Somkiat Chantra, the Thai rider, delivered a top performance to secure the 15th grid position at MotoGP held at Mobility Resort Motegi, Japan.
“Kong” Somkiat Chantra, the beloved Thai rider from the factory team Honda HRC Castrol, showed strong form riding the Honda RC213V to claim the 15th grid spot in the 16th round of the 2026 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix. He aims to score points in the sprint and main races this weekend at Mobility Resort Motegi, Japan.
The Japanese Grand Prix qualifying session to determine the starting order took place on the morning of Saturday, 3 October under clear skies and slightly warmer temperatures than the previous day, allowing all riders to achieve better grip.
“Kong” Somkiat Chantra, a Thai rider from the Honda Race to the Dream program, made his MotoGP return with the factory team Honda HRC Castrol, impressively improving his speed on the Honda RC213V bike number 15 after just one day of practice.
Qualifying results showed “Kong” Somkiat delivering an impressive performance, setting a lap time of 1 minute 43.196 seconds in the final Q1 session. He will start 15th on the grid for both the sprint and main races. His Italian teammate, Luca Marini, riding bike number 10, will start 16th with a lap time of 1 minute 43.278 seconds.
The Japanese Grand Prix sprint race is scheduled for the same day at 13:00 Thai time. The main race day on Sunday, 4 October, will begin with Moto3 at 09:00, followed by Moto2 at 10:15, and conclude with MotoGP at 12:00.