by Francesco Bagnaia won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, completing the weekend double. He reduced his gap to title rival Jorge Martín at the top of the world championship standings to 10 points.
Related: Jorge Martín wins the unfortunate Indonesian Grand Prix and extends his MotoGP lead
The Ducati rider qualified second after dominating practice and winning Saturday’s sprint race. Bagnaia quickly overtook pole sitter Pedro Acosta (Tech3-KTM), who crashed on the third lap at Motegi while trying to retake the lead.
Martín (Pramac) started Sunday’s race in 11th place after a difficult weekend, but fought his way through the field to second place, with Bagnaia outpacing his title rival by 1.2 seconds in the final 20 laps won and secured his eighth Grand Prix victory of the season.
Gresini Racing’s Marc Márquez completed the podium after starting ninth on the grid, while Ducati’s Enea Bastianini took fourth. Franco Morbidelli (Pramac) and South African Brad Binder (Red Bull-KTM) completed the top six.
Bagnaia’s victory was the two-time defending champion’s first since the Austrian Grand Prix in August. “We have to move on to the next one [the Australian GP] “We will continue with the same ambition and try to carry on like this,” said the Italian afterwards.
Spaniard Martín has four more races to compete if he wants to win his first MotoGP world title. The Australian Grand Prix on Phillip Island on October 20th will be followed by races in Thailand, Malaysia and Valencia.
