MotoGP 2026
Round 16 – Motegi – Preview
Championship battles head east to Motegi
The 2026 MotoGP World Championship begins its decisive Asian and Oceanian phase at Mobility Resort Motegi this weekend with little separating the leading protagonists.
Jorge Martin arrives in Japan holding a 12-point advantage over reigning World Champion Marc Marquez, while Martin’s Aprilia team-mate Marco Bezzecchi remains only 42 points from the championship lead.
Pedro Acosta has also forced his way into the conversation. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing youngster heads to Japan 72 points behind Martin, but on the strongest run of his MotoGP career after five consecutive top-five finishes, the past three of them podiums, culminating in his maiden premier-class Grand Prix victory last time out in Austria.
Five Grands Prix in six weeks now await, and Motegi marks the point where one bad Saturday or Sunday can quickly become much harder to recover from.
For Marc Marquez, there is also an obvious emotional connection to this circuit. Twelve months ago, Motegi was where he completed one of motorcycle racing’s great career comebacks, finishing second to Francesco Bagnaia and securing his seventh MotoGP World Championship.
Bagnaia may have owned the racing that weekend, taking pole before winning both the Sprint and Grand Prix, but Marquez left Japan with the biggest prize. Our illustrated report from the 2025 Japanese MotoGP can be revisited here, while we also took a closer look at Marquez completing his return to the top of the MotoGP world.
Friday conditions could complicate the early running
This year’s Japanese Grand Prix also has an intriguing weather element. The latest forecast supplied to the teams points towards Friday being considerably cooler and potentially less representative than the conditions expected for the rest of the weekend.
The session-specific forecast currently gives Friday morning’s FP1 a 40 per cent probability of rainfall, albeit with only around 0.04 mm expected, before the rain risk drops to eight per cent for afternoon Practice.
More significant than the small amount of possible rain could be the temperature. The track is forecast to be around only 17 degrees during FP1 and roughly 18 degrees during Friday afternoon Practice.
Saturday should present an altogether different challenge. Rain is currently considered unlikely, while track temperature is forecast to rise past 30 degrees through FP2 and qualifying and could reach the mid-30s during Q2. It should then fall back towards the high-20s for the Sprint.
Sunday is also presently forecast to remain dry, with the track around 28-29 degrees for the 1400 Grand Prix start. Wind is unlikely to be a major factor, although gusts could reach around 20 km/h during Saturday’s Sprint.
That Friday-to-Saturday temperature swing could make set-up more complicated. A motorcycle that gives a rider confidence on a cold 17-degree surface on Friday morning may behave quite differently once Motegi heats up by almost 20 degrees for qualifying.
And confidence is particularly important here.
Motegi puts the brakes to work
The 4.8-kilometre Motegi layout features eight right-handers and six left-handers, with a 762-metre longest straight and a succession of short acceleration zones feeding some of the hardest braking areas on the MotoGP calendar.
It is much more stop-start than flowing, demanding braking stability, front-end confidence and strong drive as riders pick the motorcycle up and accelerate from relatively slow corners.
Turn 11 at the end of the Back Straight is perhaps the clearest example, with riders braking hard downhill into the tight right-hander before needing to prepare the bike for another hard acceleration phase.
Raul Fernandez
“The most difficult corner is probably Turn 11 because you have to brake later, not forget that you have a long straight coming and you need to prepare the exit well.”
Fernandez arrives seventh in the championship on 203 points. The Trackhouse Aprilia rider has struggled to reproduce some of his earlier winning form over recent rounds, but believes progress made with the RS-GP under the similarly heavy braking demands of Austria may prove useful in Japan.
Miller returns to one of his favourite circuits
Jack Miller has stronger memories of Motegi than most.
The Australian produced arguably the finest Sunday performance of his MotoGP career here in 2022. Starting seventh after a wet qualifying session, Miller attacked immediately, picked his way through the leaders and then simply disappeared at the front.
He eventually crossed the line 3.409 seconds ahead of Brad Binder, having extended his advantage beyond five seconds before backing things off during the closing stages.
That weekend provides an interesting historical parallel to the forecast facing the paddock this year. Rain had heavily disrupted the 2022 programme, leaving the teams with very limited representative dry running before Miller delivered his masterclass on Sunday.
You can revisit our full report from that weekend here: Jack Miller dominates the 2022 Japanese MotoGP at Motegi.
