Marc Marquez claims dominant Japanese MotoGP sprint victory with Jorge Martin penalised post-race

Marc Marquez led every lap to win the Japanese MotoGP Sprint, claiming his 22nd career sprint victory and gaining more ground on title rival Jorge Martin. Marquez took the lead at the first corner and set the pace to the chequered flag, finishing with a 2.466s advantage. Martin suffered late tyre degradation and received a late track-limits penalty, dropping him to third and costing him additional points in the title fight. Behind them, chaos defined the race: Alex Marquez crashed at Turn 3, taking out Pedro Acosta and Fabio Di Giannantonio. Enea Bastianini emerged fourth with the pace to pass Marco Bezzecchi, who fell to sixth as tyres and braking didn’t come together. Despite appearing set for second, Martin was ultimately second on track but both Martin and Bastianini were penalised for final-lap track limits, leaving Diogo Moreira second, with Martin third and Bastianini fourth. Ogura finished fifth; Zarco seventh; Quartararo scored the final point in ninth.