- 2024-10-07
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SPORTS
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MotoGP Japanese GP: Francesco Bagnaia Wins at Motegi, Cuts Jorge Martin's Championship Lead to 10 points
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) won Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi on October 6, 2024.
This marks his eighth victory of the season, matching Marc Marquez's record for most victories in a single season.
Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) took 2nd place in a thrilling climb from 11th.
This result marks the gap between current leader Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia down to just 10 points in Championship.
Marc Marquez (Gresini Ducati) managed to climb from 9th to 3rd ahead of Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo), who was 4th.
Pole sitter Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) crashed out on lap 3.
By lap five, the top four positions in the race had settled into order after Pedro Acosta's fall.
Franco Morbidelli (Pramac Ducati) overtook Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) later in the race, and finished in 5th place.
VR46 Ducati team riders Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio were 7th and 8th, respectively.
Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) rounded out the top 10.
Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) ran into the back of Joan Mir (Repsol Honda) on the opening lap, taking them both out.
The incident will be reviewed by the FIM Stewards after the race.- Francesco Bagnaia said, “I realised it when I saw it on the dashboard. When my team said it was not Pedro behind, but was Jorge. So, I understood it. With Pedro, I had to push a bit more in the first part of the race because I think he was pushing a lot to take back this position, because when you are close to the guys in front of you - under 0.5s - it's very tough to manage the front. So I think he wanted to overtake, but it's not easy. Then I just tried to manage in the best way possible the gap to Jorge. Wasn't easy because he was recovering a bit in the last laps, but finally we did a very great job. I was having everything under control, but I was more hoping with that lap time he did [late on] he was more finishing everything because I was already in the situation that had finished everything. I was expecting to have more difficulties. But we managed to work perfectly from the start of the weekend and I would like to keep this weekend as an example in my mind to try to repeat for the next ones, because I think we did everything in a perfect way and today in the race we were so smooth and good. So, I'm happy. I want to say thanks to my team, who did a fantastic job. Let's move onto the next ones. We have to believe in it. We have to never give up. I will always try to do my best job. Eight wins in a season is something remarkable. It's my first time and the last time I did it was in 2018 in Moto2 when I won eight races. So, let's keep working.”
- Motul Grand Prix of Japan Race Results
- Francesco Bagnaia / Ducati Lenovo / 42m 9.79s
- Jorge Martin / Pramac Ducati / +1.189s
- Marc Marquez / Gresini Ducati / +3.822s
- Enea Bastianini / Ducati Lenovo / +4.358s
- Franco Morbidelli / Pramac Ducati / +17.940s
- Brad Binder / Red Bull KTM / +18.502s
- Marco Bezzecchi / VR46 Ducati / +19.371s
- Fabio Di Giannantonio / VR46 Ducati / +20.199s
- Aleix Espargaro / Aprilia Racing / +30.442s
- Jack Miller / Red Bull KTM / +31.184s
- Johann Zarco / LCR Honda / +31.567s
- Fabio Quartararo / Monster Yamaha / +32.299s
- Takaaki Nakagami / LCR Honda / +33.003s
- Luca Marini / Repsol Honda / +35.974s
- Raul Fernandez / Trackhouse Aprilia / +39.321s
- Alex Rins / Monster Yamaha / +40.839s
- Remy Gardner / Monster Yamaha / +59.547s
Photo by MotoGP - source : MotoGP
