MotoGP Japan LIVE race: Shortened race, difficult track conditions, Jorge Martin victorious!

Here we have arrived in Japan at the epilogue of this fourteenth of the twenty rounds planned for this 2023 MotoGP season, on this Sunday which began with a warm-up which took place on a mostly wet track. All the riders did laps on each of their two bikes, one for a dry race, one for a wet GP. Jorge Martin went off the track in the third turn but managed to avoid a crash. After ten stressful minutes, Jack Miller was almost half a second faster than second-placed Marc Marquez in 1'46,047 minutes. Fabio Quartararo finished third ahead of Augusto and Raul Fernandez. World Championship contenders Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia followed in sixth and seventh positions. There is a risk of rain for the afternoon race at Motegi, the starting grid of which is here.

George Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) qualified on pole position for the 11th time in MotoGP (the second time since the start of the year with Misano), setting a new lap record at Motegi. He won his fifth victory in Sprint, becoming the driver with the most Sprint victories so far. Since the Catalan Grand Prix, he has always finished on the podium in Sprint and Grand Prix. He will now aim for his fourth MotoGP victory with Styria 2021, Germany 2023 and San Marino 2023. He could achieve the double for the third time, having already won the Sprint and GP races in Germany and Misano.

This is the 10th consecutive pole of Ducati in MotoGP (since Le Mans), which thus extends its record. This is the 54th consecutive GP where there is at least one driver Ducati among the top three in qualifying. Sunday, Ducati could win the constructors' title for the fifth time in the premier class if they finish the race with an advantage of 222 points or more.

Francis Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), championship leader, qualified second for his 12th top three qualifying finish since the start of the year. He finished P3 in the Sprint for his 12th Sprint podium and will now aim for his sixth GP victory of the season, which would be just one less than last year.

Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), winner last year here at Motegi (with Ducati), qualified third for his fourth top three in qualifying so far this year. He finished P4 in the Sprint (his best Sprint result since he was P3 in Germany) and he's in contention to make MotoGP history on Sunday by taking Grand Prix victories with three different factories (after already winning with Honda and Ducati). Maverick Vinales is the other rider who could achieve this feat, now riding with Aprilia after winning with Suzuki and Yamaha.

Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), despite a crash in Q2, bounced back to qualify fourth, which is the ninth time since the start of the year that he has missed the top three in qualifying (the last time being in Catalonia where he qualified 10th). He finished P6 in the Sprint, and he will aim to take his fourth MotoGP victory on Sunday (along with Argentina, France and India) and first consecutive MotoGP Grand Prix victory after his demolition of the opposition on the weekend -last weekend in India.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) qualified fifth for his fourth top-five finish in qualifying so far this season. He finished P2 in the Sprint for his first Sprint podium since he was also P2 in Austria and will now aim for his ninth MotoGP podium which would see him become the South African rider with the most podiums in the premier class.

This Japanese Grand Prix can be a turning point in the drivers' championship

Fabio DiGiannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP) qualified sixth for his best qualifying result since fifth in Germany last year. He finished 8th in the Sprint for his first points finish on Saturday, and he will aim to finish on the podium for the first time in MotoGP. His best result so far is P8, scored in Germany last year and in France this year.

After going through Q1, the one who was in pole position here last year, either Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) qualified seventh, which is the third consecutive time it has qualified in the top nine. He finished P7 in the Sprint and will now aim to win for the first time since Emilia Romagna 2021, 707 days ago.

Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) qualified eighth, which is the seventh consecutive time it has qualified in the top nine. He scored a point in the Sprint, finishing P9, but as Miller, he is in contention to make MotoGP history on Sunday by scoring Grand Prix victories with three different factories (having already won with Suzuki and Yamaha).

Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia Racing) qualified ninth, which is the eighth time this year they have qualified in the top nine. He withdrew from the Sprint following a new technical problem on his RS-GP, but he will aim to win for the fourth time in a Grand Prix (and in MotoGP).

Johann zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) qualified 10th, which is only the fourth time this year he has missed the top nine in qualifying. He finished P5 in the Sprint, and is still missing that first MotoGP victory. If he finishes on the podium on Sunday, he will have scored five podiums this year and 2023 will be his best season in terms of podiums since he moved up to MotoGP in 2017.

