Race

Zarco eager to return to pits

Zarco, who went down just before the red flag came out, is desperately trying to get his Ducati back to his garage to be able to take the restart.

IF there is a restart, that is ...

Red flag out

And that's the red flag out due to the weather conditions.

Conditions get worse, Marquez gets better

Marquez is starting to come into his own here as he sweeps past Bezzecchi and instantly pulls a gap. He is gradually closing in on Bagnaia.

Further behind, Espargaro raises his hand to indicate the rain is getting critical.

Bagnaia in trouble

Bagnaia will be in trouble here soon as Bezzecchi closes in on him, dragging Marquez with him.

Marquez picks up Oliveira

That's Marquez past Oliveira into fourth while there must have been some kind of issue for Bagnaia who suddenly lost more than half a second to Martin.

The rain is getting worse here.

Gaps decrease

Bagnaia reduces the gap to Martin ever so slightly, but, crucially, the chasing trio is now running faster than the two leaders.

One second separates the front runners

Bagnaia has reduced the gap to Martin to around a second but currently doesn't look in contention to trouble his championship rival.

Bezzecchi is running third ahead of Oliveira while Marquez currently holds fifth.

Espargaro goes the wrong way

Espargaro is struggling here as Bezzecchi sweeps past him, swiftly followed by Oliveira as well.

Martin escapes

Martin is pulling a gap here chased by Bagnaia who swiftly made his way past Espargaro.

Martin slices through the field

Martin is making everyone else look like sitting ducks here as he goes past first Bagnaia, then Espargaro and makes it look easy as well.

Bagnaia and Martin on the move

Bagnaia moves up into second and, moments later, Martin also sweeps past Marquez whose race is going in the wrong direction.

Pirro in, Espargaro leads

Pirro surrenders to the rain and comes in for a bike swap.

Espargaro inherits the lead and has a bit of a gap over Marquez who ran wide when attacking. Instead, Bagnaia has worked his way up the order and now challenges the Repsol Honda.

Pirro still leads

Cuiously, Pirro, not having swapped bikes yet, is leading the race and still running a respectable-ish pace.

Martin runs wide

Martin loses the position as he runs wide. Espargaro inherits the position but he is under attack from Marquez.

The pack has caught Morbidelli who opted to stay out.

Martin claims de facto race lead

Martin overtakes Espargaro to lead the riders who have swapped and with those still on slicks in some discomfort, he takes the de facto race lead.

Quartararo and Crutchlow head to their box for swaps.

Majority swaps bikes

Most riders head into the pits to swap bikes onto wet tyres.

Pirro, Quartararo, Bradl, Morbidelli, and Crutchlow are the only exceptions.

Martin holds P1 at lights out

Martin takes the holeshot while Miller slots into second. Bagnaia in third is under attack from Espargaro.

There's contact between Vinales and Zarco further down the field.

White flags are already out, allowing riders to swap bikes.

Warm Up lap and tyre news

The riders are out on track for the warm up lap.

There may have been some late tyre changes given the conditions, but it looks like the preferred option here is a soft font, medium rear or soft/hard combination.

Spare bikes are being prepared in the pits.

Rain increases

The spots of rain are starting to look heavier. However, these are still clearly slick conditions; there is no point in gambling on a wet or intermediate tyre start.

On the grid

Here is a reminder of how the grid is shaping up today:

Weather report

There is a bit of a drizzle just now, but nothing to upset things yet. The consensus is that proper rain will arrive at *some* point during the race, making tyre decisions very difficult.

These are the coldest conditions we've had here yet.

Cal Crutchlow wild cards in Motegi

Cal Crutchlow is back on the MotoGP grid this weekend as a wild card for Yamaha.

Martin doubles up in Sprint

A masterclass display took Jorge Martin to his third consecutive Sprint victory. Leading from the first corner, the Ducati rider was untouchable. Brad Binder once more proved his race craft from the second row and finished the race in a lonely runner-up position while Francesco Bagnaia took the chequered flag in third.

Read all about it:

Martin storms to pole

There was no stopping Jorge Martin in qualifying as the Spaniard saw off Francesco Bagnaia by almost two tenths to bag pole position. Jack Miller concluded the front row another two tenths behind.

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Hello and welcome

Good morning and thank you for joining our live text coverage of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix. Jorge Martin is on a roll and cutting down the championship points gap to Francesco Bagnaia more and more. Only eight points separate the Ducati duo now - could the next twist in the tale arrive here in Motegi?

Japanese Grand Prix Live - MotoGP title fight continues in Motegi