Marc Marquez admits it’s “game over” for his 2024 MotoGP title hopes

Marc Marquez says his and Enea Bastianini’s 2024 MotoGP title hopes are “game over” following their non-scores at the Indonesian Grand Prix.

Both riders had an outside shot at fighting for the title in the final part of the season, with both 50 and 53 points off championship leader Jorge Martin after the Mandalika sprint.

But a spectacular engine failure for Marquez and a crash out of third for Bastianini in the Indonesian GP has put them 75 and 78 points behind Martin ahead of this weekend’s Japanese GP at Motegi.

While mathematically still in contention, Marquez concedes that the final five rounds of 2024 is a two-horse race between Martin and Francesco Bagnaia now.

“I think so,” he said when asked if the championship was between Martin and Bagnaia ahead of Motegi.

“I think it’s head-to-head between both of them, especially they are a bit faster than the others.

“And it looks like in Mandalika, me and Bastianini we didn’t score points.

“So, we lost many points there and [it’s] game over because it’s too far [to close the gap]. But it will be nice.

“For us, we will try to fight with both of them because they will be super fast in these final races.”

Since winning the Aragon GP, Marquez has said that his targets for the 2024 season have been completed, and therefore didn’t factor himself deeply into title contention.

For him now, improving his consistency in qualifying - especially after three successive Q2 crashes - and finishing the year strongly are his main goals.

“I will try to, as I said before Mandalika and Misano, finish the season in a good way, trying to find that consistency and trying to improve my weak points,” he added.

“Let’s see if we can fight for the podium.”

Bastianini, ahead of the Japanese GP, hasn’t completely ended his chances at the title, noting: “the gap in the championship is getting bigger, but it’s not mathematically impossible”.

Just 21 points splits Martin and Bagnaia at the top of the standings coming into the Japanese GP weekend following the former's win in Indonesian last weekend.