Bagnaia wins Japanese GP Sprint as Martin recovers to fourth and Acosta crashes from lead

Francesco Bagnaia took a strong victory ahead of teammate Enea Bastianini at the Japanese Sprint Race, as Jorge Martin recovered to fourth after starting from outside the Top 10.

The race start would be relatively clean throughout the field, as Jorge Martin made an exceptional start, overtaking six riders, the Spaniard managing t0 finish in fifth place at the end of the opening lap. Francesco Bagnaia would hold the lead at the beginning of the race, as Pedro Acosta chased after the reigning champion, with Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez just behind.

Maverick Vinales would have a poor start, dropping from third place to ninth on the opening lap. Pedro Acosta would lose the lead of the race at the beginning, however would quickly recover, duelling with Bagnaia for multiple laps, the KTM firing out of the corners particularly well compared to the Ducati.

In the closing stages of the race, Acosta was poised to take his first race victory in MotoGP, building a steady lead over Bagnaia and Bastianini. Meanwhile, Marc Marquez had made progress early on in the race, recovering from ninth on the grid to fourth in the closing few laps.

Takaaki Nakagami, the Japanese rider at his home circuit, would devastatingly crash out of the race in the closing stages as Honda recorded yet another difficult race, with this result even more brutal, at their home race as well.

With just a few short laps remaining, Pedro Acosta would crash out of the race, the rookie losing the front of his KTM at Turn 7 on entry, as the Spaniard went sliding out into the gravel.

Bagnaia would therefore inherit the lead of the race, bringing home a Ducati 1-2 in the Sprint Race, with Marquez following the pair just a few seconds adrift. Jorge Martin and Franco Morbidelli would both finish inside the Top 5 for Prima Pramac after a difficult Qualifying earlier, a particularly impressive race as Martin minimises losing points. However, Bagnaia does close to Martin in the World Championship as we head into the Grand Prix at 06:00 UK Time on Sunday.

MotoGP Japan – Sprint Results

1st Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati
2nd Enea Bastianini, Ducati
3rd Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing
4th Jorge Martin, Prima Pramac
5th Franco Morbidelli, Prima Pramac
6th Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing
7th Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
8th Jack Miller, Red Bull Factory KTM
9th Maverick Vinales, Aprilia
10th Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing
11th Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing
12th Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha
13th Luca Marini, Repsol Honda
14th Johann Zarco, LCR Honda
15th Augusto Fernandez, Red Bull GasGas KTM
16th Alex Rins, Yamaha
17th Lorenzo Savadori, Trackhouse Racing
18th Remy Gardner, Yamaha Test Team
DNF Joan Mir, Repsol Honda
DNF Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia
DNF Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GasGas KTM
DNF Takaaki Nakagami, LCR Honda
DNF Brad Binder, Red Bull Factory KTM