Fighting fourth for fiery Marquez in Motegi Moto GP 2022, Round 16, Grand Prix of Japan

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Japan, September 27, 2022 (GNI): A thrilling return to the points for Marc Marquez as he took an exciting fourth place finish in just his second race back from injury, fourth months after his last complete race. Pol Espargaro earned 12th with a defensive ride in Japan.

Weather was once again front and centre at Mobility Resort Motegi as the storms broke and brilliant sunshine beat down on the track. This presented the Repsol Honda Team with the extra work of readjusting the setting of the Honda RC213V to the hotter, and dryer, conditions of the day. A strong start to Warm Up allowed both sides of the garage to gain the data they needed. Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro each suffered falls at Turn 9 during Warm Up without serious consequence.

For the 91st time in his career, Marc Marquez lined up in pole position in what would be his 150th race in the premier class with the Repsol Honda Team. A solid launch saw Marquez defend his place inside the top three in the opening corners as the race erupted behind. Taking a steady approach to conserve his strength until the end of the race, the #93 settled into fifth and his own pace.

His plan played out and as the race entered its closing stages, Marquez reeled in Miguel Oliveira ahead. Biding his time, the eight-time World Champion struck on lap 22 with a strong pass for fourth in the race. The finish marks not only a return to the points for the first time since Mugello for Marquez but also equals his best finish of the year, achieved at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez. It was an exciting end to a race enjoyed by Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe and the assembled Honda and HRC board members inside the Repsol Honda Team garage.

Like his teammate, Pol Espargaro launched well and gained several positions off the line. The #44 was fast in the opening laps as he hunted down reigning MotoGP World Champion Fabio Quartararo and attempted to push deeper inside the top ten. Mounting pressure from Bagnaia and Bastianini behind forced Espargaro to focus on defending as his tyres began to drop and Quartararo escaped ahad. Holding the Ducati pair off for the majority of the race, Espargaro would cross the line in 12th place and netted his best finish since the French GP.

Honda enjoyed home delights as Ai Ogura became the first Japanese rider to win at home since Hiroshi Aoyama won the 250cc Japanese GP in 2006. Ogura now sits just two points back from the lead of the Moto2 World Championship.

Now the paddock once again prepare immediately for the next race, a return to the Thai GP and the final race in this triple-header. The MotoGP World Championship’s last visit in 2019 saw Marc Marquez lift his eighth World Championship title with a thrilling last-lap victory.

Marc Marquez (Fourth)

“I am very happy with how the whole weekend has gone and we were able to put together an exciting race in the end. Most importantly it was a productive weekend and overall, it was a lot better than we were expecting. It was an important race because it is the first I have finished since my operation so it was a good test of the arm and also in this area we’ve been able to learn. Of course I would have liked to finish higher, but being realistic it was a good result and I was able to maintain my rhythm and then attack in the last laps. I want to say thanks to Honda and the Repsol Honda Team for helping me to put together a good weekend. Also thank you to all the Japanese staff and fans who came this weekend, it was a pleasure to see everyone again. Now we go to Thailand!”

Pol Espargaro (12^th)

“I was feeling good in the first laps honestly. I was behind Quartararo and I felt like I was faster than him, I just couldn’t get close enough to pass him and I didn’t want to risk anything. After six or seven laps behind him the performance dropped a bit and allowed some riders to get past me so I lost my rhythm a bit. My tyres dropped and I started to struggle more. But it’s important to focus on the positives, and today we were strong at the start. It is an improvement over Aragon and we will try to make another step next week.”

Japanese Grand Prix – Race Results

Pos.	Rider	Num	Nation	Points	Team	Constructor	Time/Gap
1	MILLER JACK	43	AUS	25	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	42’29.174
2	BINDER BRAD	33	RSA	20	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	3.409
3	MARTIN JORGE	89	SPA	16	Pramac Racing	Ducati	4.136
4	MARQUEZ MARC	93	SPA	13	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	7.784
5	OLIVEIRA MIGUEL	88	POR	11	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	8.185
6	MARINI LUCA	10	ITA	10	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	8.348
7	VINALES MAVERICK	12	SPA	9	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	9.879
8	QUARTARARO FABIO	20	FRA	8	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	10.193
9	BASTIANINI ENEA	23	ITA	7	Team Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati	10.318
10	BEZZECCHI MARCO	73	ITA	6	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	16.419
11	ZARCO JOHANN	5	FRA	5	Pramac Racing	Ducati	16.586
12	ESPARGARO POL	44	SPA	4	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	17.456
13	MARQUEZ ALEX	73	SPA	3	LCR Honda	Honda	18.219
14	MORBIDELLI FRANCO	21	ITA	2	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	19.012
15	CRUTCHLOW CAL	35	GBR	1	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team	Yamaha	19.201
16	ESPARGARO ALEIX	41	SPA	0	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	25.473
17	DI GIANNANTONIO FABIO	49	ITA	0	Team Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati	27.006
18	FERNANDEZ RAUL	25	SPA	0	Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	29.374
19	GARDNER REMY	87	AUS	0	Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	29.469
20	NAKAGAMI TAKAAKI	30	JPN	0	LCR Honda	Honda	43.294
21	BAGNAIA FRANCESCO	62	ITA	0	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	DNF
22	RINS ALEX	42	SPA	0	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki	DNF
23	BINDER DARRYN	40	RSA	0	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team	Yamaha	DNF
24	TSUDA TAKUYA	85	JPN	0	Suzuki Test Team	Suzuki	DNF
25	NAGASHIMA TETSUTA	45	JPN	0	Team HRC	Honda	DNF

Rider Standings

Pos.	Rider	Num	Nation	Points	Team	Constructor
1	QUARTARARO FABIO	20	FRA	219	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha
2	BAGNAIA FRANCESCO	62	ITA	201	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati
3	ESPARGARO ALEIX	41	SPA	194

Ends GNI SG