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Motorsport

Winners and losers from the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix

Francesco Bagnaia Marc Marquez Alex Marquez MotoGP Joan Mir Honda Jorge Martin KTM Ducati Pedro Acosta

Sunday’s MotoGP race at Motegi offered a result few could have predicted. While there were signs that Francesco Bagnaia had finally found a solution in the Misano test, even he likely didn’t expect to dominate the Japanese Grand Prix as thoroughly as he did.

Marc Marquez was always expected to be competitive, but the lack of pace from his brother Alex Marquez took many by surprise.

Honda had been tipped to perform well at its home race, yet if it was going to reach the podium at Motegi, the frontrunner was widely seen as Luca Marini - not Joan Mir.

Winner: Marc Marquez

Worldchampion Marc Marquez, Ducati Team (Photo by: Ducati Corse)

For Marc Marquez, the 2025 MotoGP title was more than just redemption. This was him closing the chapter that began with a horrific arm break at Jerez in 2020 and made worse by his ill-fated comeback just days after surgery.

Now at peace with himself, Marquez is no longer willing to publicly dwell on the lowest phase of his career. He had been haunted by that period of his life for so long that it led to serious self-doubts and even with his past successes, he questioned whether he could ever perform at the same level again. But by proving to the world, and more importantly to himself, that he could be just as dominant as before, the Ducati star is finally ready to move forward and focus on the present.

It’s quite telling that Marquez equalling Valentino Rossi’s title statistics on Sunday almost feels secondary. This was a monumental moment in Marquez’s life, and not just a day in which he drew level with one of MotoGP’s all-time greats.

Over the entire weekend, Marquez was fixated on just one objective, even if that meant finishing second in the sprint - where he has had a near-perfect record this year - or runner-up to Bagnaia in the grand prix. He displayed both maturity and emotions over the weekend, qualities that will make him a much more potent threat over the coming years. His goal may have been achieved, but at 32 years of age, his journey is far from over.

Loser: Jorge Martin

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team crash (Photo by: Qian Jun / MB Media via Getty Images)

While Sunday belonged to Marquez, the rider he succeeded as MotoGP champion watched on from Spain, sidelined by his fourth injury of 2025.

It was bad enough that Jorge Martin was hurt twice in pre-season and then sustained broken ribs upon his return at the Qatar Grand Prix. The very public spat with Aprilia over his intention to leave the team added further strain to the 2024 champion.

But things had finally begun to stabilise for Martin in recent months and he was gradually accruing the mileage he desperately needed to understand the RS-GP. His pace in the race trim was impressive, as attested by his fourth-place result in Hungary, and he believed a solution for his poor qualifying form could be found by splitting the set-up for Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons.

So, just before the championship was supposed to head to some of his favourite tracks in Asia-Pacific, Martin has to go under the knife yet again. It’s unclear how long his recovery will take, but he is almost certain to miss this weekend’s Indonesian GP.

With just four rounds left after Mandalika, it’s quite possible that the Spaniard would be taking part in the Valencia test on the 2026 Aprilia without having fully grasped its current challenger.

Winner: Francesco Bagnaia

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team (Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images)

The double-header in Barcelona and Misano marked the lowest point of Bagnaia’s 2025 campaign. In the Catalan GP, he struggled to 21st in qualifying, which marked the lowest starting position of his career, excluding the 2022 Portugal crash with slick tyres on a wet track. Then, on his home turf, he failed to score a point, after struggling to 13th in the sprint and crashing out of the grand prix while running in eighth position.

Bagnaia desperately needed to bounce back to salvage his season - and he did so in emphatic style, setting a new lap record in qualifying and winning both races from pole position. The performance was so reminiscent of his 2024 form that it almost felt as if he had never left. While he didn’t face much opposition within the factory Ducati garage, with Marquez focused on sealing the title, this is the version of Bagnaia that could challenge the Spaniard if they went head-to-head.

