Francesco Bagnaia profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint on Saturday and close the gap on overall championship leader Jorge Martin.
Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez.
Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under heavy clouds with intermittent spots of rain. “It’s the maximum so thanks to my team again and let’s keep working like this.”
Four race weekends remain after today’s Grand Prix in Japan. Pramac rider Martin is looking to win his first MotoGP championship after finishing second behind Ducati’s Bagnaia last year.
Acosta was looking for his maiden sprint win after taking pole for the first time in the morning qualifying. The 20-year-old lost the lead to Bagnaia at the first corner but regained it soon after and was pushing hard for the victory.
Instead, he slipped off his bike and let Bagnaia through, although the Italian still had to fight hard to hold off Bastianini and Marquez in a frantic finish. Bagnaia finished just 0.181sec ahead of Ducati teammate Bastianini and 0.349 in front of Marquez.
Bastianini is third in the overall championship standings and shaved Martin’s lead over him to 72 points. Martin started from 11th place on the grid but a tremendous start saw him move up to fifth on the first lap. Marquez finished third after suffering a disappointment in qualifying when he set a new course record, only to see it wiped off for exceeding track limits.
Spain’s Maverick Vinales, who started third on the grid, finished ninth after a disastrous first lap. South Africa’s Brad Binder, who went fastest in Friday’s practice, did not finish.

Sprint Race Results
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 21min 1.074sec, 2. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati) at 0.181sec, 3. Marc Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 0.349, 4. Jorge Martin (ESP/Ducati-Pramac) 2.498, 5. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Ducati-Pramac) 4.326, 6. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 4.446, 7. Alex Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 11.444, 8. Jack Miller (AUS/KTM) 11.875, 9. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Aprilia) 11.947, 10. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 12.299
Championship standings1. Jorge Martín (ESP/Ducati-Pramac) 372 pts, 2. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 357, 3. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati) 300, 4. Marc Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 295 5. Pedro Acosta (ESP/GasGaS-Tech3) 181, 6. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 173, 7. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Aprilia) 163, 8. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 127, 9. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 126, 10. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 125, 11. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Ducati-Pramac) 125, 12. Alex Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 124, 13. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 82, 14. Miguel Oliveira (POR/Aprilia-Trackhouse) 71, 15. Jack Miller (AUS/KTM) 60, 16. Raul Fernandez (ESP/Aprilia-Trackhouse) 55, 17. Johann Zarco (FRA/Honda-LCR) 31, 18. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Honda-LCR) 25, 19. Alex Rins (ESP/Yamaha) 20, 20. Joan Mir (ESP/Honda) 20, 21. Augusto Fernandez (ESP/GasGaS-Tech3) 20, 22. Pol Espargaro (ESP/KTM) 12, 23. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/KTM) 7, 24. Luca Marini (ITA/Honda) 5, 25. Stefan Bradl (GER/Team HRC) 2