Bagnaia gains ground after Acosta error

Francesco Bagnaia has gained ground in the MotoGP championship after winning the Japanese Sprint where rookie Pedro Acosta threw away victory.

With championship leader Jorge Martin recovering to fourth from 11th on the grid, Bagnaia gained six points with victory over teammate Enea Bastianini in Motegi.

However, the stage looked set for Acosta to take a rare non-Ducati win and first P1 of his impressive rookie season, only to crash three laps from home.

Australia’s Jack Miller made a fast start to rise from 14th to ninth.

Bagnaia, Acosta and Bastianini went three wide into turn 1 and the factory Ducatis took charge with the #1 in P1.

Although Bastianini flew into second by charging around the outside of turn 1, he ran wide at Turn 5 and sacrificed second to Acosta, who was putting pressure on the leader.

As Maverick Vinales slumped from the front row to 11th, Miller charged up five spots to ninth, while Joan Mir had another crash on the Repsol Honda.

Importantly Marc Marquez fought his way past Martin to take fourth on the road, which would become the final spot on the podium.

By the start of Lap 3 Acosta was piling the pressure on Bagnaia and again chose Turn 5 as his launching pad.

This time there was no mistake from the factory Ducati rider as Acosta caught Bagnaia napping with a well executed dive down the inside.

At the same moment Brad Binder dropped out of contention with mechanical dramas having run in the top five.

The LCR Honda riders took each other out with Johann Zarco leaning on the inside, but nudging Takaaki Nakagami into retirement.

Acosta built a six-tenth lead over Bagnaia by Lap 9 and looked on course to take a famous success.

However, everyone’s head was in their hands including Acosta’s when the 20-year-old lost the front into Turn 7 and slid into the gravel.

It was a heartbreaking moment for the rookie, who pushed a touch too hard, shooting seven tenths in the first two sectors of Lap 9, before the front gave away just as the commentators said “he has not put a foot wrong.”

As a result, Bagnaia was gifted the race lead and enjoyed a half a second advantage over his teammate.

Although Bastainini came within a tenth and the Marquez even got past the #23, the top three remained the same.

Marquez and Bastianini had a thrilling exchange on the penultimate lap and it was eventually settled with a bold move by the Italian at Turn 12.

The 2024 Japanese Motorcycle Grand Prix begins at 16.00 AEST Sunday afternoon.

2024 Japanese Motorcycle Grand Prix Sprint results

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