Courageous Martin mauls Motegi

It wouldn’t have been the way he wanted to win, but there is no denying Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Ducati) was the bravest man during what was a rain-interrupted 12-lap Japanese Grand Prix. For the second time this season, the on-form Spaniard registered the pole position, sprint race and grand prix treble, reducing the gap to Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) to just three points with six rounds still left to run.

After a weekend of dry practice sessions, light rain began to fall just five minutes before the start of the 24-lap premier-class grand prix, forcing all riders to start the race on slick tyres. Alongside Martin on the front row were title adversary Bagnaia and Aussie Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM), who made good use of his KTM’s new carbon-fibre chassis to put himself in one of his best starting positions in recent races.

He was leading at the end of the opening lap, too, after holeshot-getter Martin chose to drop behind Bagnaia to see when the Italian would swap to his wet bike, and the Aussie led 16 riders into a very busy pitlane.

But it was Martin who led the wet-tyre-shod bikes back out on track as Ducati wildcard Michele Pirro led the race, ahead of Monster Energy Yamaha teammates Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo, and wildcard riders Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) and Cal Crutchlow (Yamalube RS4GP), all of whom chose to take their chances with slicks in case the rain eased.

By lap three, a 10-second gap to Pirro ahead had reduced to four, as a mistake by Martin sent him wide, allowing Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Ducati), Bagnaia and Miller through.

Sensing an opportunity, Bagnaia pushed past Bezzecchi for third on lap four and took Marquez for second the next time around, but by lap six Martin had regrouped and had muscled his way to the front of the field, as Bagnaia followed him by Espargaro to sit in second.

The rain was well and truly falling by lap seven and Marquez, who later said he was nursing his soft rear wet tyre early on in the race so it retained the capability of dispersing a high volume of water if and when he needed it, was down in sixth. There was no such foresight for Espargaro and Miller, the other riders in the leading pack who’d opted for the soft rear tyre, as their lack of rear grip saw their campaigns begin to fade.

As Martin and Bagnaia held stations at the head of the group, Marquez began to make his way towards the leading pair. Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF, Aprilia) was his first victim, then Espargaro and Bezzechi, and the Spaniard found himself in third on the 12th lap.

But as Marquez’s speed increased, so too did the deluge that was falling on the Mobility Resort Motegi. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) crashed heavily, Oliveira retired due to visibility issues and Martin, Bagnaia and Marquez all raised their hands in protest as they aquaplaned down the start-finish straight.

And as soon as Martin crossed the line to start the 13th lap the red flag came out due to the conditions. The fact that the contest had reached half-race distance meant full points could be awarded if the race was stopped, even if the result couldn’t officially be declared as it hadn’t reached three-quarter distance.

Zarco did an incredible job of ensuring he got his very damaged GP23 back to the box within the five-minute cut-off required to make the restart. This was set to be a 12-lap dash if the conditions improved, which they seemed to do.

Lining up in the order in which they crossed the line, it was Martin, Bagnaia and Marquez on the front row ahead of Bezzecchi, Espargaro and Miller on row two. Zarco wasn’t allowed to restart as he didn’t use the correct pit entry on his dash back to the box, while Oliveira was forced to start from pitlane.

But it was on the warm-up lap of the restart when the conditions deteriorated even further, forcing race direction to throw the red flag for the second time and declare the race. And while it means Martin took another five points out of Bagnaia in the title chase, there was a very happy Marc Marquez on the podium, his 140th and first in a full-length race since the 2022 Australian Grand Prix.

The result puts Martin on 316 points, just three adrift of Bagnaia’s 319. Bezzecchi’s (265) sixth place puts him 54 points behind, while Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) remains in fourth on 201 points, despite crashing on lap six. Miller (125) is in ninth.

The series now heads to Indonesia’s Mandalika Circuit in two weeks’ time.