RACE REPORT | MotoGP Japan 2025

Francesco Bagnaia delivered a dominant performance in the Japanese Grand Prix, claiming victory ahead of Marc Márquez, who secured his seventh MotoGP world championship. Joan Mir fought hard to take the final podium position, while Pedro Acosta’s early pace faded, probably due to tyre degradation.

Cloudy conditions loomed over the circuit as the riders lined up for the start. Jorge Martín, who crashed the previous day, was declared unfit to race due to a fractured collarbone. With a smooth warm-up lap complete, the race got underway.

Bagnaia got off the line cleanly and retained his lead into the first corner. Marc Márquez had a less-than-ideal launch but quickly recovered to retake third. Pedro Acosta made a lightning start, immediately jumping into second position. Fabio Quartararo also made a strong start, nearly overtaking Marc and moving up into fourth. Alex Márquez, Marc’s only title threat, was down in eighth. Joan Mir, having slipped from third early on, managed to recover by overtaking Quartararo and reclaiming fourth. From there, Quartararo’s pace dropped significantly, as he slipped from fifth to ninth.

At the end of lap one, the standings were: Bagnaia, Acosta, Marc, Mir, Morbidelli, Bezzecchi, Alex, Fernández, Quartararo, and Marini.

Out front, Bagnaia began to open up a gap, stretching over a second clear of Acosta. Behind him, Marc Márquez kept close to the rookie. On lap 4, Luca Marini became the race’s first retirement after his bike suffered a technical failure – a disappointing end to what had been a promising outing.

Marco Bezzecchi, having spent several laps stuck behind Morbidelli, finally found a way past to take fifth. Meanwhile, Mir steadily closed in on Marc Márquez as he chased a spot on the podium.

By lap 10, Bagnaia had extended his lead to 2.5 seconds. Joan Mir was now right behind Marc, just two-tenths adrift. The top 10 order at that point: Bagnaia, Acosta, Marc, Mir, Bezzecchi, Morbidelli, Alex, Fernández, Quartararo, and Zarco.

At the start of lap 11, Marc looked poised to make a move on Acosta into Turn 1 but bided his time and made the pass cleanly into Turn 2. Joan Mir, still on a charge, quickly reeled in Acosta and passed him on lap 14 to move into third place.

Bagnaia continued to build his advantage, now four seconds clear of Marc. Acosta, meanwhile, was struggling – his tyres appeared to be falling off, and on lap 16, he lost another position to Bezzecchi. Not long after, Morbidelli also managed to get by the fading rookie.

Lap 17 brought further bad news for Acosta as he received a track limits warning, and things got worse when he ran off into the gravel after a mistake. He rejoined the race but had become the slowest rider on track.

On lap 19, smoke was spotted coming from Bagnaia’s bike. Although he maintained his pace, concerns grew in the paddock about a potential mechanical issue.

Lap 20 saw the first yellow flag of the race after Takaaki Nakagami crashed out. Bagnaia’s situation remained tense, with the smoke still visible and speculation mounting that he could face a black flag.

Then, on lap 21, Jack Miller’s race came to an end due to a broken chain. Despite the drama, Bagnaia held a 2-second advantage over Marc Márquez going into the final lap.

Ultimately, Bagnaia held firm and crossed the line to take a commanding win. Marc Márquez finished second, clinching his seventh MotoGP championship. Joan Mir completed the podium with a gritty third-place finish.

Race results:

1st Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) – 42:09.312
2nd Marc Márquez (Ducati) – +4.196
3rd Joan Mir (Honda) – +6.858
4th Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) – +10.128
5th Franco Morbidelli (Ducati) – +10.421
6th Álex Márquez (Ducati) – +14.544
7th Raul Fernandez (Aprilia) – +17.588
8th Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) – +21.160
9th Johann Zarco (Honda) – +21.733
10th Fermín Aldeguer (Ducati) – +23.107
11th Enea Bastianini (KTM) – +23.616
12th Brad Binder (KTM) – +23.882
13th Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati) – +29.359
14th Miguel Oliveira (Yamaha) – +30.788
15th Somkiat Chantra (Honda) – +30.990
16th Maverick Viñales (KTM) – +31.712
17th Pedro Acosta (KTM) – +34.157
18th Alex Rins (Yamaha) – +34.792

DNF Jack Miller (Yamaha)
DNF Takaaki Nakagami (Honda)
DNF Luca Marini (Honda)