Marc Marquez wins 2016 MotoGP championship

Marquez came to the Motegi round holding a 52-point lead over Rossi, with Lorenzo a further 14 points behind in third and a slim mathematical chance for the championship.

The three title contenders qualified on the front row, Rossi on pole from Marquez and Lorenzo, the latter getting the early race lead while Rossi fell back to third.

When Rossi crashed on lap 7, Marquez had one hand on the 2016 trophy, but when Lorenzo crashed on lap 20, the championship was assured.

The final laps saw Marquez try and keep a lid on things until the chequered flag, then the celebrations began; the championship made all the sweeter as it was secured at Motegi - Honda's home track - on the 50th Anniversary of the Japanese manufacturer's debut in Grand Prix racing.

Younger brother Alex Marquez joined team members on the cool-down lap in celebrating his brother's championship, where a joyous Marc whooped and hollered.

 

Despite winning the championship, Marquez confessed to struggling with the switch to Michelin tyres and the new control ECU this season.

"Every year is really hard and every year you do your maximum, but especially this year the pressure that I felt, especially in the beginning of the season, was really high," Marquez said.

"This championship is really important because in 2013 and 2014 I didn't expect [to] win. Maybe a real champion is when you can take the pressure and last year I learn that maybe the approach of the races, the consisten[cy], is very important too.

"When I was riding and there remained five laps or six laps, I started thinking, 'okay, in Australia I need to finish seventh or eighth to be world champion'. Then when I saw Lorenzo out, everything became crazy in my head."

 

Marquez made his World Championship debut in 2008, aged 15, winning the 125 World Championship in 2010.

Stepping up to the Moto2 class in 2011, the rider from Cervera won that championship the following year.

In 2013, Marquez replaced Casey Stoner at the Repsol Honda MotoGP team. Securing a podium in his first premier class race, the Spaniard then won the second round at the Circuit of the Americas. Five more wins and nine podiums saw Marquez win the MotoGP championship, becoming the first rookie to win the premier class title in 35 years.

Backing up in 2014, Marquez was simply dominant, winning the first ten races, then three more before wrapping up the title in Japan.

Last year was the first hiccup in the Marquez MotoGP story; securing five wins, but also six DNFs in a season when Lorenzo took the championship.

Most agree that the experience of 2015 saw Marquez take a more measured approach this year - still aggressive, but settling for second and third place results, rather than going all-out for race wins.