Marc Márquez secured his seventh sprint victory of the season at the Mobility Resort Motegi during the Japanese Grand Prix, narrowing the gap in the MotoGP championship standings to just seven points behind leader Jorge Martín, according to race reports. Márquez piloted his Ducati Desmosedici GP26 to a decisive win in the 12-lap short-format race on October 3, 2026, after seizing the inside line from Martín at the start.
Marc Márquez Controls Sprint After Launching Past Jorge Martín at Motegi
The race began with Márquez executing a precise maneuver off the line to take the interior of the opening corner from Martín, who attempted to defend his position through the first two turns. Once ahead, the nine-time world champion managed the gap at the front for the duration of the twelve-lap contest, finishing ahead of the field as tire wear began to impact the chasing riders in the closing stages.
Martín crossed the line second on his Aprilia RS-GP but faced post-race penalties alongside other competitors. According to official race classifications, Martín was penalized for a track limits infringement at curve ten—an infraction that also affected Italian rider Enea Bastianini on his KTM RC 16—resulting in positions being adjusted in the final order. The penalties promoted Diogo Moreira of Honda to second place, marking a first second-place finish in the category for the Brazilian rider, while Bastianini was relegated to fourth.
Jorge Martín Sets Absolute Circuit Record to Claim Pole Position
Earlier in the weekend, Jorge Martín secured his fourth pole position of the season and his second top spot following his success in Austria, setting a new all-time lap record at Motegi with a time of 1:42.371. That performance eclipsed the previous benchmark of 1:42.811 set by Alex Márquez on Friday, and edged out Marc Márquez’s best qualifying lap by 110 milliseconds after the latter pushed too hard on a subsequent attempt and ran wide.
Martín’s lap locked in the front spot on the starting grid ahead of Marc Márquez in second and Pedro Acosta taking third for KTM.
Izan Guevara and David Almansa Lead Spanish Poles in Moto2 and Moto3
Spanish riders swept the pole positions across all three Grand Prix categories at Motegi. In Moto2, Izan Guevara took the top qualifying spot aboard his Boscoscuro machine by setting a new circuit benchmark of 1:46.851, eclipsing his own earlier morning session time of 1:46.950 to secure his fourth pole of the year following previous successes in France, Hungary, and Great Britain.
In the Moto3 class, David Almansa overcame three crashes during the opening day of practice to claim pole position with a record lap of 1:54.572 on his KTM. Almansa secured the top spot on the fourth lap of the session, overtaking early leader Brian Uriarte, who subsequently crashed at turn five. Uriarte managed to hold onto second place on the grid despite the fall, finishing 45 milliseconds behind Almansa, while Álvaro Carpe pushed category leader Máximo Quiles down to fourth in the final moments of qualifying.
Championship Standings Shift Following the Japanese Grand Prix Sprint
With his 22nd career victory in the sprint format, Marc Márquez closed within seven points of Jorge Martín in the 2026 MotoGP world championship standings.
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