Marc Marquez has clinched his third MotoGP world championship in style with victory in the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi. The Repsol Honda rider took an unchallenged victory, first at Motegi in the premier class, and with both factory Yamaha riders crashing out of second place, Marquez now has an unassailable 77 point lead with three races remaining.
Having qualified first and third, Yamaha started the race with victory in their sights but Marquez soon stamped his authority, powering past Jorge Lorenzo for the lead on lap four. Mindful that he couldn’t allow the Honda rider to escape, Valentino Rossi produced a similar move to grab second two laps later but a crash at turn nine ended his afternoon, putting the first piece of the championship puzzle into place.
With no answer for Marquez, Lorenzo came under pressure from a hard-charging Andrea Dovizioso and with five laps to go, the pressure told. Under braking for turn nine, the front end of the no.99 Yamaha folded from underneath Lorenzo and in an instant, the Spaniard relinquished his crown to his compatriot.
Marquez cruised through the closing laps to claim a historic first MotoGP victory in Japan, and with it, his third MotoGP title and fifth across all classes. Dovizioso took a superb second, equalling his best result of the season while Maverick Vinales won an entertaining tussle with Suzuki teammate Aleix Espargaro to claim the final podium position.
Cal Crutchlow took the honours in the independent battle once again in fifth with Pol Espargaro riding a lonely race to sixth while Alvaro Bautista served further notice of Aprilia’s improvement with seventh, beating both Pramac Ducatis in the process. The team-mates finished a quarter of a second apart in eighth and ninth with Danilo Petrucci edging out Scott Redding while Stefan Bradl rounded out the top ten on the second Aprilia.
2016 Motul Grand Prix of Japan (Race Result)
Pos
Rider
Constructor
Team
Time/Gap
Pts
1
93. Marc MARQUEZ
Honda
Repsol Honda Team
42:34.610
25
2
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO
Ducati
Ducati Team
+2.992
20
3
25. Maverick VINALES
Suzuki
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR
+4.104
16
4
41. Aleix ESPARGARO
Suzuki
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR
+4.726
13
5
35. Cal CRUTCHLOW
Honda
LCR Honda
+15.049
11
6
44. Pol ESPARGARO
Yamaha
Monster Yamaha Tech 3
+19.654
10
7
19. Alvaro BAUTISTA
Aprilia
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
+23.032
9
8
9. Danilo PETRUCCI
Ducati
Octo Pramac Yakhnich
+28.555
8
9
45. Scott REDDING
Ducati
Octo Pramac Yakhnich
+28.802
7
10
6. Stefan BRADL
Aprilia
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
+32.330
6
11
21. Katsuyuki NAKASUGA
Yamaha
Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing
+42.845
5
12
68. Yonny HERNANDEZ
Ducati
Pull & Bear Aspar Ducati Team
+52.219
4
13
38. Bradley SMITH
Yamaha
Monster Yamaha Tech 3
+53.783
3
14
53. Tito RABAT
Honda
EG 0,0 Marc VDS
+54.760
2
15
73. Hiroshi AOYAMA
Honda
Repsol Honda Team
+1:00.155
1
16
76. Loris BAZ
Ducati
Avintia Racing
+1:04.440
17
8. Hector BARBERA
Ducati
Ducati Team
+1:42.966
18
7. Mike JONES
Ducati
Avintia Racing
+1 Lap
NC
99. Jorge LORENZO
Yamaha
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
+5 Laps
NC
46. Valentino ROSSI
Yamaha
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
+18 Laps
NC
73. Jack MILLER
Honda
EG 0,0 Marc VDS
+18 Laps
NC
50. Eugene LAVERTY
Ducati
Pull & Bear Aspar Ducati Team
+22 Laps