championship fight, actually. 

Marc is now looking more serious about a move on Martin. At this stage, it really doesn't look like the Ducati has a major issue with the hard rear.  That said, the next Borgo Panigale machine is his brother's in ninth. 

Marc Marquez, meanwhile, is within three tenths of Martin, with Bezzecchi watching on a second further back. Bastianini is all on his own in fourth now, with the next group featuring Fernandez, Ogura, Acosta, Moreira and Alex Marquez. 

Alex M has now registered his second long lap. That has put him down to ninth. 

While they're holding station at the front, there's a real gap developing between Bezzecchi in third and Bastianini in fourth.  It's a couple of second now. 

We have the official confirmation that all riders are on the hard rear tyre. So much for any risky strategies. But you sense that the riders are taking a cautious pace as this remains a journey into the unknown. 

Alex Marquez looked racy in fourth, but he's now taken the first of his long lap penalties.  Luca Marini's factory Honda deserves a special mention too, though more for its retro livery than the Italian's 11th place. 

Bezzecchi just set fastest lap in third, but up front it just looks like early sparring.