Marquez and Bastianini Count Themselves Out: 2024 MotoGP Title Race Narrows to Martin and Bagnaia

Marc Marquez concedes defeat in his quest for the 2024 MotoGP championship

Marc Marquez signals surrender in his aspirations for the title

Marc Marquez has stated that both his and Enea Bastianini's chances of winning the 2024 MotoGP championship are effectively ended after neither of them scored points at the Indonesian Grand Prix.

Heading into the latter stages of the season, each racer was considered a dark horse for the championship, trailing the front-runner Jorge Martin by 50 and 53 points respectively following the Mandalika sprint race.

A dramatic engine malfunction for Marquez and Bastianini's wipeout from third place in the Indonesian GP have left them trailing Martin by 75 and 78 points, respectively, as they head into this weekend's Japanese GP at Motegi.

Though technically still a contender, Marquez acknowledges that the last five races of 2024 have essentially become a duel between Martin and Francesco Bagnaia.

"He believes that's the case," he replied, when questioned whether the title race was down to Martin and Bagnaia before Motegi.

"In my opinion, it's a close race between the two, particularly since they're slightly quicker than the rest."

"It appears that in Mandalika, neither Bastianini nor I managed to secure any points."

"Thus, we dropped a significant number of points, and it's essentially the end of the line since the distance is too great to bridge. However, it's still going to be a good experience."

"We'll make an effort to compete against both since they're expected to be extremely quick in the upcoming races."

Following his victory at the Aragon Grand Prix, Marquez has expressed that he has achieved his goals for the 2024 season, thus not placing himself strongly in the race for the championship title.

Currently, his primary objectives are to enhance his reliability during the qualifying rounds, particularly after experiencing three consecutive crashes in Q2, and to conclude the season on a high note.

"As I've mentioned prior to Mandalika and Misano, my goal is to end the season on a high note, focusing on achieving consistency and working on my areas of improvement," he further stated.

"Let's aim to contend for a top-three finish."

Before the Japanese Grand Prix, Bastianini maintains that his opportunity to win the championship is still alive, pointing out, "the difference in points is increasing, yet it's still feasible according to the numbers."

Heading into the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, Martin leads Bagnaia by a narrow margin of 21 points in the standings, following his victory in Indonesia last weekend.

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