As Motorsport.com reports, Marc Marquez claimed victory in a chaotic sprint race at Motegi on Saturday, slicing the world championship gap to leader Jorge Martin down to just seven points ahead of Sunday's grand prix.
The reigning champion made his decisive move right at the start, launching cleanly from the middle of the front row to poke his Ducati's nose ahead of pole-sitter Martin into the very first corner. Martin attempted to fight back around the outside, but ultimately had to slot in behind the leader and never mounted a serious threat again.
Chaos struck just moments later as the field braked for Turn 3 on the opening lap. Alex Marquez lost control of his Gresini Ducati and wiped out both Fabio Di Giannantonio and KTM's Pedro Acosta. That early disaster for Acosta opened the door for other machines to make a mark.
Tech3's Enea Bastianini capitalized brilliantly, dodging the Turn 3 carnage after launching from seventh on the grid. Meanwhile, Aprilia Racing's Marco Bezzecchi gambled on a medium rear tyre and found himself fighting for speed. Bezzecchi was picked off by Bastianini on lap three, and then by Diogo Moreira and Ai Ogura on lap five, though the Italian managed to salvage sixth place.
Out front, the podium positions appeared settled until a frantic final lap closed the gap between Martin, Bastianini, and Moreira. While the order crossing the line did not change, post-race penalties for track limits hit both Martin and Bastianini, each demoting them one place.
Those penalties completely transformed the podium. Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini were officially classified third and fourth, promoting Moreira to a stunning second place—his best-ever MotoGP finish. Behind them, Ai Ogura secured a strong home result in fifth for Trackhouse Aprilia after climbing up from 11th on the grid.
