We’re at that point of the season where, if the races aren’t exactly full of action, overtaking or close finishes, the significance of the results provides the excitement.
We came to Japan with Jorge Martin holding a 12-point lead over Marc Marquez; we left Japan with that whittled down to a two-point lead, while Bezzecchi has fallen 49 points behind. Pedro Acosta had high hopes of a good result at Motegi to keep his championship hopes alive, continuing the momentum from his first Grand Prix win last time out in Austria, at a track that has been kind to him in the past. But being skittled out of the Sprint race by Alex Marquez wasn’t in the script, and neither was seventh place in the Grand Prix, leaving him still with a mathematical chance of taking the title but, on the form of Martin and Marquez, not very likely.
Bezzecchi is also still in the hunt, but his early-season form has deserted him and he’s been far too erratic; up one weekend, down the next. So, in reality, the title fight is between Martin and Marquez, although there’s no way I’m going to make that a solid prediction; a bad weekend for either of them and it’s back to all square at the top of the table, with Bezzecchi right back in the mix.
Despite the hype around Pedro Acosta having uncorked his personal genie and the potential for him to fight for the win in Japan being touted, in reality, it was always going to be about the Aprilias and the Ducatis. Well, one of the latter, at least. Somehow, Bagnaia won both races here last year in the middle of a barren spell, and Marquez took a brace of second places to clinch the title, so they were always going to be fast and the Aprilias seem to be fast everywhere. There was no repeat magic for Bagnaia this year as his barren spell continues, but Marquez made the most of it for his fifth double victory weekend of the year.
Martin, for his part, limited the damage with his own brace of second places, but he’s going to have to get the better of Marquez consistently, sooner rather than later, if he is to lift the trophy at year’s end. During the Grand Prix, even though Martin led for the first laps, Marquez’ move into the lead seemed all but inevitable, as was Martin’s seeming inability to do anything about catching the Ducati once it was past.
If Acosta failed to shine in Japan, then at least KTM had something to smile about with the performance of Enea Bastianini, who took a third place in the Sprint race and a very close fourth in the GP. If we thought that Bezzecchi was a bit up and down, then how do we describe Bastianini? One week absolutely nowhere, the next fighting for podiums. What undoubtedly helped him in the GP was the fact that everyone was running the hard rear Michelin. Normally, the KTM over-stresses its rear tyre to the point where there is nothing left even halfway through a race but, in Japan, Bastianini had so much tyre left in the latter stages of the race that he was able to claw back two seconds on Bezzecchi and cross the line a mere tenth of a second behind.
Incredibly, the action on track was overshadowed after the race by the revelation that Marc Marquez had sent a body double to take part in a pre-race go-kart race for the riders. Such stunts are becoming more common in both Formula 1 and MotoGP, as Liberty Media attempts to bring ever more entertainment to the crowds on race day. F1 has had ‘races’ in Lego single-seat cars, while MotoGP has had a TukTuk race in Thailand at the start of the season. Both proved popular with both drivers/riders and fans, but a question has to be raised about the timing of such stunts.
At the beginning of the season, when the pressure is less, it should be OK. However, at this stage of the season, when there are riders who are fighting for the championship, and it’s too close to call, perhaps these aren’t the right times to be compelling the riders to break off from their preparation, be that physical or mental.
Race weekends are already demanding enough, and that’s before you factor in recovery from injury; Marc Marquez is apparently using a right arm that has only 50% of its normal strength, so, for him, the weekend is all about conserving energy and properly warming up his battered body to cope with the intense strain it is put under. Race weekends are already strenuous enough, with only one practice session having nothing hanging on it in terms of qualifying position. After first practice, the pressure is on, and it is unrelenting, more so if you are fighting for the championship. Next year it could be even worse, as the powers-that-be contemplate separate qualifying sessions for both Sprint and Grand Prix races.
Mentally, a rider also has to prepare and, if that means sitting in a dark, quiet room, on his own, collecting his thoughts, rather than horsing around for the fans, then so be it.
Marquez isn’t getting any younger, and let’s not forget that next year he has a very hungry and talented teammate who will be going all out to prove he is worth the attention and the seat on the factory Ducati. This year might be Marquez’ last chance to secure that eighth world title to put him truly in the pantheon of greats. I’m sure that beating old nemesis Valentino Rossi’s tally of seven premier-class titles will also be a strong incentive. To do that, he needs all his experience, guile, energy and health.
The next race is Mandalika, in Indonesia, where Marc Marquez hasn’t even finished a Sunday race since 2022, let alone won. However, if we expect him to buckle again at this venue, then we are not reading the man right; it will be typical of him to go and win both races and take over the title lead. However, if he doesn’t buckle, we can still expect Martin to be pushing all the way, and we can never rule out the other three Aprilias or the KTMs. That’s been the beauty of this season; it’s been so open and unpredictable, and there’s no reason to believe it won’t be the same until the final flag in Valencia. We can only hope!
