After a headline-packed Indian GP, we're heading east for another clash of the titans as the Mobility Resort Motegi welcomes MotoGP™. The gap at the top is the closest the Championship has been for some time, with a shock crash for leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) leaving the door open for his closest rivals to capitalise – and that they did. Pecco will be gunning for some redemption and he's no stranger to rising to that occasion in style, but there's everything to play for.
Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) and Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) arrive with the momentum. Martin from another Tissot Sprint win, equalling Bagnaia's count this year, and then a hard-fought second place on Sunday. The Spaniard is now just 13 points off Bagnaia's lead as he digs in and keeps pulling back that gap. But Bezzecchi? On paper he may not have done the double, but he was, without a doubt, the fastest rider in India.
His comeback on Saturday after that unfortunate Turn 1 contact from teammate Luca Marini – who will miss this weekend and won't be replaced – was an absolute barnstormer, and in only 10 laps. Cat out of the bag and his pace proven, there was some pressure on Sunday to deliver the win that speed promised, but deliver he did. With Pecco's crash behind him opening the door to a real gain in the standings too, it's now a 44-point deficit for the Mooney rider. Can he cut that again this weekend?
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), meanwhile, delivered some big points again too. The South African had a bit of a nightmare end to Practice AND Q1 as yellow flags scrubbed off his best efforts, but despite starting outside the top ten, he took off like a shot to make it P4 in both the Sprint and Grand Prix. He's now 100 points off the top, but there's still more than double that on the table, and he took a podium last season at Motegi. He and teammate Jack Miller, aka the 2022 winner at the track, as well as GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 duo Pol Espargaro and Augusto Fernandez, have a last stand of their own this weekend already though: the constructors' crown is in play for the first time.
Ducati's impressive and growing form over the past few seasons has seen them wrap up the constructors' title even when the riders' crown went begging, with so many fast faces in play at once. But this season that ten-year journey to the top could pay off even earlier as they arrive at Motegi with a 200-point lead over KTM. Yes, you read that correctly. With 222 still in play and 37 available over a weekend, the top Ducati needs to outscore the top KTM by 22 or more. This time they're riding out with six bikes as three-time Motegi winner Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) joins Marini on the sidelines, not replaced, but there's Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), Michele Pirro (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) alongside the Championship top three on track.
Aprilia are now nearly out of that constructors' fight, and they weren't able to make much hay in the fight at the front in India either, so they'll want a lot more at Motegi. It could be a tougher one for the agile RS-GP with such hard braking and acceleration, but a little more luck would help as well. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) had a crash in the Sprint and then a DNF in the GP, and teammate Maverick Viñales took some points on Saturday before his Grand Prix race was very much dampened by being sent well wide at Turn 1. Still, he recovered to eighth. Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP™ Team) had a tough weekend overall too, whereas teammate Raul Fernandez managed to keep making those steps forward with a best qualifying yet, a Sprint point and top ten on Sunday.
Speaking of steps forward, however, means speaking about Honda and Yamaha, and as both arrive on hallowed home turf at the Mobility Resort Motegi. LCR Honda Castrol's stand-in Stefan Bradl had a tougher one in India but did take a point, and now-home hero Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) took P11. He'll be gunning for a lot more at Motegi but there were some great signs.
In India, the Repsol Honda team were back in the postcode they made their own over an incredible few decades in the sport, with podiums plausible and one bagged. Can they keep it going? Joan Mir just pipped Marc Marquez to fifth in qualifying before the two delivered some top performances once the lights went out: Mir had a slow slide out in the Sprint but then hounded Binder in a duel for fourth on Sunday. Marquez dug in behind the Ducati duo to take his second Sprint podium of the season, and on Sunday, the number 93 then had an agonisingly slow tip off at Turn 1. He was back on in record time and sliced his way back up the order to a top ten finish, but he lost ten seconds in the crash. And THAT would have dropped him in right on the back of the duel for second...
Last but by no means least, that duel for second may not have seen Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) come out on top, but it did see the Frenchman give it one hell of a shot. Teammate Franco Morbidelli took some solid points in India but Quartararo was able to wring a serious charge at the front out of his Sunday, stalking Martin before getting more than stuck in. The two were locked together over the last lap and it was a flash of what we're missing as Yamaha look to move forward. A podium ahead of their home round, where they'll also welcome a wildcard appearance for test rider Cal Crutchlow, is a good preface. Can we see a few more flashes of glory at Motegi? Tune in to find out!