Marc Marquez will be crowned champion if he wins the race, Valentino Rossi finishes 15th or lower and Jorge Lorenzo finishes off the podium.
Marquez has two Japanese GP wins in 125cc and Moto2, but his best results in MotoGP are respective second places in 2013 and 2014.
Japan will host the fifteenth round of the 2016 MotoGP season this weekend, with the first of a three-race run on consecutive weekends that also takes in GPs in Australia and Malaysia. Marc Marquez arrives at Motegi off the back of an important victory at the Aragon Grand Prix, which gives him his first opportunity to become a five-time World Champion across the classes. He currently leads the premier class standings with 248 points and can clinch the title if he wins at Motegi, Valentino Rossi finishes 15th or lower and Jorge Lorenzo places off the podium.
Marc Marquez: “The triple-header always marks a demanding period in the season because there are three races in a row in different time zones and different conditions, so we must handle them calmly and with the same mind-set we have kept throughout this season. The Japanese Grand Prix is an important appointment for us as it is Honda’s home race and one where we have great memories, as we clinched the title in 2014. On the other hand, it’s a circuit that has always been a bit challenging for us. So for example, if Aragon was a track that I marked for attacking, Motegi is one that I marked for giving up as few points as possible. That said, we’ll approach it with an open mentality, aiming for the best result possible but ready to adapt to the circumstances.“
