More than 2100 days after he was last crowned MotoGP World Champion,\u00a0Marc Marquez\u00a0(Ducati Lenovo Team) is on the cusp of taking back the throne. Since that day in 2019, when he celebrated his sixth MotoGP title, there have been multiple surgeries, three different injuries, two changes of team and one change of factory. For some, the question was not when he\u2019d get back to the top, but if. As we head into the 2025 Motul Grand Prix of Japan, that question has had resounding answer after resounding answer. On the verge of the greatest comeback in sporting history, it\u2019s now almost a formality: 185 points clear means 2025 World Champion. On the way in, he\u2019s on 182. So it\u2019ll be Sunday if he does it\u2026<\/p>\n
THE FINAL STAND: Alex Marquez sole remaining rival<\/p>\n
The only rider who can now deny Marc Marquez that crown is\u00a0Alex Marquez. The only other rider to have won more than one Grand Prix this year and enjoying his best season ever \u2013 earning himself a factory bike at BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP for 2026 too \u2013 the #73 shouldn\u2019t be overlooked. He\u2019s also a fan of Motegi, having taken his very first GP win in Japan in 2013, although in MotoGP he\u2019s had some bad luck and trouble. Aside from being the only remaining rival for the MotoGP crown, he can also take his own title: that of Best Independent Team rider. Currently 150 points ahead in that standing, the magic number is more than 185 \u2013 185 exactly isn\u2019t quite enough.<\/p>\n
THE FIGHT FOR THIRD: Bagnaia vs Bezzecchi?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s VR46 Academy friendly fire in the battle for P3 as it stands.\u00a0Francesco Bagnaia\u00a0(Ducati Lenovo Team) \u2013 who did the double here last year \u2013 is now just eight points ahead of\u00a0Marco Bezzecchi\u00a0(Aprilia Racing), and the momentum appears to be going the way of the latter in 2025. But Motegi could shake that up again \u2013 and it could prove chance for\u00a0Pedro Acosta\u00a0(Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) to make some gains.<\/p>\n
The Spaniard is now 41 points off Bez, but last year was a headliner in Japan \u2013 even if he didn\u2019t convert that pole in the end. This year, he\u2019s no rookie. Fellow KTMs\u00a0Brad Binder\u00a0(Red bull KTM Factory Racing),\u00a0Enea Bastianini\u00a0(Red Bull KTM Tech3) and his teammate\u00a0Maverick Vi\u00f1ales, the latter still recovering from his shoulder injury, could be ones to watch too as the RC16 has a solid CV in Japan.<\/p>\n
Further up the table though, Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team pairing of\u00a0Franco Morbidelli\u00a0and\u00a0Fabio Di Giannantonio\u00a0are hot on Acosta\u2019s tail \u2013 and they\u2019re split by a single point. Can they make inroads into the battle ahead and gain on the #37 \u2013 or even more \u2013 as the unpredictable flyways begin? Another rider looking to make ground on the flyways is reigning Champion\u00a0Jorge Martin\u00a0(Aprilia Racing) \u2013 although down the order, he\u2019s now starting to make life complicated for those ahead of him as he gets back in the groove and learns his way around the RS-GP.<\/p>\n
DEBUTANT vs DIABLO: another dynamic in the standings<\/p>\n
Fabio Quartararo\u00a0(Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) would probably be the first hand up if there was a vote on rewarding points for qualifying. The Frenchman was back on the front row at Misano but then having a tougher time once the lights went out, something he and Yamaha continue to work on. He\u2019ll be an interesting watch at Motegi, where hard braking is the name of the game.\u00a0Fermin Aldeguer\u00a0(BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), meanwhile, is still a few points ahead of the #20 as he looks to move forward again, and he\u2019ll have an eye on fellow rookie\u00a0Ai Ogura\u00a0(Trackhouse MotoGP Team) as the Japanese rider races on home turf for the first time in MotoGP. He\u2019s in form and will want to keep the upper hand on teammate\u00a0Raul Fernandez\u00a0\u2013 as well as make a big impression on home turf. That\u2019s true of plenty of riders gearing up to battle on Honda and Yamaha home ground.<\/p>\n
HOME GLORY: Honda vs Yamaha<\/p>\n
Quartararo will be looking to lead Yamaha\u2019s charge, and teammate\u00a0Alex Rins\u00a0and Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP pairing\u00a0Jack Miller\u00a0and\u00a0Miguel Oliveira\u00a0will have plenty of motivation on factory home turf \u2013 and at Honda\u2019s own track. Miller has won at Motegi with Ducati in a lights-to-flag masterclass and will want to underline Yamaha\u2019s faith in him. Oliveira likely wants to show them what they\u2019re missing.\u00a0Somkiat Chantra\u00a0(Idemitsu Honda LCR) will want another point. And there\u2019s a whole extra squabble to settle for the Hondas leading the way, with some interesting dynamics.<\/p>\n
Johann Zarco\u00a0(Castrol Honda LCR) is top Honda, in the top ten in the Championship, and signed up into the new regulations in 2027.\u00a0Luca Marini\u00a0(Honda HRC Castrol) is making some serious strides as his form continues to impress on his return from mid-season injury. Teammate\u00a0Joan Mir\u00a0continues to try and escape bad luck and will want to prove a point on home Honda turf. And then there\u2019s wildcard\u00a0Takaaki Nakagami\u00a0\u2013 making it two Japanese riders on the grid at Motegi for the first time in a few years. Everyone has a point to prove and what better place than Honda\u2019s very own track?<\/p>\n
MotoGP is about to witness history made in its ranks as Marc Marquez targets of MotoGP title number seven. History bigger than the sport – so tune in for the Motul Grand Prix of Japan to see if the #93 can get back on top of the world 2184 days later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 2100 days after he was last crowned MotoGP World Champion,\u00a0Marc Marquez\u00a0(Ducati Lenovo Team) is on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,806,805,803,804,85,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-161476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-motor","11":"tag-motor-sports","12":"tag-motosport","13":"tag-motosports","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-text"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}