Raul fernandez (Cryptodata RNF MotoGP Team), after going through Q1 and joining Q2 for the third time in a row, qualified 11th matching his best MotoGP qualifying result achieved last time in India. He finished P10 in the Sprint and will aim to achieve his best result in the category if he can beat his P8 taken at Misano this year.

The presentations made, what will this Japanese Grand Prix have in store for us? Before knowing it, here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

Motegi MotoGP™	2022	2023
FP1	1'44.509 Jack Miller (See here)	1'45.192 Jorge Martin (See here)
Practice	1'55.232 Marc Marquez (See here)	1'43.489 Brad Binder (See here)
FP2	CANCELLATIONDUE TO RAIN (See here)	1'44.622 Marco Bezzecchi (See here)
Q1	1'55.300 Johann Zarco (See here)	1'43.997 Marc Marquez (See here)
Q2	1'45.763 Marc Márquez (See here)	1'43.198 Jorge Martin (See here)
Sprint	XXXXX	Martin, Binder, Bagnaia (See here)
Warm up	1'45.850 Jorge Martin (See here)	1'46.047 Jack Miller
Course	Miller, Brad Binder, Martin (See here)	Martin, Bagnaia, M. Marquez (See here)
All time lap record	1'43.790 Jorge Lorenzo (2015)	1'43.198 Jorge Martin (See here)

25° in the air, 30° on a dry track but under a threatening sky are the conditions offered to the pilots. Here are the live images...

It's time to make your predictions for the Japanese victory.

Binder's mastery on his bike says a lot about his propensity to master his KTM!!

Drops of rain appear 15 minutes before departure….

The rain fell in the night...

There will be 24 laps to complete on a 4.801km long route.

8 points separate Bagnaia from Martin in the Championship.. Will “Le Martinator” take the lead this Sunday??

Departure in 12 minutes…

The rain is here...

Launch of the Warm-Up!

Flag to Flag race coming soon??

The drivers will start on slick tires: 25° in the air and 28° on the track.

It's off and it's Martin who takes the lead ahead of Miller and Bagnaia. Zarco in the sandbox, Vinales on the ground.

White flag is out… the riders will be able to change the bikes

They all return except Quartararo..

Pirro dominates ahead of Quartararo, Bradl, Crutchlow and Morbidelli, the only drivers not to have returned.

Quartararo returns...but too late...

The top10 consists of Pirro, A.Espargaro, MMarquez, Bezzecchi, Bagnaia, Martin, Miller, Oliveira, Di Giannantonio and Mir. 21 left turns. Zarco is 18th, Quartararo is in 17th position.

Morbidelli struggling...Pirro returns to the box

A.Espargaro takes the lead ahead of Bagnaia, MMarquez and Bezzechi. Martin catches up and passes Bezzecchi. He passes MMarquez in stride.

The Martinator is 3rd, he is 0.182s behind Bagnaia.

Binder Falls.

Martin attacks Bagnaia and it passes, he has the luxury of passing by following A.Espargaro. He takes control of the race. Bagnaia makes the effort, he overtakes the Aprilia rider. Bezzecchi also benefits, the top 3 is as follows: Martin, Bagnaia at 0.867s, Bezzecchi.

Long lap for Vinales and Crutchlow, motorcycle change not done correctly. Zarco 10th and Quartarao 13th

With 15 laps to go, Martin has almost 1s on Bagnaia: Bezzecchi, Oliveira, MMarquez, A.Espargaro, Mir, R.Fernandez, Zarco and Miller bring up the rear of this top10.

Long lap for R.Fernandez.

MMarquez very fast, takes 3rd position to the detriment of Bezzecchi. In front Martin is 1.2s ahead of Bagnaia.

Zarco fell...

Red flag! Race stopped: track conditions impassable... 12 laps remain.

Zarco would not be able to return to the track, the latter not having crossed the starting line, he returned to the box directly. IRTA decision.

Oliveira won't leave either...

And finally... yes, he will leave again!

In 7 minutes, reopening of the pit lane.. Quick Start procedure!

Vinales will start again from the pit lane…

12 laps to complete…start of the warm-up lap.

RED FLAG! Race stopped...automatic points awarded...

LIMIT SWITCH !

Victory for Martin ahead of Bagnaia and MMarquez 

The leading trio…

Martin!

Bagnaia!

Marc Marquez!

In the Championship, Bagnaia only has a 3-point lead over Martin.

The podium…

      MotoGP Japan Race: classification

 

Credit classification motogp.com