Four years later, Miller returns aboard the Prima Pramac Yamaha YZR-M1. The circumstances are very different, but his affection for the place clearly has not diminished.
Jack Miller
“I’m really looking forward to the overseas rounds, starting with Japan. Motegi is probably one of my top three favourite tracks on the calendar, and I always love racing in front of the Japanese fans.
“It’s also Yamaha’s home round, so we’ll try to put on a good show for everyone there. After a difficult weekend in Austria, I’m looking forward to bouncing back, getting back to work and hopefully having a strong weekend.”
Miller also brings considerable Motegi experience to the Pramac garage while team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu faces another very different challenge.
The Turkish MotoGP rookie has watched races from Motegi for years but has never competed at the circuit. If FP1 is cold and damp, and Friday afternoon is still being conducted on a circuit around 18 degrees, that will make his task of learning the braking references and the behaviour of the YZR-M1 more difficult before temperatures climb dramatically on Saturday.
Toprak Razgatlioglu
“I have watched the MotoGP race in Motegi for many years, but I have never raced there before, so I’m really excited about this weekend. It will be the first time in my life that I race at Motegi with a MotoGP bike, so it will be a completely new experience for me.
“It’s another new track to learn, and I will try to adapt as quickly as possible and understand the circuit with the MotoGP bike.”
Ogura comes home with unfinished business
Few riders will attract more local attention than Ai Ogura.
The Trackhouse Aprilia rider returned from injury in Austria with fourth place in both the Sprint and Grand Prix and heads to Motegi sixth in the championship on 222 points.
His record here runs much deeper than those statistics suggest. Ogura won at Motegi in the Asia Talent Cup, then became the first Japanese rider for 16 years to win a home Grand Prix when he took Moto2 victory here in 2022. He subsequently finished second at Motegi in both 2023 and during his 2024 Moto2 World Championship campaign.
His first MotoGP home round last year was a much less enjoyable experience. Still carrying a hand injury from Misano, Ogura fought his way to ninth in the Sprint before withdrawing ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix when the discomfort became too severe.
This time, he arrives fit and in form, with a MotoGP victory already to his name in 2026.
Ai Ogura
“I’m happy to be in Japan of course, but on a bike – no matter where I am – I’m always giving my 100%.”
Honda and Yamaha race at home
Motegi inevitably carries extra significance for both Japanese manufacturers.
Honda owns the Mobility Resort Motegi facility and enjoyed one of the highlights of its 2025 season here when Joan Mir finished third in the Grand Prix.
Mir will not get the opportunity to repeat that performance this weekend. After an increase in symptoms that have affected him for several months, the Honda HRC Castrol rider underwent further medical testing in Barcelona. With the cause still not conclusively established, he has been advised to rest and will miss both Japan and Indonesia.
Somkiat Chantra steps into the Honda HRC Castrol seat at Motegi, while Takaaki Nakagami will add another Japanese rider to the grid as an HRC wildcard.
For Yamaha, Motegi is equally important. Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins lead the Monster Energy Yamaha effort while Miller and Razgatlioglu represent Prima Pramac Yamaha.
Quartararo arrives 15th in the championship on 61 points after showing some encouraging pace in Austria, while Rins sits 20th on 24 points. Quartararo has previously stood on the MotoGP podium here with second in 2019, while Rins finished third in 2018.
The Yamaha MotoGP riders visited the company’s headquarters in Iwata ahead of the weekend, with Quartararo, Rins, Miller and Razgatlioglu joined by Moto2 rider Izan Guevara to meet Yamaha personnel before heading to Motegi.
Viñales makes his return
Maverick Viñales provides another significant storyline in Japan as he returns to the Red Bull KTM Tech3 RC16 following an extended absence.
Viñales has not raced since the German Grand Prix in July, after continuing to suffer complications from his shoulder injury and subsequent corrective surgery. KTM test and reserve rider Pol Espargaro has covered a number of rounds during his absence.
Further medical and fitness assessments have now cleared Viñales to return alongside Enea Bastianini, although both rider and team are deliberately keeping expectations realistic.
Maverick Viñales
“I’m really happy to finally say that I’m coming back to racing. The last few months have been a long process, and I’ve worked hard every day to get to this point.
“I’m not at 100% yet, but I’m on the right path and I feel ready to take this next step. Motegi will be about building things up step by step, understanding where I am physically and getting my feeling back on the bike.”
