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MotoGP, Does Marquez's decision to forfeit Austin rob him of any hope of the title or not?

Honda and Marquez start uphill, but now the provisional leader of the championship is Marco Bezzecchi, with 50 points, followed by Bagnaia with 41 and Zarco with 35. With so many races available, the total tally of the championship is 777 points

MotoGP: Does Marquez's decision to forfeit Austin rob him of any hope of the title or not?

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The new MotoGP format with the Sprint race on Saturday and the Grand Prix on Sunday awards 12+25 points each weekend. Which leads to a prize pool of 777 for the championship, if all 21 races are disputed.

After missing Argentina and giving up the GP of the Americas, Marc Marquez has therefore said goodbye to the grand total of 74 points, and Honda only knows if he needed them given that the Portimao accident which forced him to abandon the GP meant that he came home with just 7 points in total.

If we add to these the other (possible) 25 points lost in Portugal as the maximum score, we arrive at a outright loss of 99 points!

If we were reasoning with the old system, we could say that the 2023 world championship is already over and done for him, but considering the new points total haul, is that still the case?

Well, certainly Honda and Marquez start uphill, but now the provisional leader of the championship is Marco Bezzecchi, with 50 points, followed by Bagnaia with 41 and Zarco with 35. The gap will increase next week, but by how much? Everything will depend on the next winner(s) of the GP of the Americas, because the maximum tally will still be 37 points.

If it were Bagnaia who hit the target once again, he would score 78 points, +71 on Marquez. A good number, but not out of reach for the Honda rider who would still have 18 Grands Prix (and 36 races in total) to shorten the gap.

The impression is that, however, the exploit will depend mainly on Honda's ability to make up the disadvantage from a technical point of view.

 

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