The Thailand GP was a great show for the fans, but MotoGP riders are already in Japan, where this next weekend we will be able to watch the second of four races in the Southern Hemisphere before heading back to Europe, where the season will have its finale in Valencia.
In MotoGP, Marc Marquez, after the win in Thailand, is in a very comfortable position and arrives in Twin Ring Motegi with 77 points advantage over his main title rival, Italian Andrea Dovizioso. The champion and Honda rider, will get his first chance to close his seventh world title in Japan, home of Honda, if he can take another win.
Marquez will be crowned champion if he wins, and in that scenario it won’t matter Dovizioso’s position. Marquez will also be champion If he manages to finish in front of Dovizioso, or if Dovizioso isn’t able to finish the race. That way Marquez would face the last three races of the 2018 season as champion.
Japan will also be the stage for Hafizh Syahrin to close in at Franco Morbidelli.
Both MotoGP rookies are fighting for the honor to be the best MotoGP Rookie of the year, and at the moment Morbidelli has the advantage, but in Thailand, Syahrin showed he is back to his best and was able to shorten the distance to his rival.
In Moto2, Francesco Bagnaia is also in a very comfortable position to secure his first world title. The Italian has an advantage of 28 points over Portuguese rising star Miguel Oliveira, and if we look to the last few results, Bagnaia is unstoppable and in great shape, and it will be hard for the KTM rider to steal the Moto2 title from the Sky VR46 rider.
In Moto3, Spanish young talent Jorge Martin will face the race under a bit more pressure, since his main rival for the title, Marco Bezzecchi, is only 26 points behind after he didn’t get any points in Thailand due to a race incident. In any situation, Martin won’t leave Japan as champion, and the Moto3 is the championship where things are more unpredictable.