Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint race

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.

12 IMPORTANT points in the bag 📈@PeccoBagnaia is now 15 points down @88jorgemartin 👀#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/QxcPIgHh9o

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 5, 2024

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.

He 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.

Martin started from 11th place on the grid but a tremendous start saw him move up to fifth on the first lap.