A thrilling return to the points for Marc Marquez as he took an exciting fourth place finish in just his second race back from injury, fourth months after his last complete race. Pol Espargaro earned 12th with a defensive ride in Japan.

Weather was once again front and centre at Mobility Resort Motegi as the storms broke and brilliant sunshine beat down on the track. This presented the Repsol Honda Team with the extra work of readjusting the setting of the Honda RC213V to the hotter, and dryer, conditions of the day. A strong start to Warm Up allowed both sides of the garage to gain the data they needed. Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro each suffered falls at Turn 9 during Warm Up without serious consequence.

For the 91st time in his career, Marc Marquez lined up in pole position in what would be his 150th race in the premier class with the Repsol Honda Team. A solid launch saw Marquez defend his place inside the top three in the opening corners as the race erupted behind. Taking a steady approach to conserve his strength until the end of the race, the #93 settled into fifth and his own pace.

His plan played out and as the race entered its closing stages, Marquez reeled in Miguel Oliveira ahead. Biding his time, the eight-time World Champion struck on lap 22 with a strong pass for fourth in the race. The finish marks not only a return to the points for the first time since Mugello for Marquez but also equals his best finish of the year, achieved at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez. It was an exciting end to a race enjoyed by Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe and the assembled Honda and HRC board members inside the Repsol Honda Team garage.

Like his teammate, Pol Espargaro launched well and gained several positions off the line. The #44 was fast in the opening laps as he hunted down reigning MotoGP World Champion Fabio Quartararo and attempted to push deeper inside the top ten. Mounting pressure from Bagnaia and Bastianini behind forced Espargaro to focus on defending as his tyres began to drop and Quartararo escaped ahad. Holding the Ducati pair off for the majority of the race, Espargaro would cross the line in 12th place and netted his best finish since the French GP.

Honda enjoyed home delights as Ai Ogura became the first Japanese rider to win at home since Hiroshi Aoyama won the 250cc Japanese GP in 2006. Ogura now sits just two points back from the lead of the Moto2 World Championship.

Now the paddock once again prepare immediately for the next race, a return to the Thai GP and the final race in this triple-header. The MotoGP World Championship’s last visit in 2019 saw Marc Marquez lift his eighth World Championship title with a thrilling last-lap victory.

Marc Marquez

Fourth

“I am very happy with how the whole weekend has gone and we were able to put together an exciting race in the end. Most importantly it was a productive weekend and overall, it was a lot better than we were expecting. It was an important race because it is the first I have finished since my operation so it was a good test of the arm and also in this area we’ve been able to learn. Of course I would have liked to finish higher, but being realistic it was a good result and I was able to maintain my rhythm and then attack in the last laps. I want to say thanks to Honda and the Repsol Honda Team for helping me to put together a good weekend. Also thank you to all the Japanese staff and fans who came this weekend, it was a pleasure to see everyone again. Now we go to Thailand!”

Pol Espargaro

12th

“I was feeling good in the first laps honestly. I was behind Quartararo and I felt like I was faster than him, I just couldn’t get close enough to pass him and I didn’t want to risk anything. After six or seven laps behind him the performance dropped a bit and allowed some riders to get past me so I lost my rhythm a bit. My tyres dropped and I started to struggle more. But it’s important to focus on the positives, and today we were strong at the start. It is an improvement over Aragon and we will try to make another step next week.”

