The first of the two hat-tricks of the 2024 MotoGP season is nearing its conclusion. After Misano and Mandalika, the last act is the Japanese Grand Prix, which as per tradition will be held on the Motegi track.
The Indonesian Grand Prix gave us a picture not too different from the one we had a week ago, at the conclusion of the Emilia Romagna one, with the gap between world champion Jorge Martin and his pursuer Pecco Bagnaia having narrowed on the island of Lombok, but by just 3 points, and therefore remains at 21 points.
Saturday had provided a twist, with the crash on the first lap of “Martinator” and with the reigning world champion very good at taking advantage of it to take his fifth victory of the season in a Sprint and halve the delay, taking to -12.
The long race on Sunday then made it clear how serious the mistake of the Prima Pramac Racing rider was, who, given the way he dominated, certainly had the potential to do the same thing in the short one too. With his third success of the season he therefore regained 9 points on Pecco, who with the third place finish managed to patch up a rather troubled race in the first part.
Probably what has changed the most is that it is now practically certain that a two-man fight awaits us, because the other two possible title contenders have had a heavy setback in Indonesia. Enea Bastianini crashed when he was in third position, while Marc Marquez had to deal with the engine failure of his Gresini Racing Ducati. For them now the ranking says -75 and -78 respectively, very heavy gaps with five rounds to go before the end of the season.
Then pay attention to the explosion of possible outsiders like Pedro Acosta was on Sunday, when he slipped right between the two title contenders. The Spanish rookie said he is convinced that he has found a key to exploit the potential of the latest innovations introduced by KTM and with his character he is certainly someone who will not give up anything if there is the opportunity to get a result.
Below, you will find the complete program of the Japanese Grand Prix with Italian times, as well as the television and LIVE programming from Motorsport.com.
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
MotoGP 2024: Japanese Grand Prix times (Italian time)
The MotoGP Asian trip continues, which as per tradition imposes sleepless nights on fans. This weekend we stop in Japan and it will be even tougher, because the time zone is even less favourable, as confirmed by the times of the two MotoGP races: the Sprint will start when it is 8:00 in Italy on Saturday, the long race instead at 7:00 on Sunday.
Friday 4 October
FP1 Moto3: 2:00-2:35
FP1 Moto2: 2:50-3:30
FP1 MotoGP: 3:45-4:30
FP2 Moto3: 6:15-6:50
FP2 Moto2: 7:05-7:45
FP2 MotoGP: 8:00-9:00
Saturday 5 October
FP3 Moto3: 1:40-2:10
FP3 Moto2: 2:25-2:55
P MotoGP: 3:10-3:40
MotoGP Qualifying: 3:50-4:30
Moto3 Qualifying: 5:50-6:30
Moto2 Qualifying: 6:45-7:25
Sprint MotoGP: 8:00
Sunday 6 October
MotoGP Warm-Up: 2:40-2:50
Moto3 race: 4:00
Moto2 race: 5.15am
MotoGP race: 7:00
MotoGP 2024: how can I watch the Japanese Grand Prix
Sky Sport MotoGP HD (Sky channel 208) and Now: complete live broadcast of all the weekend sessions and MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 races.
TV8 HD (channel 8 of digital terrestrial): live coverage of the qualifying sessions of the three classes and the MotoGP Sprint on Saturday. Postponement of the races of the three classes on Sunday (Moto3 at 11:00 am; Moto2 at 12:20 pm; MotoGP at 2:00 pm)
MotoGP 2024: Motorsport.com’s LIVE coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix
Saturday 5 October
Sprint MotoGP: from 7.30am
Sunday 6 October
MotoGP race: from 6.30am
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
MotoGP 2024: let’s discover the Motegi circuit
The Motegi circuit is one of the classics of the championship, having arrived on the calendar in the 1999 season and since then it has alternated with Suzuka, becoming a permanent fixture since 2004. It has only missed two editions, both due to the COVID pandemic -19, but it is a unique circuit, which all drivers love.
The 2024 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix will be held on Sunday 6 October, with an expected distance of 24 laps, while the Sprint on Saturday 5 October will be 12 laps. For the Moto2 class, the race will be 19 laps, while the Moto3 class will be contested over a total of 17 laps.
Circuit length |
4.7km |
Circuit width |
15 metres |
Curves |
14 (8 left and 6 left) |
Longer straight |
762 metres |
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