Marc Marquez admitted to feeling the weight of a looming ninth world title during Saturday’s Japanese MotoGP, after a scrappy Sprint where he fought through to second behind Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia.

Marquez, who can clinch his first crown since 2019 this weekend, began the day with a practice crash before settling his nerves by qualifying on the front row.

But despite starting five places ahead of brother Alex, his only remaining title rival, the title tension returned in the Sprint.

“I feel some extra weight. I’m not riding smooth, comfortable this weekend,” Marquez told MotoGP.com. 

“That first lap of the Sprint, I felt that weight on my shoulders again. I was more stiffer than usual. So let’s see if tomorrow we can start in a better way.”

Marquez dropped behind KTM’s Pedro Acosta and Honda’s Joan Mir on the opening lap, then repeatedly ran wide.

But once tyre performance dropped during the second half of the 12 laps, he was the fastest on track.

The #93 used the growing grip differential to force his way past Mir with a motocross-style block pass, then reeled in Acosta to snatch second.

“The most difficult thing of the Sprint race is overtaking Joan Mir and Pedro!” Marquez said. 

“They are braking super late, super hard. With Joan, always when he feels something [alongside], he releases brakes. But this time, I said, I will release a bit more!”

Marquez finished 1.8s behind Bagnaia, who claimed his first Sprint victory of 2025 to end a ten-race rostrum drought.

“Already in Misano, he was fast,” Marquez noted. “From FP1 here, he was riding in a very good way. It’s better if your team-mate is faster because I can compare, adapt and even share some comments.”

With Alex Marquez outside the points in tenth, Marc can afford to lose six points to his brother on Sunday and still seal the championship with five rounds to spare.