Motegi was supposed to be a friendly track and Pecco Bagnaia was excellent at making it so, taking full spoils and taking home 37 very important points in the race for the 2024 MotoGP title. The Ducati rider did everything in his power, with a great one-two, but perhaps he would have hoped to gain a little more from his rival Jorge Martin, given that he was only 11th on the grid. The Madrilenian, however, was amazing, recovering to second place and allowing him to get closer, yes, but only to -10.
Just like yesterday, the reigning world champion got away very well from the second spot on the grid and took the lead of the race, despite poleman Pedro Acosta’s attempt to brake on the outside. Once in the lead, Bagnaia gave life to a real monologue, with a crazy pace of 1’44”. Only on a couple of occasions did Martin try to get closer, but never without reaching below seven tenths, with the Piedmontese who however has always been very good at responding to him.
In the end, therefore, Pecco showed up under the checkered flag to take a victory that writes his name even further into the history of motorcycling. For him, in fact, it is the eighth success of the season, his career record. But above all it places him on the same level as all the big names of the MotoGP era: before him, only Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez had managed to add up at least eight triumphs in a season. It is his 26th win overall, which puts him tenth alone in the all-time rankings.
After having reeled off Bagnaia’s numbers, one cannot help but give credit to “Martinator” for what is in all respects a day that could be decisive if he ultimately takes home the title. From 11th place on the grid, the Prima Pramac Racing rider immediately moved up to sixth position in the space of a few corners. Then already on the first lap, taking advantage of the brawl in front of him between Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini, he overtook them in one fell swoop, moving into fourth.
Another couple of laps and he also got rid of Brad Binder’s KTM, then Acosta took care of opening the doors of second position for him, slipping again as in yesterday’s Sprint and confirming that he doesn’t lack speed, but that perhaps in this moment he must try to stay further away from mistakes to materialize. Once second, Martin tried to follow Bagnaia and on a couple of occasions he even got behind again. At the end, however, he pulled back a bit, aware that second place was almost worth a victory.
If the fight for the title is increasingly heated between the top two, the same goes for the lowest step of the podium both in today’s race and in the world championship ranking, even if today its two protagonists finished decidedly further apart. Today came the response from Marc Marquez, who had the merit of managing to get rid of Binder’s KTM faster than Enea Bastianini did. When the Rimini driver did it too, he was now almost two seconds behind the Gresini Racing driver. A gap that he tried to mend, but never got within range of attempting an attack. In the end the #93 finished third, only 2 points behind “Beast”.
To complete a sensational five Ducatis at Honda’s home there is Franco Morbidelli, who in the final managed to get the better of Binder, who with his KTM was the first of the “others”, but distanced by a good 18.5 seconds from Bagnaia. The Ducati dominance then continues with the two GP23s designed by Pertamina Enduro VR46 entrusted to Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio, which brings the tally of Desmosedici GPs in the top 8 to seven. Only Alex Marquez is missing from the list, having been involved in an accident with Joan Mir in the early stages of the race.
Top 10 also for Aprilia thanks to Aleix Espargaro’s ninth place, although expectations were probably different, having Maverick Vinales on the front row. However, the Roses rider had another bad start and then crashed when he was in tenth position. The opposite was true for Jack Miller, who with a good start had even reached sixth at the start, but then dropped back to tenth position with his KTM.
In 11th position Johann Zarco won the “Japan Cup” in the sprint with his Honda, outwitting Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha right at the finish line, which just like in Misano ran out of fuel under the checkered flag. Luca Marini also takes home two points, 14th with his Honda, also behind Takaaki Nakagami, who finishes 13th in his last Japanese GP as a full-time rider.
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