MotoGP 2024: Bagnaia Cuts C’ship Gap, Wins Japanese GP

Current MotoGP champion and Ducati star rider, Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia wins the Japanese Grand Prix, thereby bringing the championship gap to 10 points from championship leader and second place finisher: Jorge Martin. The win was Bagnaia’s eighth of the season, his best ever in MotoGP, helping him in his endeavours to keep his hopes of defending his crown alive and kicking.

Bagnaia had no competition throughout the race. He stormed to the lead right at the start and there was no looking back for him. Martin too had a great race in perspective, quickly making his way through the pack to climb up from eleventh to missing out on the win by just over a second. The two were trading off extremely fast laps as they left the chasing pack in the dust.

Completing the podium was eight-time World Champion and future factory Ducati rider, Marc Marquez, who held off the hard fighting Enea Bastianini. The two are embroiled in the fight for third in the championship with just 2 points separating the two. With four rounds to go, these two have an outside chance of winning the championship should something happen to the leading two.

It was a race to forget for the KTM guys. Pedro Acosta, racing for Gas Gas racing and confirmed 2024 rookie champion, didn’t live up to his incredible promise that he showed in the initial stages of the weekend. He was among the fast chargers on Friday and secured pole position early on Saturday. Unfortunately, he crashed out while leading the Sprint race and suffered a similar fate early on in the main race on Sunday. Factory KTM boys Brad Binder and Jack Miller too didn’t fare handsomely after being in the podium hunt during the initial parts of the race.

With four races and 148 points up for grabs, the championship battle should be an enticing one. The next three races come in quick succession starting with the Australian Grand Prix at the legendary Phillip Island circuit followed by the Thai and Malaysian GP.