HOT HEADLINES: the title fight hots up as Motegi kickstarts the final stint

motogp.com

28 Sep 2026

12 points cover the top two going to the Japan, a new title contender has emerged and a home-hero is in form: a blockbuster tour of Asia and Oceania starts now

Our Euro summer is over and the final stint of the season begins for one of MotoGP’s greatest title races. Having entered Austria level-pegging, it’s Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) who starts the lap of Asia and Oceania in the driving seat with a 12-point lead over reigning World Champion Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team). 42 points cover the top three, however – only just more than a weekend’s worth of points – whilst there’s a star rider in fourth who’s in great form and closing in. Five GPs in six weeks, bring it on.

One race from history? Welcome to Japan

The stakes couldn’t be higher at Motegi. Every move matters, every mistake could prove costly... and in MotoGP, it’s never over until it’s over.

THE TOP TWO: Martin vs Marc Marquez

Stealing a march last time out with a Sprint win and P2 on Sunday, Martin hits Japan in a very different reality to last year. Then, he had a weekend to forget, crashing into teammate Marco Bezzecchi in the Sprint and sustaining a collarbone fracture. Now he arrives as Championship leader and the 2023 Japanese GP winner will be fighting for a second Grand Prix win of 2026. As for Marc Marquez, he returns to the place where the greatest sporting comeback was completed last year, bringing the #93 a seventh title after all the injuries before. This year, he’s in a different position; only five Sunday podiums in 2026 but all are wins, although he’s notched up six Sprint victories. Consistency vs speed, two great Champions going head-to-head.

CHASING: Bezzecchi and Acosta remain in touch with reason to believe

Third overall, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) remains in contention, 42 points behind Martin. It was the flyaways and onwards last year that propelled the #72 to a bronze medal and his form over the next six weeks will be pivotal to his title aspirations. Scoring the second-highest number of points from Motegi onwards in 2025, he’s still in the game. Then there’s Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) emerging as a late threat; five straight top five finishes, of which the last three were rostrums and the last a maiden victory, The Shark enters the overseas tour with bite. 72 points is a big deficit but like Bezzecchi, he was dynamite at the same point last year and was the third-highest point-scorer from Japan onwards. His first close call with victory in MotoGP was at Motegi in his rookie year. Can he go back-to-back? As he says himself, he has nothing to lose in the title fight – and everything to gain.

FROM THE INSIDE: The making of Acosta’s maiden victory

Go behind the scenes of the #37’s historic Austrian GP, from the tension before lights out to the raw emotion of his breakthrough MotoGP victory

HE’S COMING HOME: Ogura a contender at Motegi

A solid return in Austria with two P4s mean Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) is in-form ahead of his home GP. Unable to race on Sunday in 2025, the #79 is keen to redeem with the weight – and wait – of a nation expecting big things after 2025’s disappointment and 2026’s big achievements. Just up ahead of the home star, Fabio Di Giannantonio’s (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) just four points behind Acosta but no top five in the last four GPs means he needs a big points haul in the final seven. He’s in it, but he’ll want to start having a bigger say in those podium battles.

MOTEGI FORM: top 10s, a double winner and more

Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) were both top ten finishers in Japan last year whilst P9 overall is Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), Motegi’s double winner in 2025. He’s playing down chances of a repeat performance in 2026 but you can never discount the double World Champion. Tenth overall, Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) hopes he can hit form again as we head into an intense part of the season.

REWIND: The Shark finally strikes

After years of hype, podiums and near misses, Acosta finally delivers the big one. Relive the drama, emotion and history of a spectacular weekend in Spielberg

JAPANESE MANUFACTURERS: a weekend at home for Honda and Yamaha

Honda and Yamaha’s home GP brings optimism; Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) is Honda’s leading light on the way in, Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) chases a top ten return after a tougher couple and Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) searches for a second double top ten in a row. The home fans have extra to cheer for with Takaaki Nakagami wildcarding and although Honda were on the podium at home in 2026 courtesy of Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol), the Spaniard’s out with illness in 2026, replaced by Somkiat Chantra. In Yamaha, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) had a far more positive Austrian GP than the results show; teammate Alex Rins and Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP duo Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlioglu all seek points returns as we return to Japan.

KEEP AN EYE ON: Binder in form with a pack of contenders

Brad Binder’s (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) P6 at the Red Bull Ring is a good springboard into the final sting of his MotoGP run, whilst hoping for a repeat of 2025’s double Motegi top five is Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) after a tougher spell. Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) was a Motegi Sprint podium finisher in 2024, meanwhile, and we wait to see who’ll be sharing the box with him after a tentative return to action for Maverick Viñales at the Austria tyre test. Is he race ready? We’ll find out soon.

Alarms set, let action commence: Japan is when we go green for what promises to be the start of one of the most memorable run-ins ever, with Lombok waiting just around the corner too. Don’t miss it!