Marc Marquez at Motegi.
There were tears of joy for the Spaniard, who completed arguably the greatest comeback in MotoGP history, 1897 days after his devastating injury at Jerez.
Marquez underwent several surgeries and spent the rest of 2020 on the sidelines before returning in 2021.
What followed was a turbulent spell with Honda. He won again with the Japanese marque, but Honda’s gradual decline forced Marquez to move to Ducati by 2024.
In 2024, he ended the season in third. Less than a year later, and Marquez is the champion-elect with five events to spare.
The factory Ducati rider finished behind his teammate Francesco Bagnaia at Motegi. That was enough to put the championship beyond doubt, beating his brother Alex Marquez to the crown.
In doing so, Marquez joined Giacomo Agostini and Valentino Rossi as the only rider to win seven or more premier class titles.
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There were tears of joy for Marquez, who celebrated in style. The post-race theatrics included briefly donning a special helmet and adding his name to the riders’ championship trophy.
Speaking after the race, Marquez made mention of his “mistake” to return to racing early – a move that ultimately curtailed his recovery.
“It’s impossible even to speak,” said Marquez.
“I just want to enjoy the moment, but it’s true that it was difficult, it was super difficult. Now I’m at peace for myself.
“I made a big mistake in my career to come back early and then I fight, fight, and fight and I won again. I’m at peace.”
Marquez is a nine-time MotoGP champion, with seven premier class titles in the 1000cc era.
The race was a relatively sedate one, save for some late drama. Bagnaia cleared out at the head of the field from pole position, leaving Pedro Acosta to fight over second with Marquez.
Marquez got by Acosta on Lap 11 of 24 to secure second while the factory KTM rider faded and eventually finished 17th after going off at Turn 1 later in the race.
Bagnaia looked like he might not even finish when his Ducati Desmosedici GP25 started blowing smoke.
Despite the issues, the #63 took the chequered flag 4.196s clear of Marquez in second. Third went to Joan Mir, who claimed his seventh MotoGP podium.
There will be very little time for Marquez to celebrate with a short turnaround to the Grand Prix of Thailand at Mandalika on October 3-5.
There were tears of joy for the Spaniard, who completed arguably the greatest comeback in MotoGP history, 1897 days after his devastating injury at Jerez.
Marquez underwent several surgeries and spent the rest of 2020 on the sidelines before returning in 2021.
What followed was a turbulent spell with Honda. He won again with the Japanese marque, but Honda’s gradual decline forced Marquez to move to Ducati by 2024.
In 2024, he ended the season in third. Less than a year later, and Marquez is the champion-elect with five events to spare.
The factory Ducati rider finished behind his teammate Francesco Bagnaia at Motegi. That was enough to put the championship beyond doubt, beating his brother Alex Marquez to the crown.
In doing so, Marquez joined Giacomo Agostini and Valentino Rossi as the only rider to win seven or more premier class titles.
The post-race theatrics included briefly donning a special helmet and adding his name to the riders’ championship trophy.
Results: MotoGP Grand Prix of Japan, Mobility Land Motegi
Pos
Num
Rider
Team
Bike
Laps/Diff
Gap
1
63
Francesco Bagnaia
Ducati Lenovo Team
Ducati
2
93
Marc Marquez
Ducati Lenovo Team
Ducati
4.196
4.196
3
36
Joan Mir
Honda HRC Castrol
Honda
6.858
2.662
4
72
Marco Bezzecchi
Aprilia Racing
Aprilia
10.128
3.27
5
21
Franco Morbidelli
Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team
Ducati
10.421
0.293
6
73
Alex Marquez
BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP
Ducati
14.544
4.123
7
25
Raul Fernandez
Trackhouse Racing
Aprilia
17.588
3.044
8
20
Fabio Quartararo
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team
Yamaha
21.160
3.572
9
5
Johann Zarco
Honda HRC Castrol
Honda
21.733
0.573
10
54
Fermin Aldeguer
BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP
Ducati
23.107
1.374
11
23
Enea Bastianini
Red Bull Tech3 KTM
KTM
23.616
0.509
12
33
Brad Binder
Red Bull KTM Factory Team
KTM
23.882
0.266
13
49
Fabio Di Giannantonio
Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team
Ducati
29.359
5.477
14
88
Miguel Oliveira
Pramac Yamaha Racing MotoGP
Yamaha
30.788
1.429
15
35
Somkia Chantra
Idemitsu Honda LCR
Honda
30.990
0.202
16
12
Maverick Vinales
Red Bull Tech3 KTM
KTM
31.712
0.722
17
37
Pedro Acosta
Red Bull KTM Factory Team
KTM
34.157
2.445
18
42
Alex Rins
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team
Yamaha
34.792
0.635
DNF
43
Jack Miller
Pramac Yamaha Racing MotoGP
Yamaha
Lap 21
DNF
30
Takaaki Nakagami
Honda HRC Test Team
Honda
Lap 19
DNF
10
Luca Marini
Honda HRC Castrol
Honda
Lap 21