News Summary
- Marc Márquez won the Japanese Grand Prix, completing a 37-point weekend after Saturday’s Sprint victory.
- Jorge Martín leads by just two points, while Ducati and Aprilia are tied in the constructors’ championship.
- Quartararo questions the riders’ tyre decisions, and Mandalika hosts the next round from 9–11 October.
Marc Márquez’s Japanese Grand Prix victory brought the championship’s leading contenders within two points, setting up another closely contested weekend in Indonesia. The Ducati rider collected all 37 points available at Motegi, while Jorge Martín finished second in both races.
Sunday’s MotoGP stories also included Márquez’s explanation of his recent improvement, Martín’s assessment of their rivalry and Fabio Quartararo’s criticism of the approach to Michelin’s tyres. Here are the main developments from 4 October, with the complete reports and championship tables.
Marc Márquez completes a Japanese GP double
Márquez beat Martín by 1.363 seconds, taking the lead on lap 11 before controlling the remaining distance. Marco Bezzecchi completed the podium, narrowly holding off Enea Bastianini.
The result followed Márquez’s Sprint victory and delivered the maximum 37 points across the weekend. Diogo Moreira’s Sunday ended with a crash after his breakthrough Sprint podium, while Álex Márquez also failed to finish.
Read the complete Japanese Grand Prix report and full race results.
Martín leads by two points — Ducati and Aprilia are tied
Martín leaves Japan with 333 points, compared with 331 for Márquez. The Aprilia rider arrived with a 12-point advantage and lost five points to his rival in each race.
Bezzecchi remains third on 284 points, 49 behind Martín. The constructors’ championship is even closer: Ducati and Aprilia have 469 points each, while Aprilia Racing retains the lead in the teams’ competition.
See the updated riders’, teams’ and constructors’ standings after Japan.
Márquez identifies Aragón as the turning point
Márquez linked his Motegi success to the improved feeling he has developed over recent rounds, identifying Aragón as a key point in that progression.
“Since Aragon the feeling was great. We just had a small problem in Austria, but we were there again,” Márquez said after the race.
Japan required him to adapt after Martín retained the lead at the start. Rather than control the race immediately, he followed the Aprilia rider, assessed the hard rear tyre and then made his decisive move.
Read Márquez’s explanation of the breakthrough behind his Japanese GP victory.
Martín calls the rivalry a “privilege”
Martín remains the championship leader, but his performance at Motegi was not enough to prevent Márquez from recovering ten points across the weekend.
The Aprilia rider described competing against Márquez as a privilege, while acknowledging how difficult it had been to beat him even on a strong day. Their contest now moves to Mandalika with the lead vulnerable to a single Sprint result.
Read Martín’s assessment of fighting Márquez as his championship advantage shrinks.
Quartararo questions the riders’ tyre approach
Quartararo criticised the failure to give sufficient attention to the hard rear tyre before Sunday, after Michelin withdrew the soft option following Saturday’s problems.
“For me, to be honest, I think we’re a bit stupid to not consider this tyre,” Quartararo said.
The tyre debate became one of the weekend’s central issues on Motegi’s new asphalt. Sunday’s race offered a different assessment of the hard option after the uncertainty surrounding the earlier allocation.
Read Quartararo’s explanation of why riders overlooked Motegi’s best tyre.
Japan strengthens the pressure before Mandalika
Márquez’s double mattered beyond the points total. He beat Martín over the longer race distance after the Aprilia rider had taken pole and led the opening stages, turning a promising weekend for the championship leader into another Ducati victory.
Mandalika now presents a different test. Márquez heads to Indonesia with the lead within reach, but with a difficult record at the circuit, making the points recovered in Japan particularly valuable.
Our analysis examines how Márquez wore down Martín at Motegi and intensified the championship contest.
Indonesia is next: dates and Mandalika start times
The Indonesian Grand Prix takes place from 9–11 October, with Friday practice followed by qualifying and the Sprint on Saturday and the main race on Sunday.
Both the Sprint and Grand Prix start at 15:00 local time. That corresponds to 08:00 in the UK, 03:00 Eastern Time in the US and Canada, midnight Pacific Time, 12:30 in India and 18:00 in Sydney and Melbourne.
Check the full Indonesian Grand Prix schedule and international start times.
MotoGP returns from 9–11 October at Mandalika for the Indonesian Grand Prix. GRANDE PRÊMIO will cover all the action throughout the weekend.
MotoGP today: FAQ
Who won the Japanese MotoGP race today?
Marc Márquez won the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, finishing 1.363s ahead of Jorge Martín. Marco Bezzecchi completed the podium, while Márquez secured a weekend double after also winning Saturday’s Sprint.
Who leads the MotoGP championship after the Japanese GP?
Jorge Martín remains the MotoGP championship leader with 333 points, just 2 ahead of Marc Márquez on 331. Márquez’s two victories in Japan reduced the gap from 12 points at the start of the weekend.
When is the next MotoGP race?
The next MotoGP race is the Indonesian Grand Prix at Mandalika on Sunday, 11 October 2026. The weekend runs from 9–11 October.
