Marquez Cuts Martin's Lead to Seven in Motegi Sprint as Michelin Pulls the Soft Rear Before Today's Race

The MotoGP title fight has tightened just before the Asian swing reaches Sepang. Marc Marquez won Saturday's Japanese Grand Prix sprint at Motegi, and Jorge Martin's championship lead is down to seven points.

Today's 24-lap Grand Prix starts at 1pm Malaysia time, two hours before the F1 race at Sepang.

How the sprint unfolded

Martin started from pole after setting a new Motegi lap record of 1:42.371 in qualifying. Marquez was 0.110s behind in second and Pedro Acosta third.

Marquez passed Martin at Turns 1 and 2 on the opening lap. "As always, if it's riding by instinct, it's my strong point," he told Crash.net. He then built a gap of about a second. "I said, 'Okay, I want to be more relaxed the last three laps', and we did it well," he added. He won in 20m50.376s.

There was chaos behind him on lap one. Alex Marquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Acosta all crashed out in the same incident in the opening corners.

Penalties promote Moreira

Martin crossed the line second, but he and Enea Bastianini both exceeded track limits at Turn 10 on the final lap. Each was dropped one place. That moved LCR Honda rookie Diogo Moreira up to second for his first MotoGP sprint podium. Martin was classified third and Bastianini fourth, with Ai Ogura fifth.

Martin's afternoon was harder than the result suggests. Crash.net reported that his Aprilia was "shaking due to the tyre issue" in the closing laps. Francesco Bagnaia, last year's sprint and Grand Prix winner at Motegi, retired on the final lap with a shredded rear tyre. Marco Bezzecchi chose the medium rear, and The Race said it left him with no pace to stay with the leaders, so he faded to sixth.

Michelin withdraws the soft rear

After Saturday's tyre failures, Michelin withdrew the soft rear tyre for today, Crash.net reported. Riders now have to choose between the medium and hard compounds, and the hard is the recommended option. Morning warm-up was extended to 20 minutes so teams could try the hard, which had not been used all weekend. Marquez topped it with a 1:42.957, ahead of Bezzecchi and Martin.

The maths for today

Martin has 313 points to Marquez's 306. If Marquez wins and Martin is second, Martin keeps the lead by two points. Marquez himself expects a different race: "It's true that for Sunday, everybody will learn, and then Sunday is different."

He also admitted Aprilia have the edge over one lap. "We know how strong Aprilia is in a single lap, but race pace is where I'm able to be very constant," he said.

Why Malaysian fans should care

After Motegi, the Asian swing continues in Indonesia and Australia before the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Sepang. With seven points between the top two, the title fight could still be very close when the paddock arrives in Malaysia.

Key takeaways

• Marquez won the Motegi sprint. Track-limit penalties dropped Martin to third and promoted Moreira to second.
• Martin now leads Marquez 313 to 306.
• Michelin withdrew the soft rear after tyre failures, so today's race is on medium or hard tyres.
• The Japanese Grand Prix starts at 1pm MYT over 24 laps.

FAQ

What time is the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix in Malaysia? 1pm Malaysia time today (2pm local time in Japan).

Why was Martin penalised in the sprint? He exceeded track limits at Turn 10 on the final lap and was dropped one place, from second to third.

Who is on pole for today's race? Jorge Martin, with a Motegi lap record of 1:42.371.

Sources: Crash.net, MCNews, The Race, Grande Premio