"I’m at peace with myself," reckons Marquez after clinching his seventh MotoGP title in Motegi

Having clinched his seventh MotoGP title in Motegi, Marc Márquez admitted that he struggles to " find the words to describe [his] emotions," but the Spaniard revealed that he is "at peace with myself" after his seriious injuries that almost brought an end to his MotoGP career.

Satarting from pole position, Francesco Bagnaia had a great launch off the line and was able to keep the lead into the opening corner. However, his teammate Marc Marquez had a similar start as yesterday, and fell back to fourth, while KTM factory rider Pedro Acosta jumped into second place at the start.

However, the Ducati rider regained third place on the opening, which meant that the opening lap saw Bagnaia lead from Acosta, Marquez and Honda rider Joan Mir.

In the opening stages of the race, Marquez did not look too comfortable on his Ducati Desmosedici, and had to sit behind Acosta for the first 10 laps before getting the move for second done on the 11th tour.

But by now, Bagnaia built up a gap of over three seconds from the chasing pack just as he did in the sprint. The gap between Bagnaia and Marquez dropped over the final laps, possibly due to the technical issue for the Italian, but his machine held out to the chequered flag for his second grand prix victory of the season.

Thanks to the second-place finish scored today at Motegi, Marc Marquez clinched his seventh MotoGP title, the first with Borgo Panigale’s red machine.

Commenting on his seventh world title, Marquez said: “It’s hard to find the words to describe the emotions I’m feeling right now. After the challenges and the injuries of 2020, I continued to fight and I can now say I’m at peace with myself.

"This has been the biggest challenge for me: since I joined MotoGP, I was straight away very competitive and won a lot, before going from glory to years of hardships marked by injuries, crashes and results that were surely not exciting. I never gave up and stayed focused on myself, following my instincts and making important – yet not simple – decisions.

Having joined the factory Ducati team at the start of the season, Marquez has admitted that his dominant form was aided by the Italian manufacturer's competitive form.

"This is why this world title is the best way to close the circle. Obviously, to make it back to the top I had to embrace the most competitive project and ride the best bike designed by the most winning manufacturer in recent years – Ducati.

"This surely helped a lot. There’s the work of so many people behind the curtain – too many to be named one by one – whom I thank with my heart. It was without a doubt the perfect decision.”