MOTEGI PRESS CONFERENCE ENDS AFTER JUST ONE MEDIA QUESTION

Marc Marquez’s Japanese Grand Prix victory completed a perfect weekend and cut Jorge Martin’s championship lead to two points. Marco Bezzecchi finished third, keeping himself in the title picture. The three leading riders then took part in an official post-race press conference that ended after just one question from journalists.

MotoGP commentator Matt Birt opened with questions of his own before inviting the media to speak. The sole question asked whether the riders regretted not testing the hard tyre before warm-up. Michelin had ruled out the soft compound for the race after Martin and Francesco Bagnaia suffered tyre-carcass tears in the Sprint, while several other riders experienced blistering. Marquez and Martin said the hard tyre’s performance had been unexpectedly strong. The open session lasted barely a minute, and Bezzecchi left quickly to catch a flight.

The riders also spoke in the broadcast pen and attended written-media debriefs, but the brief press conference still drew criticism. The report said the sparse turnout reflected the cost of travelling to Japan for many Europe-based journalists, as well as clashes with other media commitments. The Race journalist Simon Patterson also argued that MotoGP’s leadership does not care enough about the media.

The episode has renewed questions about how the championship handles press access at flyaway events. Reworking the schedule could help, but the report suggests that limited journalist attendance remains a wider obstacle to growing MotoGP’s profile beyond Europe. It contrasted the scene with Formula 1, Liberty Media’s other major motorsport property, arguing that such a short media session would be difficult to imagine at another leading sport.