Jorge Martin, MotoGP race, Japanese MotoGP, 1 October 2023
Jorge Martin was declared the victor of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix after extreme wet weather brought an early end to proceedings, the Spaniard further closing on the points lead.
The Pramac Ducati rider had to work hard at the start of the encounter as rain began to fall at the Mobility Resort Motegi venue, the field starting on slicks before it became clear the rain would not abate.
He lost the lead to KTM’s Jack Miller on the opening lap as everyone tiptoed around the circuit, with all but five riders peeling into the pits to change to their wet-weather bikes at the end of the opening circulation.
Martin escaped the pits in the lead having dropped to fifth across the final few corners on the opening lap, though was soon shuffled back once more as the leading pilots got up to speed, his cause not being helped by running wide at Turn 3 and dropping to ninth.
Aleix Espargaro had managed to get into the lead by opting for a soft compound tire at the rear of his Aprilia, though Martin soon found his feet and started to make his way through the pack.
By the time half a dozen laps had been completed, Martin had fought his way back to the front and started to edge clear of title rival Francesco Bagnaia, who dispatched Espargaro soon after.
The reigning premier class world champion kept the pressure on Martin until the race was red-flagged due to ever-worsening track conditions on lap 13, with a restart planned around 20 minutes later.
This was ultimately waved off though as the rain continued to soak the Motegi tarmac, a result being declared swiftly afterwards with full points being awarded due to more than half the 24-tours being run.
This meant Martin picked up his third grand prix win of the year to narrow his points deficit to Bagnaia to just three heading to Indonesia in two weeks.
Bagnaia thus was forced to settle for his ninth rostrum result of the season, his grip on the series lead loosening once again.
Marc Marquez meanwhile secured his first grand prix podium finish since his runners-up result in last year’s Australian GP, the Honda rider coming alive once the rain soaked the track and passing VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi only a few laps before the red flag.
Bezzecchi thus had to make do with fourth ahead of Espargaro, while Jack Miller claimed sixth on the sole remaining factory KTM after Brad Binder crashed out early on at Turn 3.
Augusto Fernandez enjoyed a strong wet-weather run to take seventh for GasGas ahead of Gresini’s Fabio Di Gianantonio, while RNF Aprilia’s Raul Fernandez secured his third-straight top-ten result in ninth.
Fabio Quartararo completed the top ten for Yamaha having initially elected to stay out on slicks for an extra lap, though his gamble failed to pay off and he was forced to recover spots before the red flag was shown.
Miguel Oliveira lost out on a potential top-six finish after running into a technical problem with his RNF-run Aprilia just a lap before the race was stopped, while Johann Zarco also lost out on a decent result after crashing at the penultimate bend while moving through the top ten.
Maverick Vinales meanwhile failed to score after being pushed off into the gravel by Bezzecchi on the opening lap, the Italian getting his braking wrong and running into the side of the Aprilia rider. Vinales went down as he touched the gravel as Zarco, who was trapped on the outside of Vinales, ran through the gravel and carried on.
Vinales rejoined the race a lap down, though was later given a long lap converted to a time penalty due to incorrectly completing the bike swap, a punishment also dished out to Yamaha wild-card Cal Crutchlow.
Keyword: Martin wins red-flagged Japanese MotoGP race, Marquez scores podium