Now, the European summer is officially behind us and MotoGP charges headfirst into an absolute monster of a final stint. Five grands prix in six weeks, starting right here at Motegi.
Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) kicks off the Asian and Oceania tour holding the championship advantage. He sits 12 points clear of reigning World Champion Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) after the two arrived in Austria level-pegging. But here is the wild part: 42 points cover the entire top three. That is barely more than a single weekend's worth of points, and a dangerous fourth-place runner is coming in hot.
Martin arrives in a totally different universe compared to last year's Japanese GP nightmare, where a Sprint crash into teammate Marco Bezzecchi left him with a broken collarbone. Now, the 2023 Japanese GP winner rolls in as the championship leader, hunting down his second Grand Prix win of 2026. On the other side of this heavyweight duel, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) returns to the very circuit where he completed the greatest sporting comeback last year to secure a seventh title after an ocean of injuries. This season, the #93 brings a different kind of threat: only five Sunday podiums, but every single one of them is a win, backed up by six Sprint victories. Pure speed meets relentless consistency.
Do not write off the chasing pack, either. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) holds third overall, sitting 42 points behind Martin. The #72 used the flyaways last year to launch himself onto the podium, and his form over the next six weeks will dictate whether he can steal this crown. Then there is Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). The Shark is arriving with serious bite, strung together by five straight top-five finishes, three rostrums, and a maiden victory. He sits 72 points back, but as he rightly points out, he has nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Meanwhile, the home crowd will have plenty of noise to make. Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) arrives on home soil fresh off two P4s in Austria, ready to make amends after missing out on Sunday in 2025. Right ahead of him in the standings is Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), though a dry spell without a top five in the last four GPs means he desperately needs a heavy points haul. Further down the order, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) holds P9 overall. As the double winner here in 2025, you can never count out the double World Champion, even if he is playing down his chances.
For the Japanese manufacturers, a home weekend brings fresh hope. Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) leads the Honda charge, while Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) and Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) hunt for strong finishes. The home fans get a special bonus with Takaaki Nakagami wildcarding, though Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) is out with illness and replaced by Somkiat Chantra. Over at Yamaha, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) is looking to turn the promise of a positive Austrian GP into actual results, joined by teammate Alex Rins and the Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP duo of Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) brings momentum from a P6 in Austria, Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) looks to recapture his 2025 Motegi form, and Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) returns to a track where he was a Sprint podium finisher in 2024. Alarms are set. The action is here.
