Marquez beats Martin to win Japanese GP, closes title gap to two points

Marc Marquez defeated Jorge Martin in a direct duel to win the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi on Sunday, moving within two points of the championship leader. Martin started from pole position and led the opening laps, but Marquez made a decisive pass at Turn 9 on lap 11 and pulled away to win by roughly one second.

The victory completed a weekend double for Marquez after his sprint race win on Saturday. Martin finished second and acknowledged the difficulty of beating Marquez despite feeling strong on the Aprilia. Marco Bezzecchi held off a late charge from Enea Bastianini to secure third place.

“It was important to stay close to the 37 points and we achieved it. The race was tough. I knew if I got ahead, I had good pace.”

Pedro Acosta dropped from third on the grid to fifth at the start and later battled Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez for sixth. Alex Marquez served two long-lap penalties and finished ninth, while Diogo Moreira crashed out after his sprint podium the previous day.

Marquez's race time was 37 seconds faster than the 2025 winning time set by Francesco Bagnaia. The result sets up a tight title fight heading into next week's Indonesian round at Mandalika.