Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez won the 2018 MotoGP world title after Andrea Dovizioso had an accident at the Japanese GP on Sunday (10/21).
Dovizioso started the race perfectly. While Marquez successfully climbed from sixth to third at the third corner. A few laps later Marquez was able to overtake Jack Miller and win second place.
Miller was lucky to survive on the first lap. The reason, the Australian rider had touched with Johann Zarco at the start.
Entering third lap, Marquez really pressured Dovizioso by just 0.111 seconds adrift. While the LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow managed to overtake Miller in third place.
On the fourth lap, Crutchlow successfully overtook Marquez at the seventh corner. Two laps then Rossi successfully climbed to fourth by overtaking Miller. Entering the sixth lap, the race began to take shape with Dovizioso, Crutchlow and Marquez in the front row.
The top three positions lasted until the eighth lap before Marquez again overtook Crutchlow in second place. While Rossi is quite comfortable in the fourth position despite not threatening Crutchlow’s position.
Entering the tenth lap, Marquez continued to press Dovizioso. But, the 25-year-old rider looks not too pushy. While Crutchlow was also unable to put more pressure on Marquez. One lap after Rossi slipped two places to sixth after overtaking by duo Suzuki, Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins.
The drama took place on lap 13, Marquez successfully overtook Dovizioso in the seventh corner, but then made a mistake by leaving the track until he entered the gravel after passing the ninth corner. The error was successfully used by Dovizioso to reclaim the leading position.
With six laps left, Dovizioso and Marquez are superior to Cructhlow. The British rider was left behind by 1.3 seconds from Marquez. While Dovizioso was just 0.2 seconds adrift of Marquez.
Marquez continued to press Dovizioso until he finally led the race on lap 20. The competition between Marquez and Dovizioso continued until the 23rd lap, before Dovizioso made a mistake and fell in the corner of the top ten.
Marquez finally won the Japanese MotoGP race and confirmed the 2018 MotoGP world title. Crutchlow managed to finish second and Rins won the third podium. This victory ensured the world champion Marquez finished with 296 points, 102 points ahead of nearest rival Dovizioso (194 points). With three races remaining, Marquez’s point cannot be overtaken.
Marquez confirmed his fifth MotoGP world title in the last six seasons. Coupled with the 125cc and Moto2 world titles, the rider nicknamed The Baby Alien has collected seven Grand Prix world titles.
