Marquez is the 5th time world champion

Marc Marquez has won the 2016 MotoGP World Championship at the Twin Ring Motegi track in Japan. This is the Spaniard’s 3rd MotoGP championship with two other in championships in both Moto3 and Moto2 under his belt.

Photo courtesy of Repsol Honda

The 23-year-old qualified second on the grid before the race, leading with a total of 248 points in the championship, 52 points ahead of Valentino Rossi and 66 points ahead of the 2015 MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo. Marquez’s win was one of the most unlikely considering the battle for the championship in this season.

 Marquez had a good start which allowed him to steal the lead from Rossi before the first corner of the 2.983 mile circuit. However, by the second corner Marquez was pushed back to third position with Lorenzo in first, before overtaking Rossi in the fourth corner.

The battle for second was getting feisty between Marquez and Rossi with Marquez aggressively overtaking Rossi every opportunity he got.

Eugene Laverty crashed out on lap 22 of the 24 lap race, but caused no inconvenience to other racers.

Marquez then boldly overtook Lorenzo, showing the crowd that he was on the charge and achieving the fast lap of the race thus far with a time of 1:45.577.

On the following lap Rossi overtook Lorenzo on the same corner Marquez made his move, pushing Lorenza into third position after his extensive lead from the start.

Jack Miller was the next racer to then go down on the first corner of lap 18, his 4^th crash of the season.

Valentino Rossi was the next rider to crash on turn 10 of the track, his right leg stuck under his Factory Yamaha bike. Rossi, however with the help of marshals, was able to get up and restart the bike, re-entering the race in 19^th position. But after all the effort, Rossi pulled into the pits with some bike problems evident. The cause of the crash was just a front end of the bike wash-out, causing him to go off track and into the gravel.

Hector Barbara was the next rider to crash out of the race on lap 16.

Looking back at the championship leader board, with Rossi out of the race and with the possibility of Lorenzo finishing 5^th, Marquez fast gaining the championship. Andrea Dovizioso currently in 3^rd and Aleix Espargaro in 4^th chasing down Lorenzo.

However, with Lorenzo being battered and bruised after a horrific crash during the qualifying stage before race day in Japan, a question mark was hanging over his head wondering if he could keep up the pace as Dovizioso started closing in on the current champion.

The battle for 4^th place was then the focus during lap 17 between Espargaro and Maverick Vinales. Vinales won the battle overtaking Espargaro and grabbing the last podium position.

It was only when Lorenzo then crashed out of the race, five laps before the end of the race, that Marc Marquez’s championship win was made final.

Marquez took the win for the first time ever in Japan with a time of 42:34.610, followed by Dovizioso in second, behind by 2.992 seconds. Vinales finished in third.

This is what Marquez had to say about his win in Japan: "It's incredible! Before the race I didn't expect to be Champion, and I said that here it would be impossible. However, when I saw that Rossi was out of the race, I decided to push hard for the victory. I was riding my hardest, and when there were three laps to go, I read on my pit board that Lorenzo was also was also out; on that same lap, I made mistakes in four or five corners, as it was difficult to stay focused! I'm very happy because this title is very special considering some of the crashes I had last year, and also because it came at Motegi, Honda's home. Honda has worked so hard this year, and you could see the fruits of that effort also at this track, where we've struggled in the past. I myself also improved during the season; for instance, I learned how to better use the front Michelin tyre. It has been a demanding year, but a fantastic one. It's great for my team, and of course I don't want to forget my grandmother, who passed away this year and would be very happy with this World Championship. Now we can just enjoy it and go into the last three races with maybe a more 'Marc Marquez' style.''

When interviewed by SuperSport correspondents, Rossi said, "First of all, I would like to say that I'm OK, fortunately no problems. On the other hand, it's a shame, because I was quite strong and I had a good pace. Unfortunately, my start was not fantastic and I lost positions to Marquez and Lorenzo. After that, Marquez was a bit faster than me to overtake Lorenzo, I lost a bit more time behind Lorenzo, but the pace was good. I was able to push a lot to try and catch Marquez but unfortunately I lost the front. Sincerely, I felt nothing - not too fast, too wide or too deep - but I lost the front and logically I made a mistake."

When asked about the Australian race at Phillip Island, Marquez told crash.net that "It's fantastic to arrive at Phillip Island with no pressure for the championship as the track is one of my favourites in the calendar along with Austin and Aragon. It's so fast and flowing and you really have a lot of fun riding there. One of the main issues to take into account there is the weather. It's usually very cold during this period of the year ad always windy, something that you feel a lot, especially at the end of the final straight. You have to find a setup to make the bike as stable as possible. We'll try to win some more races before the end of the year as there are also the Constructors and the Team titles to think of."

The next MotoGP race will be held at the Australian Grand Prix in Phillip Island on Sunday, 23rd of October.