Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP ahead of championship leader Martin

Francesco Bagnaia won the Japan MotoGP ahead of championship front-runner Jorge Martin on Sunday to cut the Spaniard’s lead in the overall standings to 10 points with four races remaining.

The Italian defending world champion Bagnaia overtook pole-sitter Pedro Acosta on the first lap at Motegi and stayed in the lead to finish 1.189 seconds ahead of Martin, with Marc Marquez finishing third.

Ducati rider Bagnaia also won Saturday’s sprint race to leave Japan 11 points closer to Pramac’s Martin than he was at the start of the weekend.