Alex Marquez Blames Himself After 'Unacceptable' Gear-Shifting Errors at Japanese GP

Gresini rider Alex Marquez endured a difficult weekend at Motegi, failing to score a single point in his worst showing since the season opener in Thailand. His troubles began during Saturday's sprint when a braking misjudgment at Turn 3 caused a collision involving Pedro Acosta and Fabio di Giannantonio, earning Marquez a double long lap penalty for the main race.

Despite serving both penalty loops during the Grand Prix, Marquez was running strongly in eighth place before crashing out on lap 19. The 30-year-old revealed that both his race crash and a fall during the extended warm-up session were caused by accidentally shifting up into fourth gear instead of downshifting to second at Turn 11 due to improper placement of his size 44 foot while leaning. This marked his third crash of the weekend, despite having topped Friday's main practice session.

Beyond his frustration over the driving errors, Marquez called on MotoGP officials to standardize long loop penalty sections across all circuits. He noted that the penalty loop at Motegi costs riders significantly more time compared to tracks like Brno, while also raising concerns about surface conditions such as bumps and drainage grates.