Now that Marc Marquez has clinched the MotoGP™ World Championship, attention will, of course, switch to the other battles continuing to rage within the premier class. The Constructors and Teams Championship hold huge significance to the manufacturers and both are still up for grabs. Further to the bragging rights that winning the Constructers and Teams titles will offer, there is the independent title and rookie of the year to be wrapped up, plus a handful of records that can be broken between now and the final round in Valencia.
First of all, the Constructor Championship. Honda once again are in line to secure a fourth consecutive title and are edging ever closer to marking a decade of dominance if Marc Marquez can continue his imperious form into 2020. The Japanese manufacturer currently sits 77 points ahead of Ducati and 83 points ahead of Yamaha with a lead of 75 at the conclusion of the Japanese Grand Prix enough to win the Championship. A fifth straight title in 2020 would mean Honda have won nine Constructors titles in ten years, bettered only once in the decade by Yamaha in 2015.
The Team Championship is more closely contested with Ducati Team currently leading the way thanks to the efforts of Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci. Repsol Honda Team are 19 points adrift thanks, primarily, to Marc Marquez, who has scored 325 of the team’s 358 points. If the Bologna outfit can hold on, it would be a first Team title since Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi helped them to the prize back in 2007.
When it comes to the rookie of the year, unsurprisingly that honour looks like going the way of Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quartararo after a stellar first season in the premier class. The French sensation is 85 points ahead of Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), with a 75-point lead needed after the Japanese Grand Prix to clinch that crown.
The 20-year-old is also leading the Independent Team title chase, but it’s far more closely contested. Thanks to his second-place finish in Buriram, Quartararo is now 24 points ahead of Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller, with LCR Castrol Honda’s Cal Crutchlow still an outside bet in third, 41 points adrift of the rookie.
When it comes to Marc Marquez well and truly asserting his dominance in the premier class, nothing would do that like the eight-time World Champion setting a new points record over an 18 round season. The current record of 383 points from Jorge Lorenzo in 2010 is just 58 points away from the Spaniard, so, if he is to continue his run of finishing inside the top two at the next three rounds, he would set another staggering premier class record before we get to Valencia.
Plus, just one more victory for Marquez in 2019 would see him surpass MotoGP™ Legends Mick Doohan and Dani Pedrosa as Honda’s most successful ever rider when it comes to both premier class victories and Grand Prix victories.
Despite the premier class crown sitting comfortably on the head of Marc Marquez at the final four rounds of the year, there is absolutely no chance the intensity of the battle will diminish. There’s still plenty to play for in MotoGP™.