Marc Márquez returned to the podium with a third-place finish at the MotoGP Japanese GP, showing significant improvements in qualifying – starting from eighth but narrowly missing pole position due to a minor track limits infringement that prevented him to secure the pole position with a new lap record at Motegi.
The Gresini Racing rider reflected on valuable lessons learned from the weekend, particularly regarding tire performance, which left him with some questions. In the post-race press conference, he explained:
– There are things to understand well, because it looks like this weekend I was super fast with the soft tyre and for the time attack. But I was struggling a little bit more with the medium rear tyre – in the other races it was completely the opposite, so we need to understand why.
With four rounds left in the season, Márquez is currently fourth in the championship standings, just two points behind Enea Bastianini (Ducati), indicating that this will be the battle he will focus on heading into Valencia.
