Race report

MotoGP Japanese GP: Bagnaia grabs sprint win after Acosta's crash

Pedro Acosta’s fall while leading hands Bagnaia the Motegi sprint victory as Martin salvages fourth

Francesco Bagnaia took a six-point bite out of Jorge Martin’s MotoGP points advantage as he led a 1-2 for the factory Ducati team in the Japanese GP sprint race on Saturday.

Polesitter Pedro Acosta was thwarted in his quest for a maiden MotoGP victory after the Tech3 rider crashed out of the lead with three laps to go.

Martin limited the points damage Bagnaia could do after an excellent getaway from his lowly starting slot of 11th. The Pramac Ducati man rode a steady race to finish fourth, ensuring a decent points haul of his own.

Martin will go into Sunday's grand prix 15 points clear of Bagnaia.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3

Photo by: GasGas Factory Racing

While there was some drizzle in the air before the start and throughout parts of the race, the precipitation was never enough to make the riders consider wet tyres or create a truly damp track surface. In terms of slick compounds, all the leading contenders opted for a hard front and a soft rear for the 12-lapper.

Acosta did not land the getaway he wanted from pole position, which allowed Bagnaia to sweep into an early lead and the Italian’s team-mate Enea Bastianini to pass Acosta around the outside of the first corner.

This trio immediately began to pull away from Brad Binder (KTM), the fast-starting Martin, Franco Morbidelli (Pramac Ducati) and Marc Marquez (Gresini Ducati). Then, on lap three, the precocious Acosta made his move on double world champion Bagnaia.

The 20-year-old executed a perfect pass as he outbraked Bagnaia on the inside heading into Turn 5. After taking his time to settle back into a rhythm, he then appeared to pull the plug on lap eight, drawing out a distinct advantage on the two red Ducatis.

But Acosta was pushing that front end just a little too hard, as he learned when he tipped it into Turn 7 one lap later. After scooting through the gravel on his back, he will have to wait at least one more day to score the win that has eluded him thus far in his rookie season.

Acosta’s fall left Bagnaia to ward off Bastianini and Marc Marquez over the last couple of laps. Eight-time world champion Marquez briefly headed Bastianini between Turns 10 and 11 on the penultimate tour, but couldn’t seal the move and had to settle for third.

Marquez had initially made it up into the top three thanks to passing Morbidelli on lap one, Martin on lap two and Binder’s lap-three retirement with mechanical trouble.

After also passing his team-mate Morbidelli on the first lap, Martin stayed out of trouble on his run to fourth. He had reason to be cautious after picking up a track limits warning early in the race, and was smart enough to bag the points whilst keeping Morbidelli and Fabio di Giannantonio’s VR46 Ducati at arm’s length.

Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) emerged on top of an entertaining late four-way battle for seventh position, edging out Jack Miller (KTM), Maverick Vinales (who delivered a trademark horror start and first lap from the front row on his Aprilia) and Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati).

There was little joy for the home fans on Saturday, as the Japanese manufacturers went point-less with Fabio Quartararo’s factory Yamaha their best representative in 12th.

Local favourite Takaaki Nakagami, meanwhile, was punted out of the race by his LCR Honda team-mate Johann Zarco. Zarco was immediately issued with a long lap penalty for his role in the incident.

MotoGP Japanese GP - Sprint results:

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Retirement	Points
1	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1	Ducati	12	21'01.074		164.4		12
2	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23	Ducati	12	+0.181 21'01.255	0.181	164.4		9
3	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93	Ducati	12	+0.349 21'01.423	0.168	164.4		7
4	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89	Ducati	12	+2.498 21'03.572	2.149	164.1		6
5	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21	Ducati	12	+4.326 21'05.400	1.828	163.9		5
6	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	12	+4.446 21'05.520	0.120	163.8		4
7	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	12	+11.444 21'12.518	6.998	162.9		3
8	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43	KTM	12	+11.875 21'12.949	0.431	162.9		2
9	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12	Aprilia	12	+11.947 21'13.021	0.072	162.9		1
10	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72	Ducati	12	+12.299 21'13.373	0.352	162.8
11	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	12	+14.559 21'15.633	2.260	162.5
12	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	12	+14.645 21'15.719	0.086	162.5
13	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10	Honda	12	+15.886 21'16.960	1.241	162.4
14	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	12	+16.170 21'17.244	0.284	162.3
15	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37	KTM	12	+20.522 21'21.596	4.352	161.8
16	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	12	+24.415 21'25.489	3.893	161.3
17	L. Savadori Trackhouse Racing Team	32	Aprilia	12	+25.482 21'26.556	1.067	161.2
18	R. Gardner Yamaha Factory Racing	87	Yamaha	12	+32.620 21'33.694	7.138	160.3
dnf	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36	Honda	11	+1 Lap 20'06.209	1 Lap	157.6	Retirement
dnf	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41	Aprilia	9	+3 Laps 15'56.850	2 Laps	162.5	Accident
dnf	P. Acosta Tech 3	31	KTM	8	+4 Laps 13'59.465	1 Lap	164.7	Accident
dnf	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30	Honda	4	+8 Laps 7'11.845	4 Laps	160.0	Retirement
dnf	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	2	+10 Laps 3'34.988	2 Laps	160.7	Retirement
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