We are in for a titanic title fight if the 2023 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix is anything to go by as Jorge Martin took his second win in three races for Prima Pramac Racing. Of course, this win didn’t come easy for the satellite Ducati rider as Motegi saw the weather gods throw things into chaos and it even got to the point where the race was called off after only 12 of the scheduled 24 laps of the race. Francesco Bagnaia finished second on the factory Ducati and six-time premier class champion Marc Marquez scored his first Grand Prix podium since the 2022 Australian Grand Prix, crossing the chequered flag third on Honda’s home turf.
As the race happened
Drama began mere minutes before the race as rain had begun sprinkling down on the circuit. However, it was just a drizzle and the field started on dry slick tyres. But that only lasted one lap as the majority of the field quickly peeled into the pits to switch over to their wet weather bikes as the conditions got worse.
Amongst the chaos, Martin did initially lead proceedings until a mistake cost him a few positions. But the Spaniard began slicing through the field and was back in the lead in no time. While Martin had things under control, Bagnaia was second and kept himself within touching distance to capitalise on any mistake from his championship rival. But the factory Ducati rider eventually had to look behind him as Marquez had begun making his way up the field and was within striking distance of Bagnaia.
All this was teasing us for an almighty Motegi wet weather classic over the final 12 laps, but the weather conditions got even worse, and we were unfortunately robbed of that fight for the win as the red flag was called due to the poor track conditions. While the field did go back out for a sighting lap, it was decided that the conditions were too poor to continue proceedings. Thus, full points were awarded for completing more than 50 percent of the race distance.
With Jorge Martin’s ominous recent form, the Spaniard is now only three points behind Bagnaia, further intensifying the fight for the world championship with just six rounds to go.
