Francesco Bagnaia won the MotoGP Tissot Sprint race Saturday afternoon at Mobility Resort Motegi, in Japan. Riding his Lenovo Team Ducati Desmosedici GP25 on Michelin control tires, the two-time World Champion won the 12-lap race by 1.842 seconds.
His teammate and six-time MotoGP World Champion, Marc Marquez, was the runner-up.
Pedro Acosta finished third on his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing RC16.
Joan Mir crossed the finish line fourth on his Honda HRC Castrol RC213V.
Franco Morbidelli got fifth on his Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Ducati Desmosedici GP24.
Teammates, Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi crashed their Aprilia Racing RS-GP25 in the first lap.
Marc Marquez leads the championship with 521 points, 191 ahead of Alex Marquez who has 330 points. Francesco Bagnaia is third with 249 points.
Classification sprint motogp
worldstanding motogp
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Back in business: Bagnaia wins as Marc Marquez strides towards title. The #63 rolls out a perfect Saturday at Motegi in a factory Ducati Sprint 1-2 which makes for very pretty reading for the #93’s title chances in Japan.
Francesco Bagnaia: back in business. Ducati Lenovo Team’s double MotoGP World Champion returned to form with an almighty bang as the Italian cruised to a Tissot Sprint gold medal at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, beating teammate Marc Marquez by 1.8s. The latter, meanwhile, takes a huge stride towards being crowned 2025 World Champion on Sunday with that P2, because Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) finished P10, meaning no points were scored in the blue corner. And after a slightly dramatic day, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) salvaged a Saturday P3 for the Austrian manufacturer.
Bagnaia grabs holeshot, Aprilia duo crash at Turn 1
Bagnaia earned the holeshot from pole position with Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) keeping hold of P2, as a double dose of drama unfolded for Aprilia Racing’s Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin as both crashed out at Turn 1. Replays showed Martin got it all out of shape on the brakes and unfortunately tumbled into the pack, with Bezzecchi the unlucky rider to also go down in the incident.
Elsewhere, Marc Marquez lost a place to Acosta and at the end of Lap 1, Pecco led the field by 0.6s. Alex Marquez was P9 at the end of Lap 1, and remember, he’s the only rider who can stop Marc Marquez from clinching the title at the close of play on Sunday. Acosta, one the move once more, pinched P2 from Mir at Turn 5.
Back-to-back fastest laps of the Sprint saw Pecco edge his advantage up to 0.8s by the end of Lap 3, with teammate Marc Marquez still sitting behind third place Mir. And that stayed like it was as the Sprint clocked onto Lap 6, with Marquez’s two attempts at passing his former HRC teammate not coming off so far.
Up front, Pecco’s lead was now 1.6s as the Italian set a commanding pace. Acosta was lapping 0.5s ahead of the Mir, Marc Marquez battle, with Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) 0.8s in arrears in P5.
Then, Marc Marquez did make a move stick on Mir – and it was an aggressive one too. Turn 10 was the spot, a block pass on the Honda rider, but it was a harsh move that stuck as the #93 moved into the bronze medal spot with four laps to go. Up next: Acosta.
And with three laps left, Turn 10 – again – saw Marc Marquez carve up the inside of Acosta to shuffle into P2, as Alex Marquez dropped to P10 behind home hero Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team). As things stood, he was gaining nine points on his title rival, and if that remains the same tomorrow, the 2025 MotoGP crown would be his.
Bagnaia shot onto the last lap with a 2.4s lead over Marquez, with Acosta clinging onto P3 bu 0.5s over Mir. Is the #63 back to his best? Well, today he was. Vintage Francesco Bagnaia stood up on Tissot Sprint Saturday to collect his first gold medal of the season, as Marc Marquez took a giant leap towards becoming a seven-time MotoGP World Champion in Japan with P2. Acosta held off Mir for P3, 0.6s the gap between the Spaniards over the line.
Motegi’s Sprint scorers
Mir’s P4 rounded off a very successful day for the 2020 MotoGP World Champion and HRC on home turf, as Morbidelli completed the top five. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) kept Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) behind him as the Frenchman and Italian earned P6 and P7 ahead of Raul Fernandez and Trackhouse teammate Ogura, with the Japanese rider beating Alex Marquez to the final Sprint point.
COMING UP: comeback loading…
So with that, a P2 finish no matter what will see Marc Marquez claim the title. To put it simply, Alex Marquez has to beat his brother – and beat him well – if the championship rolls into the Indonesian GP. A huge day awaits.
BREAKING: Jorge Martin ruled out of the JapaneseGP after X-rays revealed a displaced fracture of his right collarbone. The rider was, then, transferred by helicopter to the Dokkyo Medical University Hospital for further assessment, where a CT scan showed no additional complications.
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Lenovo Team:
A spectacular one-two for the Ducati Lenovo Team in Motegi’s Sprint: Francesco Bagnaia on the top step, with Marc Márquez in second place.
- First Sprint win of the season for Bagnaia
- A second-place finish in tomorrow’s race can grant Marc the Riders’ World Championship title at the end of the Grand Prix of Japan
- The Ducati Lenovo Team also gets a match point for the Teams’ title
The Ducati Lenovo Team came out victorious in the Japanese Sprint with Francesco Bagnaia, who dominated the 12-lap encounter at the Mobility Resort Motegi. Marc Márquez finished the race in second place, further strengthening his chances to clinch the World Championship title already at the end of tomorrow’s race.
Bagnaia had the perfect start from pole – which he secured courtesy of the new outright lap record set in Q2 – and pulled away in the early stages before managing the lead up to the chequered flag. After starting from the front row, Márquez upped his pace later in the encounter, first moving up to third place with five laps left before overtaking Acosta for second two laps later.
The Ducati Lenovo Team will resume proceedings tomorrow morning at 9:40 local time (GMT +9) for the warm up, which will be followed by the Grand Prix of Japan, contested over 24 laps from 14:00.
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“Winning is always important, but to do so in the Sprint, where I’ve always struggled this year, is truly something special. We never gave up and this is the result. I’m really happy and now we look forward to what’s ahead of us while continuing to do our best; I really hope we’ve found the key to turn things around. Let’s see how tomorrow goes, but we know we have the potential on our side. We need to get a good start, manage the situation, and try to stay in the battle for the win. Our goal is still the top five.”
Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd
“We kept improving throughout the race. I was attentive in the early stages, trying to avoid any unnecessary risk. I took some pressure off my shoulders as the laps went by and got back to enjoying riding the bike. It wasn’t easy to get to second position as the riders ahead are among the best under braking, and therefore very hard to overtake. I know there’s something big coming and it’s getting even closer: I can’t say I’m fully relaxed, but today we still made another crucial step towards our goal.”