The forecast may make that return a little more complicated. A cool or damp FP1 is hardly ideal for a rider attempting to rebuild confidence after months away, although the predominantly dry outlook for Saturday and Sunday should provide Viñales with increasingly representative track time as the weekend progresses.
Bagnaia cannot be ignored at Motegi
Francesco Bagnaia arrives in Japan only ninth in the championship after a difficult 2026 by the standards of a double MotoGP World Champion, but Motegi is one circuit where recent history makes him difficult to dismiss.
Last year the Italian was superb. Pole position was followed by victory in the Sprint and another win in the Grand Prix, producing his first Sprint-Sunday double of the 2025 season.
Marquez may have clinched the World Championship that afternoon, but Bagnaia was unquestionably the fastest rider of the weekend.
The question this time is whether Motegi can again deliver the braking feel and front-end confidence that lets Bagnaia look like himself.
VR46 looking to regain momentum
Fabio Di Giannantonio also remains prominent in the championship picture. The VR46 Ducati rider arrives fifth on 230 points, just four points from fourth place, although his recent results have not reflected the podium-level form seen earlier in the campaign.
Fabio Di Giannantonio
“These last two races didn’t go as we wanted, so I want to be back on the bike and work even more. I look forward to being in Japan, I like Motegi track a lot, and our goal is to be competitive and fight for the podiums again.”
Team-mate Franco Morbidelli sits 16th in the championship but can at least draw confidence from his strong top-five performance at Motegi last year.
Elsewhere, Brad Binder heads into Japan after sixth in Austria, while Bastianini has previous Motegi form after standing on the Sprint podium here in 2024. Alex Marquez and Fernandez were both top-ten finishers in Japan last season.
And then there is Acosta. Five successive top-five finishes, three consecutive podiums and finally that first MotoGP Grand Prix victory have changed the complexion of his season considerably. A 72-point championship deficit remains substantial, but the KTM youngster now arrives at Motegi as another rider the championship leaders cannot afford to ignore.
The title fight starts its final tour
At the sharpest end, however, attention keeps returning to Martin and Marquez.
Martin has a 12-point buffer. Marquez has six Sprint victories and five Sunday podiums this season, with every one of those Grand Prix podiums a victory. Bezzecchi remains close enough to capitalise on mistakes from either of them, while Acosta’s surge has added another variable.
There are also plenty of potential spoilers further down the order, not least a home hero in Ogura, a returning Viñales, a rejuvenated Acosta and riders such as Miller and Bagnaia with particularly strong Motegi memories.
And the weather may make the route to a race set-up rather less straightforward than the predominantly dry Saturday and Sunday forecast initially suggests.
Last year Marc Marquez left Motegi with the World Championship won.
This year he arrives trying to take the championship lead back.
2026 MotoGP Championship Standings
 |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Pos
|
Rider
|
Points
|
|
1
|
J. Martin
|
306
|
|
2
|
M. Marquez
|
294
|
|
3
|
M. Bezzecchi
|
264
|
|
4
|
P. Acosta
|
234
|
|
5
|
F. Di Giannantonio
|
230
|
|
6
|
A. Ogura
|
222
|
|
7
|
R. Fernandez
|
203
|
|
8
|
A. Marquez
|
158
|
|
9
|
F. Bagnaia
|
156
|
|
10
|
F. Aldeguer
|
115
|
|
11
|
L. Marini
|
98
|
|
12
|
E. Bastianini
|
97
|
|
13
|
B. Binder
|
94
|
|
14
|
D. Moreira
|
65
|
|
15
|
F. Quartararo
|
61
|
|
16
|
F. Morbidelli
|
56
|
|
17
|
J. Zarco
|
45
|
|
18
|
J. Mir
|
33
|
|
19
|
J. Miller
|
28
|
|
20
|
A. Rins
|
24
|
|
21
|
T. Razgatlioglu
|
18
|
|
22
|
M. Viñales
|
10
|
|
23
|
I. Lecuona
|
9
|
|
24
|
A. Fernandez
|
6
|
|
25
|
P. Espargaro
|
5
|
|
26
|
T. Nakagami
|
3
|
|
27
|
C. Crutchlow
|
0
|
|
28
|
J. Folger
|
0
|
|
29
|
L. Savadori
|
0
|
|
30
|
M. Pirro
|
0
|
Moto2
Guevara closes on Gonzalez as Agius carries Australian interest
The Moto2 World Championship battle tightened considerably in Austria, and Izan Guevara arrives at Motegi with renewed momentum after a dominant victory at the Red Bull Ring.
