Here is the thing about stepping into a MotoGP machine on short notice: most riders just want to survive the weekend. Somkiat Chantra (Honda HRC) did a whole lot better than that at Motegi. Filling in for Joan Mir while the 2020 Champion undergoes further evaluation on a health issue, the WorldSBK star delivered a stunning 13th place in Sunday's Grand Prix. That result matched his career-best finish from his rookie 2025 campaign back when he was with LCR Honda.
Right out of the box in Friday's Free Practice 1 session, the pace was immediately there. Chantra laid down a 1’45.219s lap to claim 14th place, actually putting himself ahead of his teammate for the Japanese Grand Prix, Luca Marini. While an improvement to a 1’43.896s in Practice dropped him to 19th and forced him into Q1, he was right in the thick of the fight. He narrowly missed the cut out of Q1 with a 1’43.196s, finishing fifth in the session and sitting just three tenths off SuperFile TrackHouse MotoGP Team duo Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez, plus just two tenths off double MotoGP Champion Pecco Bagnaia.
Saturday's Tissot Sprint brought its own challenges. Starting from 15th, Chantra initially slipped two places, clawed his way back to P15 by Lap 9 of 12, and then picked up one more spot on the final lap when Bagnaia retired.
Sunday's Grand Prix followed a wild trajectory. Running the #15 machine at Motegi instead of his usual #35 in WorldSBK, he plummeted to 21st on the opening lap. But the fightback was brilliant. He instantly picked up a place and held 20th for three laps before hunting down and passing WorldSBK-bound Jack Miller for 19th.
From there, the momentum just kept building. Two more positions fell on Lap 9 to put him in 17th, and by the end of Lap 19 he was knocking on the door of the points-paying positions. Keeping his head down until the checkered flag, two final gains brought him home in 13th. It was a sweet echo of his previous best finish, which came in Indonesia back in 2025, improving massively on the single point he scored for 15th at Motegi last season.
Reflecting on his return to the premier class, Chantra said: “I am so happy with how this whole weekend has gone. When I compared it to my feeling from last year, the difference is so much and to already match my best result in MotoGP after one weekend with the Honda HRC Castrol team shows how well we were working together. Already when I arrived already on Friday the setup of the bike was so good and today, I started better than Saturday and it was the first time I felt like I could fight on the bike, I was pushing until the end to catch Fabio but I just missed him. Thank you to everyone who helped me this weekend, I really appreciate the faith that Honda HRC put in me, and I am so happy to give them this result.”
