Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia won MotoGP’s Japanese Grand Prix sprint on Saturday closing the gap in the championship race with leader Jorge Martin, to 15 points.

The newcomer, Pedro Acosta (20), who started on his first ever MotoGP pole, had overtaken Bagnaia on the third lap to take the lead, but lost control near turn seven, losing the opportunity to win his first MotoGP sprint.

Bagnaia fought off second-placed Ducati teammate Enea Bastianini by 0.181 seconds amid occasional rains.

Pedro Acosta. Photo: Motorcycle News

“We had to sacrifice a bit of performance during the race to understand the conditions better. I’m very happy because with this condition it’s not very easy to win,” Bagnaia said in his post-sprint interview.

Pramac Racing’s Martin, who started from the 11th position on the grid after crashing during the qualifying session, rode a steady race to finish fourth, ensuring a decent points haul of his own.

Eight-time world champion Marquez finished third.  South Africa’s Brad Binder did not finish the sprint race due to an issue with his bike but will start in fifth place on Sunday.

‘All we can do is apologise to Brad’

“We’re investigating what happened to cause Brad Binder’s sprint to come to a premature end,” the Red Bull KTM team wrote on X. “For now, all we can do is apologise to Brad.”

LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami crashed out of his home Grand Prix sprint after a collision with teammate Johann Zarco.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger dg