Marc Marquez wins 2025 MotoGP title

It hardly seemed right that such an uneventful race would mark such a momentous occasion, but the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix – the round that crowned 32-year-old Marc Márquez the 2025 MotoGP World Champion – was one of the season’s least dramatic.

That’s not to say it wasn’t tense. With Marc sitting in a lonely second place, the white smoke that began pouring from the race leader’s machine 10 laps from the end threatened to derail his championship celebrations. And tense talks between MotoGP’s technical director and Ducati Lenovo’s team bosses quickly ensued.

But not just because of the danger to Marc and his title. The bike in question belonged to teammate Pecco Bagnaia, who had seemingly rediscovered his front-end feeling during post-race testing at Misano two weeks earlier. Not only did he spoil Marc’s thunder by winning the very race that sealed the Spaniard’s crown, he did so after a dominant Sprint victory and from a record-setting pole position.

The only rider still mathematically capable of delaying Marc’s title party, younger brother Álex Márquez (Gresini Ducati), had an unusually quiet weekend at Motegi. After being forced through Q1, he qualified eighth, finished out of the points in the Sprint, and although he made a clean getaway in Sunday’s 24-lap GP, he held position as Bagnaia grabbed the holeshot ahead of a fast-starting Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM) and Marc slotted into third.

Front-row starter Joan Mir (HRC) slipped back to fifth behind Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha). Determined to better his season-best fourth from the Sprint, Mir muscled past the Frenchman on lap two. It was a lap to forget for Quartararo, as Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati), Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing), Álex Márquez and Raúl Fernández (Trackhouse Aprilia) all swept by, demoting him to ninth.

By lap three, Pecco was already 1.2 seconds clear and never looked back, while Acosta did everything possible to hold Marc at bay. Whether Marc couldn’t find a way through or simply preferred to keep his nose clean on such an important day will remain unknown, but Acosta’s front-tyre issues eventually opened the door. Marc slipped through to P2 on lap 11 – the position that guaranteed him the crown regardless of where his brother finished.

At halfway, Bagnaia was 3.8 seconds ahead of Marc, who in turn was stretching away from Acosta. Mir sat half a second further back in fourth, with Bezzecchi climbing to fifth after being wiped out in the Sprint’s first-corner melee.

Acosta’s struggles worsened, and Mir passed him for third on lap 14. Two laps later Bezzecchi also moved through, followed by Morbidelli on lap 17. By lap 19 the Spaniard’s front tyre finally cried enough, sending him skating into the gravel at Turn 1 before rejoining dead last.

Meanwhile, the smoke billowing from Bagnaia’s Ducati only added to the tension. Marc, still three seconds back, was forced to ride through the haze as Mir and Bezzecchi trailed further behind in what was fast becoming one of the least eventful premier-class races in recent memory.

But Bagnaia’s engine survived, handing him just his second GP win of the season. For him, it was the reward for a season-long battle to rediscover his feel. For Mir, it was a return to the podium after a four-year drought. And for Marc, it was the end of a six-year wait for a premier-class title – one of the most dominant campaigns in MotoGP history, built on sacrifice, resilience, and belief.

“It’s impossible even to speak,” Marc said through tears in Parc Fermé. “I made that big mistake in my career to come back too early [from injury]. I fight, fight, fight to come back again. Now I’m at peace.”

The records continue to fall. Marc is now Ducati’s fourth MotoGP champion, the sixth rider to win titles with two manufacturers, and he has equalled Valentino Rossi’s tally of nine world championships. He also became the first rider in history to regain the premier-class crown after a five-year gap – some 2,184 days between celebrations.

Fittingly, he shared the podium with two other champions. Mir said: “We fought a lot for this, everything is worth it for this moment.” And although Bagnaia lamented that his resurgence came too late – calling it “a shame” – he added, “but like this I can fight.”

With five rounds still to run, let’s hope that’s exactly what we see.

Álex Márquez eventually finished sixth, followed by Fernández, Quartararo, Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) and Fermin Aldeguer in 10th, some 23 seconds behind the winner. Aussie Jack Miller, who started 14th, was cruelly sidelined by a broken chain just two laps from the finish while running in 14th.

The result leaves Marc an extraordinary 201 points clear of Álex, with 541 points to 340. Bagnaia’s stellar weekend lifts him to 274, giving him breathing space from Bezzecchi on 242. Morbidelli (196) moves up to fifth ahead of Acosta (195). Miller (58) slips to 18th.

The championship now heads to Indonesia for round 18 of 21, with practice beginning this Friday.