Manuel Gonzalez continues to lead the championship on 245.5 points, but Guevara’s second victory of the season reduced the Spaniard’s advantage to 35.5 points. Ivan Ortola sits third on 168.5 points ahead of David Alonso on 155, while Australia’s Senna Agius holds fifth position with 149 points.
Guevara’s Austrian success was the third Moto2 victory of his career, and there are reasons to believe Motegi could suit both rider and machine. Heavy braking is one of the Japanese circuit’s defining characteristics and the BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 squad believes Guevara’s strength on the brakes combines particularly well with the Boscoscuro package.
There are also good memories here for Guevara, who won at Motegi during his championship-winning 2022 Moto3 campaign. His best Moto2 result at the Japanese venue to date is a top-ten finish from 2024, but he arrives this time in considerably stronger form and with the championship leader back within reach.
Pramac will field only one Moto2 machine in Japan. Alberto Ferrandez remains sidelined while recovering from the broken right collarbone suffered in Austria, and the team has elected not to replace him at Motegi. Ferrandez is targeting a return at the following Indonesian Grand Prix.
Australian interest centres on Senna Agius, who arrives fifth in the championship and with his MotoGP future already settled. The 20-year-old will graduate to the premier class with Tech3 in 2027, joining Luca Marini as MotoGP begins its new technical era.
The Moto2 Japanese Grand Prix will be contested over 19 laps on Sunday.
Moto2 Championship Standings
 |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Pos
|
Rider
|
Points |
|
1
|
M. Gonzalez
|
245.5
|
|
2
|
I. Guevara
|
210
|
|
3
|
I. Ortola
|
168.5
|
|
4
|
D. Alonso
|
155
|
|
5
|
S. Agius
|
149
|
|
6
|
D. Holgado
|
146
|
|
7
|
F. Salac
|
128
|
|
8
|
C. Vietti
|
123
|
|
9
|
A. Lopez
|
110.5
|
|
10
|
C. Veijer
|
75.5
|
|
11
|
D. Muñoz
|
68
|
|
12
|
A. Escrig
|
63
|
|
13
|
B. Baltus
|
60
|
|
14
|
T. Arbolino
|
55.5
|
|
15
|
J. Roberts
|
44
|
|
16
|
D. Öncü
|
38.5
|
|
17
|
A. Huertas
|
37
|
|
18
|
J. Rueda
|
31
|
|
19
|
L. Lunetta
|
23
|
|
20
|
A. Sasaki
|
19
|
|
21
|
A. Ferrandez
|
17.5
|
|
22
|
A. Canet
|
17.5
|
|
23
|
T. Furusato
|
15
|
|
24
|
Z. vd Goorbergh
|
12
|
|
25
|
S. Garcia
|
11
|
|
26
|
A. Piqueras
|
4
|
|
27
|
M. Aji
|
3
|
|
28
|
M. Ramirez
|
0
|
|
29
|
X. Zurutuza
|
0
|
|
30
|
U. Orradre
|
0
|
|
31
|
J. Navarro
|
0
|
|
32
|
D. Foggia
|
0
|
|
33
|
J. Roulstone
|
0
|
|
34
|
M. Pawelec
|
0
|
Moto3
Quiles arrives at Motegi with first title match point
Motegi could provide the first World Championship coronation of the weekend, with Maximo Quiles arriving in Japan in a position to secure the 2026 Moto3 crown.
The CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider has built a commanding championship advantage and leads the standings with 306 points. Alvaro Carpe is second on 175, with David Almansa and Brian Uriarte both immediately behind on 174 points.
That gives Quiles a 131-point advantage heading into Japan. With the championship entering its closing stages, he will secure the title at Motegi if he leaves the Japanese Grand Prix with an advantage of at least 150 points over his nearest rival.
Quiles could hardly arrive with better momentum. The Spaniard dominated the Austrian Grand Prix to score his ninth victory of the season after championship rival Almansa crashed out while leading. Brian Uriarte and Alvaro Carpe completed the podium, while the result also secured the Moto3 Constructors’ Championship for KTM.
The battle behind Quiles is remarkably tight. Just one point separates Carpe in second from Almansa and Uriarte, who are tied on 174, meaning the fight for the championship placings behind the runaway leader remains wide open even if Quiles is able to wrap up the crown.
