Marquez wins at Motegi and equals Doohan

Roberto Magni By Foto ReD Photographic Agency - A tenth win of 2019 for Marc Marquez wrapped up the Constructors Championship for Honda after an inch-perfect ride in Japan.
Victory for Marc Marquez at Honda´s home round in Motegi earned Honda the Premier Class Constructors Championship for a record 25th time. As a result, Honda claim both the Riders and Constructors Championships in the same year for the 20th occasion as they celebrate the 60th Anniversary of competition. It also marks Honda´s 70th Constructors Championship across all classes.

Launching perfectly off the line, Marc Marquez went around the outside of his competition to lead through the first corner. Fabio Quartararo tried to respond to the pace of the eight-time World Champion, but within just three laps Marquez had an advantage of over one second and followed it up with successive flying laps. By lap 13 the gap had grown to two seconds and the reigning World Champion switched his attention to managing the race. Crossing the line 0.870s ahead of Quartararo after easing his pace in the closing laps, the Repsol Honda Team rider continued his perfect record of top-two finishes in 2019. The victory is the tenth 2019 and his fourth in a row, the first time Marquez has achieved four-straight wins in the premier class since 2014. Taking his 54th win in the premier class, Marc Marquez draws level with the legendary Mick Doohan as the most successful premier class Honda rider. The 14 podiums, 13 of them in succession, of 2019 also move Marc Marquez to 350 World Championship points, just 33 points shy of Jorge Lorenzo´s all-time premier class points record of 383 with 75 points still to play for. Making his 200th premier class start, Jorge Lorenzo battled through a difficult start to the Japanese GP. Lorenzo crossed the line in 17th position and while not satisfied with the result, is pleased with his improved feeling and pace aboard the Honda RC213V in the closing laps. The finish saw Lorenzo reduce the margin between himself and the race winner to its smallest margin since his return from injury ““ a trend he will look to continue at Phillip Island in just a week´s time.

Motegi masterclass makes Quartararo Rookie of the Year PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team rider Fabio Quartararo has taken the 2019 MotoGP Rookie of the Year title, securing the award in style with a sensational sixth podium finish of the season at the Grand Prix of Japan. Team-mate Franco Morbidelli rounded out a dream day for the squad by coming home in sixth place at the Twin Ring Motegi for another strong finish. Quartararo rode a textbook race at Motegi to secure second position, getting stuck into the fight with world champion Marc Marquez as soon as the lights went out and trading the top spot with him numerous times. Settling into second as the race progressed, Quartararo was able to manage his tyres to the chequered flag to secure the rookie honours as well as extending his lead in the Independent Riders´ classification to 38 points and moving up to sixth in the overall championship fight. Morbidelli was also able to get involved in the podium battle early in the race, running in third behind his team-mate in the early laps. Dropping back as the race progressed, he was still able to score his fourth top-six finish from the past five races. Morbidelli also scored valuable points at Motegi to further secure his place within the top ten in the World Championship and to help the team edge closer to the Independent Teams´ championship, where they now command a healthy 76-point lead.

Andrea Dovizioso steps onto the podium in the Grand Prix of Japan with a third place at Motegi, Danilo Petrucci finishes the race in ninth position Andrea Dovizioso was back on the podium again in the GP of Japan at the end of a great comeback race that saw him fight his way through from the third row at the start to third place at the chequered flag. The Ducati Team rider, who got off to a good start, finished the opening lap in fifth place and then at the mid-point first passed Miller and then Morbidelli, before subsequently holding off attacks from Viñales. In the last few laps Andrea then closed the gap to Quartararo in second, and he took the flag just under five-tenths of a second behind the French rider. With today´s third place Dovizioso has now reached a total of 100 career podiums in GP racing. Danilo Petrucci, who also started from the third row, unfortunately lost a few positions in the first half of the race but was then able to resume a good pace after lap 12 and he worked his way up to ninth, finishing in the same position at the flag. In the Riders´ standings, Andrea Dovizioso consolidates his second place, with an advantage of 55 points over Rins and Viñales in third, while Danilo Petrucci remains in fifth place, six points ahead of Quartararo. Ducati still lies second in the Constructors´ classification and the Ducati Team first in the special Teams´ standings.

Marc Marquez 1° “It wasn´t an easy race. I was pushing from the beginning, the strategy was clear ““ I had to try to open a gap. I felt strong and with the team we had calculated a pace of 1´46 low but then I was able to ride in 1´45 high ““ good news for me but I had to slow down a little bit. I worked on riding as smooth as possible and I was able to open the gap to two seconds but in the final two laps we were getting a little low on fuel because Motegi is always very demanding. There was a little bit of pressure to win the Constructors Championship in Japan, but I love the pressure and it is great to win it here for Honda because everyone works so hard. All the Repsol Honda Team did a great job to find the best setting and strategy for this race.“

Fabio Quartararo 2° “I´m delighted with the weekend because the goal we set ourselves at the beginning of the season was to be best newcomer and we´ve already managed it. We have 163 points, which is an amazing achievement considering we were targeting between 50 and 90. We´ve been a big surprise to everyone, and it´s nice to be able to officially say that I´m Rookie of the Year. When I look back to last year when I was fighting for top 15 finishes in Moto2, I only think about how much I owe everyone at PETRONAS Yamaha SRT and Yamaha for putting their trust in me. I´ve done my maximum to help them believe in me, and together we´ve done an amazing job. We´re still fighting for good positions in the championship but trying not to think about it too much, so we´ll take the remaining races as they come and see what happens.“

Andrea Dovizioso 3° “At the end of the race my feeling with the bike was really excellent, so much so that we did our fastest lap on the penultimate lap. Unfortunately, I wasn´t able to pass Quartararo, who I saw was in a bit of difficulty in the final stages, but I think I could have overtaken him if there had been one more lap. I´m quite disappointed with my first part of the race however, because despite having good grip we were unable to be fast enough. We´ll now have to analyze the situation in detail to understand what the problem was and be ready for the race at Phillip Island.“

GP of Japan - Race Classification:

1. Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 42'41.492
2. Fabio QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT +0.870
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team +1.325
4. Maverick VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +2.608
5. Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL +9.140
6. Franco MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT +9.187
7. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +9.306
8. Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +10.695
9. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati Team +14.216
10. Jack MILLER Pramac Racing +18.909
11. Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +25.554
12. Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +27.870
13. Francesco BAGNAIA Pramac Racing +29.983
14. Mika KALLIO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +31.232
15. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +32.546
16. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU +37.482
17. Jorge LORENZO Repsol Honda Team +40.410
18. Karel ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing +43.458
19. Hafizh SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +46.206
20. Sylvain GUINTOLI Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +50.235
Not Classified
46 Valentino ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
29 Andrea IANNONE Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

MotoGP World Championship Standings:

1. Marc MARQUEZ Honda 350
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 231
3. Alex RINS Suzuki 176
4. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 176
5. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 169
6. Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 163
7. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 145
8. Jack MILLER Ducati 125
9. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 113
10. Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 100
11. Pol ESPARGARO KTM 85
12. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 74
13. Joan MIR Suzuki 66
14. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 47
15. Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 37
16. Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 33
17. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia 33
18. Johann ZARCO KTM 27
19. Jorge LORENZO Honda 23
20. Tito RABAT Ducati 18
21. Stefan BRADL Honda 16
22. Michele PIRRO Ducati 9
23. Sylvain GUINTOLI Suzuki 7
24. Hafizh SYAHRIN KTM 7
25. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati 5
26. Mika KALLIO KTM 2
27. Bradley SMITH Aprilia