Marquez Dominates at Motegi to Win Third MotoGP Crown

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V) rode a glorious race to victory at Twin Ring Motegi this afternoon, scoring his fifth win of the season to secure his third MotoGP World Championship in four years.

Marquez’s success gives Honda its 18th premier-class riders title, a great way of celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary of its entrance into the 500cc/MotoGP class in 1966. His fellow Honda premier-class champions include Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner, Eddie Lawson, Mick Doohan, Alex Crivillé, Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner. Honda has won a record total of 278 Grand Prix victories in the class of Kings.

The 23-year-old Spaniard’s latest success continues his habit of rewriting MotoGP’s history books. He is now the youngest rider in the history of the sport to win five World Championships (125cc in 2010, Moto2 in 2012 and MotoGP in 2013, 2014 and 2016). He is also the youngest rider to have won three premier-class titles.

Marquez had gone into this race thinking the title battle was far from over, with Yamaha rivals Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo both within striking distance, albeit some distance behind on points.

He led into the first corner but Lorenzo squeezed past on the exit to lead the early laps. But by lap three Marquez was fully in the groove and upped his pace to overcome his fellow Spaniard the following lap. From there he never relinquished the lead, opening an advantage, with no one able to match him. First Rossi fell, without injury, but still Marquez stretched his lead over Lorenzo, now in second place. Finally Lorenzo slid off with five laps to go, also without injury. Marquez’s crew immediately signalled to him that both his rivals were out, meaning he would win the title, so long as he stayed on.

And stay on he did, in fine style. Marquez crossed the finish line 2.9 seconds in front of second-placed Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) and immediately began his richly deserved title-winning celebrations.

Marquez has ridden a stupendous season. Not only has he won the most challenging world title of all, he is also the only rider across all three categories to have scored points in all 15 races so far. Some achievement, considering the knife-edge he rides every weekend.

Honda’s second finisher was Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda RC213V) who was going brilliantly until he made a mistake on lap 17 of 24 which cost him five seconds and left him a lonely fifth. Nonetheless it was the British GP winner’s fifth top-five result in the last seven races.

Tito Rabat (EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda RC213V) and Hiroshi Aoyama (Repsol Honda RC213V) scored the last World Championship points in 14th and 15th. It was a particularly tough race for 2009 250cc World Champion Aoyama who was only drafted into the team for Saturday practice after the luckless team member Dani Pedrosa fell and broke a collarbone in Friday practice.

Jack Miller (EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda RC213V) was also out of luck. The young Australian had qualified a promising 14th fastest when he slid off at turn one on lap seven.

MotoGP riders and teams now hotfoot to Australia, where practice begins for next weekend’s Phillip Island Grand Prix on Friday morning.

Marc Marquez

“It’s incredible! Before the race I didn’t expect to be Champion, and I said that here it would be impossible. However, when I saw that Rossi was out of the race, I decided to push hard for the victory. I was riding my hardest, and when there were three laps to go, I read on my pit board that Lorenzo was also out; on that same lap, I made mistakes in four or five corners, as it was difficult to stay focused! I’m very happy because this title is very special considering some of the crashes I had last year, and also because it came at Motegi, Honda’s home. Honda has worked so hard this year, and you could see the fruits of that effort also at this track, where we’ve struggled in the past. I myself also improved during the season; for instance, I learned how to better use the front Michelin tire. It has been a demanding year, but a fantastic one. It’s great for my team, and of course I don’t want to forget my grandmother, who passed away this year and would be very happy with this World Championship. Now we can just enjoy it and go into the last three races with maybe a more ‘Marc Marquez’ style.”

Cal Crutchlow

“I chose the hard front tire – going for the long game because I thought everyone would struggle to stop at the end of the race and they were, but as soon as I started to catch them I made a mistake and ran off the track. I got in hot and decided to go across the gravel, rather than stop. I lost seven seconds, so that was it. Honestly, I thought I could’ve battled for a podium, just because at the end of the race the front tire felt amazing, as I knew it would, even though at the start I struggled to get it to work. I’m disappointed, but it’s another top five, so it’s not a bad result.”

Tito Rabat

“I am very happy for this 14th position after scoring zero points at the past two races. I was very focussed this weekend on understanding my limit and finishing the race to learn more about MotoGP and I did this. Two points at Motegi, which is not an easy track for me, is great for the team and now I want to take this feeling to Australia next week and continue to improve.”

Hiroshi Aoyama

“It was quite a long and tough race for me, as it had been a long time since I last raced. Anyway, this was my home Grand Prix, and I had a lot of fans and friends here. That gave me a lot of positive energy and I was able to push until the end of the race. I fell yesterday, but today crashing wasn’t an option. I tried to stay on the bike and do my best. In the end I was able to finish in the points, even if it was just one. Today Marc won the title, and it was really a great day for HRC and Honda –congratulations to him! I’m happy that Dani’s surgery went well and I hope to see him back on his bike soon.”

Jack Miller

“I just made a small mistake and braked a little too late and lost the front-end in turn one. I tried to stay on the racing line but I was a little too fast and just tucked the front. I was pushing hard to stay in the group with Scott, Petrucci, Bautista and Bradl and it was shaping up as a nice little battle until I made the mistake and it was all over.”