It’s hard to pinpoint whether the breakthrough was purely due to Ducati’s changes on his bike at the Misano test or if a psychological boost played a role - particularly after Casey Stoner joined him in the garage.

The Borgo Panigale marque has only gone as far as confirming that it used a ‘mix’ of parts, understood to be a combination of 2024 and 2025 components. With Bagnaia now having a bike that is more akin to the version with which he won 11 grands prix last year, he may be a more potent threat in the final part of the season.

Loser: Alex Marquez

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images)

Bagnaia’s breakthrough is bad news for Alex Marquez, who will have to bring back his A-game to safeguard second place in the championship.

Amid Bagnaia’s poor form and the mixed results for the VR46 duo, the 29-year-old has been the most consistent challenger to his brother this season, even though the injury he sustained at the Dutch GP knocked him off course for a few races.

The younger Marquez still holds a 66-point buffer in the standings with five rounds to go, but in Motegi alone he dropped 27 points to Bagnaia. As such, the Gresini rider cannot afford more subpar weekends, especially if Bagnaia continues to perform at the same level in the final races.

While Alex Marquez had reasons to celebrate on Sunday as the championship returned to the Marquez family, this was, from a personal standpoint, one of his weakest performances of the season.

For the first time in 2025, he had to go through Q1, and after advancing to the second leg of qualifying, he could manage only eighth on the grid. This was his worst qualifying performance since Hungary, and it set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

Lacking the feeling he needed on the bike, he finished outside the points in the sprint, losing several places at the start due to a ride-height device that failed to engage. On Sunday, he could only salvage sixth place, behind the same GP24 bike of VR46 rider Franco Morbidelli.

Winner: Joan Mir’s relationship with Honda

Joan Mir, Honda HRC (Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images)

In his first two years with Honda, Mir finished last and second-last in the championship. While much of that was down to the shortcomings of the RC213V, Mir’s own results left something to be desired. Nevertheless, the two parties agreed to a contract extension, and it’s taken until the 17th round of the new season for it to bear fruit.

For the longest time, Mir had been the biggest critic of Honda, repeatedly voicing frustration over a lack of progress at the Sakura-based marque. But, after finally standing on the podium at the Japanese Grand Prix, even Mir couldn’t help but hail Honda for turning around its MotoGP programme.

The RC213V had made a massive step forward at the start of the year, and while LCR rider Johann Zarco initially reaped the biggest benefits, the recent updates had also transformed the fortunes of the factory HRC team. This could be evidenced by Luca Marini’s improved results as the Italian gradually became Honda’s lead rider after the summer break.

Mir, too, was making strides, and he finally delivered a big result at Motegi - first with an incredible front-row performance in qualifying and then with a sublime ride to third on Sunday.

This was the 2020 champion at his absolute best, and the podium will go a long way in restoring his faith in Honda.

Loser: KTM

Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3 (Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images)

KTM lost further ground to Aprilia in the standings after suffering its worst result of the season in the Japanese Grand Prix. The Noale-based marque was down to a single factory rider on Sunday after Martin picked up yet another injury with a crash in the sprint race. And yet, its lead rider Marco Bezzecchi brought home a solid haul of points in fourth, while Trackhouse Racing’s Raul Fernandez complemented his efforts with an unheralded ride to seventh.

The weekend highlighted just how dependent KTM remains on Pedro Acosta. In qualifying, while his stablemates failed to make the top 15, Acosta bounced back from technical issues to secure fourth on the grid. In the sprint, he claimed another podium finish, even as the other three KTM-mounted riders struggled to break into the top 10.

Sunday made the contrast even clearer. Acosta performed admirably early on, but after dropping to sixth with tyre woes, he made a mistake at Turn 1 and slumped to the back of the pack. This is where KTM needed a fallback option to pick up big points, but there wasn’t one. Enea Bastianini crossed the finish line in 11th, Brad Binder was 12th and Maverick Vinales - still not fully recovered from injury - was down in 16th.