Impeccible Pecco returns to form winning the Japanese Grand Prix in dominant fashion as Marc Marquez wins his seventh MotoGP title

Francesco Bagnaia started from pole position for only the second time this season fresh off of his first Tissot Sprint victory of the season he looked to take his first double of the season too. Joan Mir was having his best weekend onboard the HRC Factory Honda starting in second with Marc Marquez in third and if he conceded less than seventh points to Alex Marquez, he would be champion for the first time since 2019.

The lights went out and Pecco Bagnaia took the holeshot ahead of Pedro Acosta and Marc Marquez. Bagnaia immediately set out a fast pace, setting consistent 1:44s and extending his lead to over two seconds within six laps.

Mir had a poor get away but managed to hold on to fourth place. Marco Bezzecchi who was taken out by teammate Jorge Martin in the sprint was making progess after starting from eighth, he picked off Luca Marini who suffered his first retirement of the year with a technical problem and then passed Fabio Quartararo who was running inside the top five, but within a number of corners dropped to ninth.

Approaching the halfway stage Acosta was beginning to struggle with tyre wear and the gap to Pecco was over three seconds.

Marc Marquez wasted no time and overtook Acosta into turn three on lap 11 and set his sights on closing down his teammate.

Pecco however kept up the pace and by lap 15 had pulled a four second gap over his teammate, but then the tide started to turn and Marquez began to close the gap by a few tenths each lap.

Acosta’s tyre woes were causing him big problems, he was overtaken by Mir, Bezzecchi and Franky Morbidelli. He had Alex Marquez for company and on lap 19 he ran wide at turn one into the gravel trap and dropped to last place.

As the last lap began Bagnaia had a 1.8 second lead over Marc Marquez, Pecco had controlled the race in classic style and crossed the line to take his first double since the 2024 Solidarity Grand Prix. Marc Marquez crossed the line to end a 2,184 day wait to become world champion again. Joan Mir crossed the line to take his first podium with Honda and his first since the 2021 Algarve Grand Prix.

Featured Image: Ducati Corse.