Uriarte is also one of the season’s outstanding rookies. The Red Bull KTM Ajo youngster has already collected two victories and five podiums during his debut Moto3 campaign and has been confirmed to remain with Ajo in 2027, when he will be joined by Rico Salmela.
Joel Kelso heads to Motegi 14th in the championship on 67 points with GRYD Racing Honda, and the Japanese circuit has already given him a taste of running at the sharp end. Last year he qualified on the front row in third, briefly led the Grand Prix and showed genuine pace before fading to eighth as light rain complicated proceedings. He also qualified a strong seventh in Austria as the leading Honda rider before finishing 11th, so a cleaner conversion of that speed into a result would be timely as the season enters its final flyaway stretch.
For Quiles, however, Motegi presents the first opportunity to convert a remarkable 2026 campaign into a World Championship. After nine victories and a points advantage exceeding five race wins, the championship equation is now straightforward: extend the margin by another 19 points in Japan and the Moto3 title is his.
Moto3 Championship Standings
 |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Pos
|
Rider
|
Points
|
|
1
|
M. Quiles
|
306
|
|
2
|
A. Carpe
|
175
|
|
3
|
D. Almansa
|
174
|
|
4
|
B. Uriarte
|
174
|
|
5
|
M. Morelli
|
146
|
|
6
|
V. Perrone
|
118
|
|
7
|
H. Danish
|
101
|
|
8
|
V. Pratama
|
100
|
|
9
|
M. Bertelle
|
86
|
|
10
|
A. Cruces
|
73
|
|
11
|
G. Pini
|
70
|
|
12
|
R. Salmela
|
70
|
|
13
|
C. O’Gorman
|
69
|
|
14
|
J. Kelso
|
67
|
|
15
|
E. O’Shea
|
65
|
|
16
|
A. Fernandez
|
59
|
|
17
|
J. Esteban
|
59
|
|
18
|
D. Muñoz
|
52
|
|
19
|
J. Rios
|
49
|
|
20
|
R. Yamanaka
|
31
|
|
21
|
S. Ogden
|
30
|
|
22
|
D. Gonzalez
|
7
|
|
23
|
M. Uriarte
|
6
|
|
24
|
C. Buchanan
|
5
|
|
25
|
L. Rammerstorfer
|
4
|
|
26
|
Z. Mitani
|
2
|
|
27
|
R. Moodley
|
1
|
|
28
|
K. Singhapong
|
1
|
|
29
|
N. Carraro
|
0
|
|
30
|
L. Abruzzo
|
0
|
|
31
|
E. Gutierrez
|
0
|
2026 MotoGP Calendar
|
|||
|
Rnd
|
Date
|
Event
|
Circuit
|
| 1 |
01 Mar
|
Thai
|
Chang International Circuit
|
| 2 |
22 Mar
|
Brazil*
|
Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna
|
| 3 |
29 Mar
|
US
|
Circuit of the Americas
|
| 4 |
26 Apr
|
Spain**
|
Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto
|
| 5 |
10 May
|
France
|
Le Mans
|
| 6 |
17 May
|
Catalonia
|
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
|
| 7 |
31 May
|
Italy
|
Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello
|
| 8 |
07 Jun
|
Hungary
|
Balaton Park Circuit
|
| 9 |
21 Jun
|
Czech
|
Automotodrom Brno
|
| 10 |
28 Jun
|
Netherlands
|
TT Circuit Assen
|
| 11 |
12 Jul
|
Germany
|
Sachsenring
|
| 12 |
09 Aug
|
GB
|
Silverstone Circuit
|
| 13 |
30 Aug
|
Aragon
|
MotorLand Aragon
|
| 14 |
13 Sep
|
San Marino
|
Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
|
| 15 |
20 Sep
|
Austria
|
Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
|
| 16 |
04 Oct
|
Japan
|
Mobility Resort Motegi
|
| 17 |
11 Oct
|
Indonesia
|
Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit
|
| 18 |
25 Oct
|
Australia
|
Phillip Island
|
| 19 |
01 Nov
|
Malaysia
|
Petronas Sepang International Circuit
|
| 20 |
08 Nov
|
Qatar
|
Lusail International Circuit
|
| 21 |
22 Nov
|
Portugal
|
Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
|
| 22 |
29 Nov
|
Valencia
|
Circuit Ricardo Tormo
|
