Overview
- Àlex Márquez topped Friday practice at Motegi with a new lap record of 1:42.811, beating Pedro Acosta and Marc Márquez while championship leader Jorge Martín sat eighth in practice.
- Ducati says it has identified the GP26 brake fault that produced inconsistent braking in Austria and will attempt repairs before racing, a development Marc Márquez called confidence‑restoring.
- The championship remains close with Jorge Martín 12 points clear of Marc Márquez and Marco Bezzecchi 42 back, and the seven races left in nine weeks raise the cost of any single weekend error.
- Motegi's newly resurfaced asphalt adds a fresh variable because teams do not yet know how Michelin tyres will wear there, which could change which manufacturers and riders are competitive.
- Key short-term storylines to follow are sprint and race pace at Motegi, whether Ducati's brake fix works under race conditions, and which teams adapt fastest as the calendar moves to Indonesia and the tight Asia‑Pacific block.