Pecco Bagnaia was able to take advantage of the fall of Pedro Acosta, who was leading the race, to take victory in the Sprint Race at the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi. Bagnaia also just got ahead of his teammate Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez's Ducati Gresini in the final meters of the race, leaving some doubt about a possible sensational twist... A real misconception according to the Ducati official.
This success during the Sprint Motegi's goal allows the Italian driver to recover several points on George Martin, championship leader, who finished in fourth position. bagnaia is now approaching 15 points from Martin, which relaunches the race for the title.
However, attention turned to the final lap, where bastianini et Marc Marquez seemed to catch up bagnaia.
Pecco Bagnaia: “ everything was under control »
Despite this suspense, bagnaia quickly dispelled doubts about his control of the situation: " everything was under control. At the start of the last lap I was 1,3 seconds ahead of Enea, so I thought that I could slow down without them being able to catch me. I saw that it started to rain again, and I didn't want to take no risk today, so I resisted. A second place would have been good. The important thing is to stay one step ahead of Jorge, and as long as that is possible, then everything will be fine »
The Italian also mentioned that he was not aware of the exact position of Martin during the race: " Martin? I didn't know where he was at..Only once did I see on the screens that he had a big difference with us. It is not yet time to have this information, the team lets me know his status only when he is out of the race ". And he ends: “ Enea Bastianini did me a favor, but I would have still won ».
With this victory, bagnaia is in an excellent position to continue to close the gap with Martin in the fight for the championship.
Starting grid for the Japanese Grand Prix:
Sprint Race Results MotoGP
MotoGP General Ranking
