After 100 crashes and 4 surgeries, Marc Marquez becomes world champion again at Japanese Grand Prix

Marc Marquez sealed his 7th MotoGP world title at the Japanese Grand Prix, his 1st since 2019. The Ducati rider secured the crown with 5 races left, taking an unbeatable lead.

Marc Marquez only needed to finish ahead of his brother, Alex Marquez of Gresini Racing, by 3 points. Marc managed this by finishing 2nd behind teammate Francesco Bagnaia. Alex came 6th. Honda’s Joan Mir took 3rd place.

The result gave Marc a massive 201-point advantage in the championship. As Alex warmly hugged him after the race, Marc held his head in his hands after the finish before screaming in joy.

Marc Marquez stopped by a big screen after winning and grew emotional watching a video of his 6-year struggle. His career since 2019 has been marked by more than 100 crashes and 4 surgeries.

He reclaimed the crown after 2,184 days. His victory was sealed when he engraved his name on the silver MotoGP trophy, the iconic ‘Tower of Champions’.

"It's impossible even to speak... I just want to enjoy the moment, but it's true that it was difficult, it was super difficult, but now I'm at peace with myself," Reuters quoted Marquez as saying while the Spanish racer fought back tears.

"I did a big mistake in my career, to come back too early (from surgery) and then I fight, fight, fight - and I won again! So I'm at peace," Marquez added.

Ducati's pole sitter and Saturday's sprint winner Bagnaia had a strong start and two laps later he was more than a second clear of KTM's Pedro Acosta while Marquez slotted in behind his Spanish compatriot in third place.

Marquez eventually found a way past Acosta when he tucked into his slipstream and overtook him on lap 11, but he was staring at a gap of four seconds to his teammate Bagnaia, who was streaking away to his second victory of the season.

With 11 laps left, Acosta was clearly struggling for grip, and Mir pounced to move up to third. The 2020 champion, who had retired from 10 races this season, was chasing a rare podium finish.

The Ducati paddock had a few heart-stopping moments in the second half of the race when Bagnaia's bike began emitting smoke as Marquez began to close in rapidly, but the Italian was eventually able to nurse his bike to the chequered flag.

(With Reuters inputs)