Marc Marquez “afraid” following Pecco Bagnaia’s smoking Ducati in Japan MotoGP

MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez admits he was “afraid” about crashing when Pecco Bagnaia’s Ducati started to puff smoke ahead of him in the Japanese Grand Prix.

The 32-year-old was crowned the 2025 world champion on Sunday at Motegi, after finishing second as sole title rival Alex Marquez took the chequered flag in sixth.

It ended a six-year wait for Marc Marquez since his last title, and comes in the wake of major injury setbacks and a massive career decision to switch Honda for Ducati at the end of 2023.

Marquez’s coronation looked guaranteed for much of the grand prix, though the latter stages of his race were made all the more nervous by eventual winner Pecco Bagnaia’s Ducati puffing smoke.

The issue didn’t deny Bagnaia a first grand prix win since COTA, but Marquez admits he was scared that he could end up crashing on oil.

“I mean, it’s true that you see in the first part of the race that I was a bit more stiff than usual to overtake [Pedro] Acosta,” he said.

“I tried in the beginning but then I decided to wait.

“When the tyres drop, I know that my pace is good.

“And when I was in second, I just controlled a but the distance between me, Pecco and Joan.

“But Joan started to push. Then I said ‘Ok, I will push, I want to finish second’.

“But then I saw some smoke from Pecco’s bike. And I was afraid, because the first rider behind Pecco was me.

“So, if someone was to fall down, it was me. But luckily for me, for all the riders and for Pecco, nothing happened and we finished the day in a good way.”\

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Had Marc Marquez crashed out and Bagnaia also failed to finish, it would have promoted Alex Marquez from sixth to fourth, which would have stopped the title being won this weekend.

Marc Marquez is now a seven-time MotoGP world champion and nine-time grand prix title winner across all classes, drawing him level with great foe Valentino Rossi.

Ducati could complete the triple crown next weekend in Indonesia with another success in the teams’ championship to go alongside its riders’ and constructors’ triumphs in 2025.