BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
M
otoGP left Europe for
its Asian end-of-year
stint as the teams and
riders headed to Motegi and
the Japanese MotoGP, and
Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo
Team) knew he needed to stop
the bleeding after a disastrous
round in Austria.
He did just that, leading home
points leader Jorge Martin
(Aprilia Racing) in both the
Sprint and Sunday GP, although
Martin had to relinquish his
Sprint second place after flirting
too many times with the track
limits and being subsequently
demoted to third place, with
Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR)
taking a career-first MotoGP
podium in second.
The results mean with six
rounds to go, providing the Qa-
tar GP goes ahead on Novem-
ber 6-8, there's only two points
between Martin and Marquez
with Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia
Racing) still not completely out
of it, 49 points off the lead.
In Moto2, it's a script you
couldn't write, as Manuel Gonza-
lez's (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact
GP Kalex) title dream imploded
on the grid with a clutch prob-
lem, the Spaniard having to
start from pitlane and scoring
no points as his chief title rival
Izan Guevara (bLU cRU Pramac
Yamaha Moto2 Boscoscuro)
inflicted maximum damage
by taking the win and cutting
Gonzalez's lead to 10.5 points,
a drop of 40 points from four
rounds ago.
ROUND 16 / OCTOBER 2-4, 2026
MOBILITY RESORT MOTEGI / TOCHIGI PREFECTURE, JAPAN
ROAD RACE I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P82
