Marc Marquez won his seventh MotoGP world title at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday. This is his first title since 2019, which he secured with five races still left in the season.
Marquez needed to score at least three points more than his brother and rival, Alex Marquez, by the end of the weekend. He finished second in the race, just behind his teammate Francesco Bagnaia. Alex came in sixth, giving Marc a 201-point lead over him.
After the race, Alex was the first to congratulate Marc, giving him a warm hug. Marc looked emotional and let out a scream when he realised what he had achieved.
He then stopped in front of a big screen, tears in his eyes, watching a video showing his struggles over the past six years. During that time, he had more than 100 crashes and four operations. Finally, he had won the title again after 2,184 days.
His victory was confirmed when his name was engraved on a silver plaque and added to the MotoGP trophy, known as the “Tower of Champions”.
Marquez said, “It’s hard to find words. I just want to enjoy this moment. It was very difficult, but now I am at peace with myself. I made a big mistake by returning too early from surgery, but I kept fighting and now I’ve won again.”
In the race, Bagnaia started well and quickly pulled ahead. Marquez stayed behind his Spanish teammate. By lap seven, Bagnaia was comfortably leading. Marquez struggled to keep up with KTM rider Pedro Acosta, which allowed Honda’s Joan Mir to close in.
Marquez finally passed Acosta on lap 11 but was still four seconds behind Bagnaia, who was heading for his second win of the season.
As the race went on, Acosta lost grip, and Mir took third place. Mir, the 2020 champion, is chasing a rare podium finish after retiring from ten races this year.
In the final part of the race, Bagnaia’s bike started to smoke, which worried the Ducati team. However, he managed to finish first.
Bagnaia said, “I don’t want to take the spotlight from Marc, he deserves it today. I am happy, but a little disappointed it came so late in the season. I hope I can keep this form and fight for more wins.”
