Pedro Acosta’s dream of a first MotoGP victory turned into a nightmare during Saturday’s Sprint Race in Japan. The KTM rookie, who started from pole position, led the race with mastery before falling just four laps from the end. Despite a difficult start, Acosta quickly regained the lead after being overtaken by Pecco Bagnaia in the opening moments of the race.
The fall ofAcosta opened the way to
Bagnaiawho knew how to take advantage of the opportunity to take the lead and establish himself in this Sprint
Race. But this victory was not without suspense, since in the last laps, his teammate Enea Bastianini et Marc Marquez (Ducati GP 23 Gresini Racing) almost caught him. The battle between
Bastian’sand you Marquez was intense, with the Italian driver responding brilliantly to the eight-time world champion’s attempts to overtake.
Pecco Bagnaia crossed the finish line just 0.181 seconds ahead of
Bastianini and 0.349 seconds on
Marquez. This success, the sixth of the season in a Sprint race for the driver Ducatiallows it to get closer to 15 points from Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) in the general classification.
Martinwho started from the fourth row, made a good comeback to finish fourth, taking advantage of the fall ofAcosta and early abandonment of
Brad Binder (KTM).
Franco Morbidelli finished fifth on the Pramac Racing Ducati GP24 Factory, ahead of Fabio di Giannantonio (VR46 Racing Team) et Alex
Marquez (Gresini Racing). Jack Miller
(KTM) and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) completed the top 10, the latter having paid the price for a poor start from the front row.
Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati VR46 Racing Team) finished eleventh, followed by Raul Fernandez (Aprilia Trackhouse) et de Fabio Quartararowho saved the honor of Yamaha finishing 13th. Luca Marinibest driver Hondafinished 14th, followed by Johann Zarcopenalized for causing his teammate to fall Takaaki Nakagami.
Other finishers include Augusto Fernandez (KTM GASGAS Tech3), Alex Rins
(Yamaha), Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia TrackHouse),
et le wild-card Remy Gardner. Joan Mir et Aleix Espargaró fell but without seriousness.
With this victory, Pecco Bagnaia comes dangerously close to Jorge Martin in the championship and shows that he remains a serious contender for the title, while the bad luck ofAcosta deprived him of a first victory in MotoGP. But Sunday will be another day in this
Japanese Grand Prix suspenseful. Here is the program.
2024 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix Schedule
Sunday October 6
Warm-Up MotoGP 02:40-02:50
Course Moto3 04:00
Course Moto2 05:15
Course MotoGP 07:00
MotoGP Sprint Race Results
MotoGP General Ranking