MotoGP 2022
Race Round 16   Japan

Japanese Grand Prix - Race Results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Miller Jack 43 AUS 25 Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 42'29.174
2 Binder Brad 33 RSA 20 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 3.409
3 Martin Jorge 89 SPA 16 Pramac Racing Ducati 4.136
4 Marquez Marc 93 SPA 13 Repsol Honda Team Honda 7.784
5 Oliveira Miguel 88 POR 11 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 8.185
6 Marini Luca 10 ITA 10 Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 8.348
7 Vinales Maverick 12 SPA 9 Aprilia Racing Aprilia 9.879
8 Quartararo Fabio 20 FRA 8 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 10.193
9 Bastianini Enea 23 ITA 7 Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 10.318
10 Bezzecchi Marco 73 ITA 6 Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 16.419
11 Zarco Johann 5 FRA 5 Pramac Racing Ducati 16.586
12 Espargaro Pol 44 SPA 4 Repsol Honda Team Honda 17.456
13 Marquez Alex 73 SPA 3 LCR Honda Honda 18.219
14 Morbidelli Franco 21 ITA 2 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 19.012
15 Crutchlow Cal 35 GBR 1 WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha 19.201
16 Espargaro Aleix 41 SPA 0 Aprilia Racing Aprilia 25.473
17 Di Giannantonio Fabio 49 ITA 0 Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 27.006
18 Fernandez Raul SPA 0 29.374
19 Gardner Remy AUS 0 29.469
20 Nakagami Takaaki 30 JPN 0 LCR Honda Honda 43.294
21 Bagnaia Francesco 62 ITA DNF Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati DNF
22 Rins Alex 42 SPA DNF Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki DNF
23 Binder Darryn 40 RSA DNF WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha DNF
24 Tsuda Takuya JPN DNF DNF
25 Nagashima Tetsuta 45 JPN DNF LCR Honda Honda DNF
MotoGP 2022

Rider standings

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor
1 Quartararo Fabio 20 FRA 219 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha
2 Bagnaia Francesco 62 ITA 201 Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati
3 Espargaro Aleix 41 SPA 194 Aprilia Racing Aprilia
4 Bastianini Enea 23 ITA 170 Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati
5 Miller Jack 43 AUS 159 Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati
6 Binder Brad 33 RSA 148 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM
7 Zarco Johann 5 FRA 138 Pramac Racing Ducati
8 Martin Jorge 89 SPA 120 Pramac Racing Ducati
9 Vinales Maverick 12 SPA 113 Aprilia Racing Aprilia
10 Rins Alex 42 SPA 108 Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki
11 Oliveira Miguel 88 POR 106 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM
12 Marini Luca 10 ITA 101 Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati
13 Bezzecchi Marco 73 ITA 80 Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati
14 Mir Joan 36 SPA 77 Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki
15 Marquez Marc 93 SPA 73 Repsol Honda Team Honda
16 Espargaro Pol 44 SPA 47 Repsol Honda Team Honda
17 Nakagami Takaaki 30 JPN 46 LCR Honda Honda
18 Marquez Alex 73 SPA 42 LCR Honda Honda
19 Morbidelli Franco 21 ITA 28 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha
20 Di Giannantonio Fabio 49 ITA 23 Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati
21 Dovizioso Andrea 4 ITA 15 WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha
22 Binder Darryn 40 RSA 10 WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha
23 Gardner Remy AUS 9
24 Fernandez Raul SPA 8
25 Crutchlow Cal 35 GBR 3 WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha
26 Bradl Stefan 6 GER 2 HRC Test Team Honda
27 Pirro Michele ITA 0
28 Savadori Lorenzo 32 ITA 0 Aprilia Racing Test Team Aprilia
29 Watanabe Kazuki 92 JPN 0 Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki
30 Tsuda Takuya JPN 0
31 Nagashima Tetsuta 45 JPN 0 LCR Honda Honda
Location Information

Located amongst the vast natural beauty of the northern Kanto district, the twin ring circuit at Motegi in Japan consists of a 1.5 mile oval and a 2.9 mile road course constructed to international standards. Built by Honda as the ultimate test facility in August 1997, the road circuit became… read more.

Length 4.801 kilometres / 2.983 miles
Width 15 metres
Left corners 6
Right corners 8
Longest straight 0.762 kilometres / 0.473 miles
Constructed 1997

Twin Ring Motegi, Haga District, Tochigi, Japan - View in Google Maps

www.twinring.jp/english

Records

Pole Position 1m 43.198s (167.4km/h) Jorge Martin (Ducati, 2023)
Race Lap 1m 45.198s (164.2km/h) Jack Miller (Ducati, 2022)
Race Time 42m 21.259s (163.2km/h) Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha, 2014)
2023 Sprint Winner Jorge Martin (Ducati)
2023 Race Winner Jorge Martin (Ducati)