1.363 seconds behind<\/strong>, with Aprilia teammate Marco Bezzecchi completing the podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSpeaking after the race at Motegi, Mart\u00edn acknowledged the difficulty of taking on the reigning champion while emphasising the significance of remaining ahead in the standings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is a privilege to be fighting with Marc at this stage in the championship and still in the lead,\u201d Mart\u00edn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mart\u00edn has 333 points, M\u00e1rquez 331 and Bezzecchi 284.<\/strong> M\u00e1rquez collected the maximum 37 points in Japan, while Mart\u00edn took 27 after finishing third in the Sprint and second in the Grand Prix.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMart\u00edn admits his best was not enough at Motegi<\/h2>\n\n\n\n The disappointment came from how well Mart\u00edn felt he had ridden. Aprilia was competitive throughout the weekend, allowing him to secure pole position and challenge for victory on a circuit where the manufacturer had previously struggled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an interview with TNT Sports<\/em> after the race, he recognised that his performance had still fallen short of what was needed to defeat M\u00e1rquez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThe pace was unbelievably fast, but yeah even on one of my good days, it was impossible to beat him,\u201d Mart\u00edn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mart\u00edn also identified fuel management as a complication during his spell in the lead<\/strong>. He had to adjust his pace, and M\u00e1rquez took advantage of that phase to attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFollowing the Ducati then presented a different challenge. Mart\u00edn experienced greater difficulty stopping his Aprilia, which complicated his attempts to recover the position. He continued pushing in the hope of closing the gap or forcing a mistake, but M\u00e1rquez retained control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were encouraging signs within that defeat. Mart\u00edn felt he had reduced some of his disadvantage in left-hand corners, although M\u00e1rquez remained particularly strong through the first sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMarc M\u00e1rquez and Jorge Mart\u00edn (Foto: AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nChampionship leader refuses to give up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n The two-point margin leaves the championship open heading into the Indonesian Grand Prix. Mart\u00edn\u2019s respect for M\u00e1rquez does not diminish his determination to beat him.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cIt is clear that I will not give up, I am here to fight to win,\u201d he said during the post-race press conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Mart\u00edn, Japan also demonstrated how far his situation has improved. He contrasted Sunday\u2019s podium with leaving Motegi injured a year earlier, while Aprilia\u2019s performance gave him further confidence in its current package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mandalika presents another challenge: Mart\u00edn did not race there last season and will need to establish his starting point with the Aprilia during practice. He highlighted the circuit\u2019s frequently dirty surface and the precision required to negotiate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His priority is to maximise each weekend<\/strong>, rather than assume that previous results guarantee an advantage. With M\u00e1rquez now within two points, every Sprint and Grand Prix can change the championship lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMotoGP returns from 9\u201311 October at Mandalika for the Indonesian Grand Prix<\/strong>. GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> will cover all the action throughout the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMotoGP today: FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\nWho won the Japanese MotoGP race today?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n 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
Who leads the MotoGP championship after the Japanese GP?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n 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
When is the next MotoGP race?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n 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":"
Jorge Mart\u00edn leaves Motegi with a slender championship advantage after admitting that even one of his strongest performances was not enough to beat Marc M\u00e1rquez.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020317073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Jorge Mart\u00edn","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-3423","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\/3423","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=3423"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3424,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3423\/revisions\/3424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020317073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3423"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=3423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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