Marquez recovers the best sensations and wins the Japan sprint race

BarcelonaThe most open MotoGP World Championship in years is knocking many contenders out of the running and it seems it could be a duel between two men: Marc Márquez (Ducati Desmosedici GP26) and Jorge Martín. If in the last Grand Prix the Madrid native regained the lead in the general classification, Márquez has started the Japanese Grand Prix weekend at Motegi better, winning the sprint race. Jorge Martín (Aprilia RS-GP), however, was the fastest in the official practice sessions and this Sunday he will start first in the race, just ahead of a Márquez who had that smile of someone who feels comfortable competing. The rider from Cervera, who began the World Championship with a fall that made him go through surgery, knows that the possibility of winning a World Championship for the tenth time is very real. If in the last Grand Prix he did not look comfortable, in Motegi he seems to be flying.

Marc Márquez now has 22 victories in the 'short' MotoGP format, an explosive short race where he feels very comfortable with his riding style. Today's triumph is his seventh in this format this season, leaving him just seven points behind the category leader, a Martín who finished second but received a penalty, dropping to fourth position. In the end, the one who finished second was a surprising Diogo Moreira (Honda RC 213 V), with the Italian Enea Bastianini (KTM RC 16) third.

Márquez made one of those starts where no one can stop him, overtaking Martin on the inside, who was then unable to overcome the Catalan during the twelve laps of the race. In fact, the Madrilenian struggled significantly due to the wear on his Aprilia's rear tire. Thus, he ended up fighting with the Brazilian Diogo Moreira and Bastianini. He overtook them, but since he had ridden off the track for a second, he received the penalty that caused him to drop to fourth place in the end, to the joy of Márquez, who thus cuts more points from him. The one who does not seem to be riding well is the third-placed in the World Championship, the Italian Marco Bezzecchi, who did not get past sixth position. In his case, also penalized by problems with the rear wheel, which ended up almost disintegrated. Alex Márquez was also unlucky, as he received a harsh penalty for illegal movements and will have to go through the "long lap" twice. A penalty that consists of taking a side lane that forces you to cover more meters than your rivals, losing time and positions. The younger brother will start fifth.

"Everything was working well today. We made a change for the 'sprint race', clearly seeing what the problem was this morning in the official practice sessions, and we took a small step forward. I was comfortable, I was going well, and I hope to have the same feeling tomorrow," said Márquez in statements to DAZN. "But we also have to analyze the condition of the rear tire, the soft one, because it was seen that many riders had holes, overheating, and that is a risk for the race. We will try to manage it in the best way, but from the beginning to the end I felt good," added the rider from Cervera, who wanted to show caution regarding Sunday's race, since Martin set a new circuit speed record in the official practice sessions. "Tomorrow we start from second position, Martin is showing a great pace, Bezzecchi and Acosta too. We'll see. Anything can happen in races. It's double the laps. Hopefully I can find the feeling I had today," he defended.