It was Marquez’s 54th career premier class victory, drawing him level with Australian great Mick Doohan.
All the while, it was on for third — starting sixth, Jack Miller pushed into P3 before a small mistake at Turn 10 handed the spot to Franco Morbidelli.
By Lap 2, Marquez had pushed out to a 1.2s lead, and was the only rider into the 1m45s bracket.
A lap later, Miller pressed his case for a fourth season podium as he motored past Morbidelli, who himself was searching for a maiden MotoGP podium.
Marquez and Quartararo had gone separate directions on tyres — Marquez on a medium rear, Quartararo on a soft — and the gap had plateaued to a second.
However, Miller — who had elected to go with the soft rear — began to fall back from the leading duo, and on Lap 10, Morbidelli snuck past at Turn 1. At Turn 6, Maverick Vinales also powered past the Australian.
By Lap 12, Marquez’s lead was out to 1.8s, before it was a massive 2.8s with seven laps to go. In that time, Miller had tumbled down to eighth as Andrea Dovizisoso, Alex Rins and Cal Crutchlow all muscled past.
Quartararo cut the gap down to two seconds by Lap 20, but by then, it was too late, Marquez holding firm at the front.
The battle for third proved the race’s key point as the laps wound down, with Dovizioso and Vinales jumping Morbidelli. As the factory Ducati rider pushed for a 100th podium, Dovizioso began to close on Quartararo, who had closed on Marquez.
Anxiety over the result aside, few could match Marquez on the day, with the world champ sealing a fourth win in a row, and 10th of 2019 as he again tamed the Twin Ring Motegi.
It was the first time since 2014 — when he won 10 in a row — that Marquez has won four or more consecutive races.
The result also sealed the constructors’ podium for Honda, while Quartararo – with a sixth podium of 2019 – wrapped up Rookie of the Year honours.
Source: Fox Sports