{"id":3375,"date":"2026-10-04T04:32:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T07:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=3375"},"modified":"2026-10-04T04:32:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T07:32:21","slug":"marquez-rejects-motegi-karting-distraction-we-are-fighting-for-the-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/motogp\/marquez-rejects-motegi-karting-distraction-we-are-fighting-for-the-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u00e1rquez rejects Motegi karting distraction: &#8220;We are fighting for the championship&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>M\u00e1rquez prioritised his race preparation over a karting event<\/strong> held after warm-up at Motegi.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Ducati rider said he was reprimanded after sending a substitute.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>His Japanese GP victory completed a 37-point weekend<\/strong>, leaving Mart\u00edn just 2 points ahead.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Marc M\u00e1rquez defended his decision to miss a promotional karting event at Motegi<\/strong>, insisting that his championship challenge had to take priority. Speaking after winning the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, the Ducati rider explained that he had sent a substitute after requesting ice following warm-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are fighting for the championship; we are not here to joke around and drive go-karts,\u201d M\u00e1rquez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defending <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/motogp\/\">MotoGP<\/a> champion said he understood the entertainment aspect but believed there should be limits. He reported being reprimanded over his absence and argued that protecting his preparation was necessary when racing for the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The promotional event took place between warm-up and the Grand Prix. M\u00e1rquez subsequently <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/motogp\/marc-marquez-beats-martin-in-japan-to-leave-motogp-title-fight-just-2-points-apart\/\">beat Mart\u00edn in the Japanese GP to reduce the championship gap to just 2 points<\/a>, adding Sunday\u2019s 25 points to the 12 he had earned in Saturday\u2019s Sprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">M\u00e1rquez controls the race after passing Mart\u00edn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>M\u00e1rquez overtook Mart\u00edn on lap 11 and won by 1.363s<\/strong>, with Marco Bezzecchi completing the podium. The result left Mart\u00edn on 333 points and M\u00e1rquez on 331, while Bezzecchi sits third with 284.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">M\u00e1rquez described following Mart\u00edn as demanding and said moving ahead allowed him to establish his preferred rhythm. He explained that he adjusted his pace as the Aprilia rider approached, balancing speed against the risk of a crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also acknowledged initial doubts about the reinforced hard rear tyre, but credited the work completed with Ducati for a successful weekend. Despite the close championship standings, he declined to describe the title fight as exclusively between himself and Mart\u00edn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Indonesia presents the next challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The championship now moves to Mandalika, where M\u00e1rquez has yet to finish a MotoGP Grand Prix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve never finished there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>MotoGP returns from 9\u201311 October for the Indonesian Grand Prix. GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> will cover all the action at Mandalika.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">MotoGP today: FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who won the Japanese MotoGP race today?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marc M\u00e1rquez won the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, finishing 1.363s ahead of Jorge Mart\u00edn. Marco Bezzecchi completed the podium, while M\u00e1rquez secured a weekend double after also winning Saturday\u2019s Sprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who leads the MotoGP championship after the Japanese GP?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jorge Mart\u00edn remains the MotoGP championship leader with 333 points, just 2 ahead of Marc M\u00e1rquez on 331. M\u00e1rquez\u2019s two victories in Japan reduced the gap from 12 points at the start of the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When is the next MotoGP race?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next MotoGP race is the Indonesian Grand Prix at Mandalika on Sunday, 11 October 2026. The weekend runs from 9\u201311 October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marc M\u00e1rquez defended his decision to skip a promotional karting event before the Japanese GP, where his Sprint and race double brought him within 2 points of Jorge Mart\u00edn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020316624,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Marc M\u00e1rquez","42wp_featured_image_credits":"AFP","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":59,"location":""}],"footnotes":"","42wp_breaking_news":false},"categories":[38],"tags":[586,52,104,353],"42wp_author":[59],"class_list":["post-3375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motogp","tag-japanese-gp","tag-jorge-martin","tag-marc-marquez","tag-motogp-championship","42wp_author-fabricio-carvalho"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3375"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3376,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3375\/revisions\/3376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020316624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3375"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=3375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}