Francesco Bagnaia wins the sprint race at the MotoGP Grand Prix of Japan. The Italian thus makes up some ground on the leading Spaniard Jorge Martin in the world championship standings.
Bagnaia took his sixth win of the season on a Ducati in a race over the shortened distance ahead of his team-mate and compatriot Enea Bastianini.
Martin, who only started from 11th on the grid after a crash in qualifying, limited the damage with fourth place behind Spaniard Marc Marquez. In the world championship standings, Martin is still 15 points ahead of Bagnaia, the world champion of the last two years.
Bagnaia also benefited from the retirement of Pedro Acosta, who started from pole position for the first time, in his third consecutive sprint win. The young Spaniard, world champion in Moto3 three years ago and in Moto2 last season, crashed four laps from the end while leading.
SDA