Francesco Bagnaia has had a perfect weekend in Motegi. After the sprint race, the Italian also won the Japanese Grand Prix.
It was another duel between the two main contenders for the World Championship title, which had not initially been expected. World championship leader Jorge Martin, who like Bagnaia rides a Ducati, started the Grand Prix from 11th on the grid after a crash in qualifying.
Bagnaia's first rival for the time being was Pedro Acosta, just like the day before in the sprint race. However, the young Spaniard, who had again started from pole position, was soon no longer a factor. Once again, a crash robbed him of the opportunity to take his first victory in the highest category of the Road World Championships.
Martin, for his part, had made up for the disadvantage of his starting position after just a few laps. From then on, the Spaniard was Bagnaia's first pursuer. However, he was unable to put pressure on the world champion of the past two years, although he was able to reduce the gap significantly towards the end. The Italian controlled the action on the Twin Ring in a commanding manner right to the finish. With his eighth victory of the current season, Bagnaia reduced the gap in the world championship standings to Martin by five to ten points.
Alonso world champion
In the Moto3 class, the title has already been decided before the last four Grand Prix weekends. Colombian David Alonso has been crowned world champion after his tenth win of the season.
For Noah Dettwiler on a KTM, the race was over shortly after the start. The rider from Basel retired after a crash.
SDA
