2016 Japanese MotoGP: Marc Marquez Wins 3rd Championship Title

The weekend in Motegi, Japan started off in a weird manner as many riders crashed on the   technical circuit during practice. Dani Pedrosa had a massive highside which left him with a broken shoulder and he was declared unfit to race. His Spanish compatriot, Jorge Lorenzo also had a bad crash but was lucky to not only walk away but he returned in afternoon to qualify third. Valentino Rossi registered his first pole outside Europe since 2008 and looked good for the race despite not being 100 per cent fit as he was suffering a bad cold. It was Marquez who lead the race as the riders entered the first corner of the race.

But Lorenzo who was on charge as he passed Rossi in the third corner and soon grabbed the race lead from the youngest MotoGP champion. The Yamaha rider was on song and clocked the fastest lap of the race to etch out a healthy lead over his rivals. Marquez and Rossi were engrossed in an intense battle with both the riders switching positions on a regular basis. It seemed that in typical Lorenzo fashion, the Spaniard would run away with the race with a clear track in front of him. Surprisingly that wasn’t the case as Marquez was closing down on the back of his M1 at the rate of knots and on the fourth lap of the race grabbed the race lead from him. Once in front, Marquez was on fire with the Honda RCV sliding and dancing on the brakes as he was pushing it to the limit. 

Rossi knew that if he got stuck behind Lorenzo for long then Marquez would be able to build a sizeable lead. The Italian rider was trying his best to pass the reigning world champion but Lorenzo was maintaining a defensive line through the corners frustrating Rossi. After a few attempts, Rossi was able to make his manoeuvre stick and rose up to second place. In the meantime, Marquez had a built a lead of almost a second on the MotoGP legend. In his pursuit of Marquez, Rossi was riding on the limit and with 18 laps remaining in the race, the front of his Yamaha M1 washed off and Rossi crashed out of the race. 

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Despite the fact that Rossi was no longer in contention, Marquez was on the charge and going strong as his race lead expanded to over three seconds on Lorenzo. Andrea Dovizioso was closing down on Lorenzo with seven laps in the race remaining. Lorenzo responded by hiking his pace to keep the Italian rider at bay. But he also suffered a front washout that ended his campaign and also his hold on the MotoGP crown. Marquez just needed to complete four laps to clinch his third MotoGP championship and that is what he exactly did. He crossed the chequered flag with enthusiasm and looked visibly surprised that he had taken the championship crown with three rounds of the 2016 remaining. Marc Marquez also overtook Valentino Rossi to become the youngest rider to win five championship titles. Dovizioso finished second while Maverick Vinales fended off Suzuki teammate Aleix Espargaro to step on the final step of the rostrum. 

2016 Japanese MotoGP race results:

1 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 42m34.610s

2 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 2.992s

3 Maverick Vinales Suzuki Suzuki 4.104s

4 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki Suzuki 4.726s

5 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda Honda 15.049s

6 Pol Espargaro Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 19.654s

7 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia Aprilia 23.032s

8 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Ducati Ducati 28.555s

9 Scott Redding Pramac Ducati Ducati 28.802s

10 Stefan Bradl Aprilia Aprilia 32.330s