Sunday\u2019s hard rear tyre was central to Bastianini\u2019s improved feeling.<\/strong> He found it effective immediately in warm-up, giving him confidence in the choice for the Grand Prix.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe preparation followed a weekend of uncertainty over Michelin\u2019s allocation. The supplier withdrew the soft rear after Saturday\u2019s problems, while the longer warm-up allowed riders to evaluate the hard before racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking after the finish, Bastianini explained that he could still push late in the race. Rather than simply preserving the tyre, he felt able to increase his effort as the podium came within reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His initial disappointment at missing third gave way to satisfaction with how he had ridden. The result mattered because he understood the speed he was producing and felt in control of the bike again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Acosta\u2019s Austrian performance provides a reference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Bastianini linked the improvement to work undertaken after Acosta\u2019s victory in Austria. Seeing the factory rider\u2019s competitiveness prompted him and Tech3 to study where they were losing performance and how to recover it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s too early to say we\u2019re back to those days, but at this circuit we were competitive,\u201d Bastianini said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mandalika will test whether that progress carries over.<\/strong> The Indonesian circuit brings different asphalt, tyres and temperatures, so Bastianini stopped short of presenting Motegi as proof that every difficulty had been resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe nevertheless leaves Japan with a stronger foundation than he had before the weekend: a competitive race, a better understanding of his performance and 116 points, placing him 11th in the championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MotoGP returns from 9\u201311 October for the Indonesian Grand Prix at Mandalika. GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> will cover all the action.<\/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":"
Enea Bastianini finished as KTM\u2019s leading rider in Japan after a late charge brought him within 0.078s of Marco Bezzecchi and the podium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020315316,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Enea Bastianini","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":[269,586,105,281],"42wp_author":[59],"class_list":["post-3451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motogp","tag-enea-bastianini","tag-japanese-gp","tag-ktm","tag-tech3","42wp_author-fabricio-carvalho"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3451","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=3451"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3452,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3451\/revisions\/3452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020315316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3451"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=3451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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