Álex Márquez, leader of the Moto2 championship by 40 points, arrives this weekend on a track he knows well. The brother of whom you know has in fact already dominated the Motegi circuit, which hosts the Japanese Grand Prix, three times. Winner in 2013 and 2014 in Moto3, before winning in Moto2 in 2017, he will be keen, this time, to extinguish any hint of resistance in a title race in which both Augusto Fernández and Brad Binder have not not given up.
So there is still work to be done Alex Marquez before doing as well as his brother Marc in MotoGP this year. Augusto Fernández recovered from his failed performance in Aragon to finish second in Thailand and thus take back a few points from the Marc VDS driver. As for Brad Binder, he has had an impeccable run for eight Grands Prix on his KTM. A period marked by six podiums, including two victories!
Tom Luthi et Jorge Navarro follow and we will remember that it was a Speed Up which crossed the finish line first in Japan last year. It was with fabio quartararo and even if his bike was subsequently decommissioned, it bodes well for the Spaniard.
We will not forget Luca marini who also has an illustrious brother and who is coming off a success in Thailand, to put his two cents in this sixteenth round of the season. Among the rookies, Fabio DiGiannantonio arrives at Motegi with an advantage of only 8 points over its main rival, Enea Bastianini.
Moto2 Championship before Japan :
| 1 | Alex Marquez | Kalex | 224 | |
| 2 | Augusto Fernandez | Kalex | 184 | -40 |
| 3 | Brad Binder | KTM | 180 | -44 |
| 4 | Thomas Lüthi | Kalex | 178 | -46 |
| 5 | Jorge Navarro | Speed Up | 175 | -49 |
| 6 | Luca marini | Kalex | 151 | -73 |
| 7 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | Kalex | 138 | -86 |
| 8 | Marcel Schrötter | Kalex | 118 | -106 |
| 9 | Fabio DiGiannantonio | Speed Up | 94 | -130 |
| 10 | Enea Bastianini | Kalex | 86 | -138 |
| 11 | Iker Lecuona | KTM | 71 | -153 |
| 12 | Remy gardner | Kalex | 64 | -160 |
| 13 | Tetsuta nagashima | Kalex | 64 | -160 |
| 14 | Sam Lowes | Kalex | 60 | -164 |
| 15 | Xavi Verge | Kalex | 59 | -165 |
| 16 | George Martin | KTM | 47 | -177 |
| 17 | Andrea Locatelli | Kalex | 45 | -179 |
| 18 | Nicholas Bulega | Kalex | 40 | -184 |
| 19 | Mattia Pasini | Kalex | 27 | -197 |
| 20 | Somkiat Chantra | Kalex | 20 | -204 |
| 21 | Marco Bezzecchi | KTM | 17 | -207 |
| 22 | Stefano manzi | MV Agusta | 13 | -211 |
| 23 | Dominique Aegerter | MV Agusta | 12 | -212 |
| 24 | Simone Courses | NTS | 10 | -214 |
| 25 | Will Bendsneyder | NTS | 6 | -218 |
| 26 | Jake dixon | KTM | 4 | -220 |
| 27 | Joe Roberts | KTM | 4 | -220 |
| 28 | Lukas Tulovic | KTM | 3 | -221 |
| 29 | Khairul Idham Pawi | Kalex | 3 | -221 |
| 30 | Jesko Raffin | NTS | 3 | -221 |
| 31 | Steven Odendaal | NTS | 0 | -224 |
| 32 | Jonas Folger | Kalex | 0 | -224 |
| 33 | Philipp Ottl | KTM | 0 | -224 |
| 34 | Xavi Cardelus | KTM | 0 | -224 |
| 35 | Dimas Ekky Pratama | Kalex | 0 | -224 |
| 36 | Gabriel Ruiu | Kalex | 0 | -224 |
| 37 | Adam Norrodin | Kalex | 0 | -224 |
| 38 | Andi Farid Izdihar | Kalex | 0 | -224 |
| 39 | Teppei Nagoe | Kalex | 0 | -224 |
| 40 | Gerry Salim | Kalex | 0 | -224 |
