Japanese GP: 17 points, 3 riders. Let’s go racing in Motegi!

Honda
woes

After
the
dust
settled
at
MotorLand,
we
were
left
with
even
more
questions
about
Marquez
as
the
No.93
failed
to
make
it
out
of
Q1
due
to
yellow
flags,
and
then
failed
to
make
it
far
into
the
race
with
that
bad
luck.
Where
would
he
have
finished?

There
remain
some
cards
close
to
the
Repsol
Honda
rider’s
chest
and
home
turf
for
the
factory
is
an
interesting
place
to
have
to
play
them.
As
a
true
veteran
now,
Marquez
knows
the
track
better
than
everyone
on
the
grid
–
so
what
can
we
expect?
And
can
Pol
Espargaro
move
forward
on
the
other
side
of
the
garage?

Yamaha
turf

Quartararo
now
has
only
ten
points
in
hand
at
the
top
of
the
table,
but
it
was
through
no
fault
of
his
own
and
he’ll
be
more
eager
than
ever
to
push
to
extend
it
again.
He
also
arrives
knowing
that
his
last
performance
at
Motegi,
vs
Marquez,
was
one
of
those
that
cemented
his
growing
legend.

So
will
that
experience
count?
With
action
beginning
on
Friday
afternoon,
he
will
be
hoping
it
helps
him
hit
the
ground
running
–
as
will
Yamaha
as
they
race
on
home
turf
for
the
first
time
in
a
few
seasons.

Ducati
marches
on

After
the
duel
at
Misano,
Francesco
Bagnaia
(Ducati
Lenovo
Team)
and
Enea
Bastianini
(Gresini
Racing
MotoGP)
did
it
again
at
MotorLand
for
another
spectacular
finish,
and
this
time
with
Bastianini
on
top.

But
Motegi
could
be
a
different
story
as
the
‘Beast’ rides
the
track
for
the
first
time
in
MotoGP,
and
Bagnaia
has
only
one
outing
in
the
premier
class
under
his
belt
at
the
venue.

Over
to
Motegi

Quartararo,
Bagnaia
and
Aleix
Espargaro
are
now
split
by
just
17
points,
Marquez
remains
a
somewhat
unknown
quantity,
and
we
are
heading
onto
home
turf
for
Yamaha,
Honda
and
Suzuki.

There
is
plenty
at
stake
in
the
Motul
Grand
Prix
of
Japan,
so
make
sure
you
do
not
miss
it
as
we
go
racing
at
3pm
local
time
(11.30am
IST)
on
Sunday.
Indian
audience
can
catch
all
the
action
live
on
Eurosport
channel.
Bring
it
on!