-Pedro Acosta crashes while leading
-Enea Bastianini finishes second
-Marc Marquez rises from P9 to P3
The 2024 Japanese GP Sprint was eventful to say the least. Pole sitter Pedro Acosta on the GasGas Tech 3 KTM crashed out of the lead, handing valuable points to Ducati Lenovo Team’s Pecco Bagnaia who won the race.
Pecco’s fortune
Pecco Bagnaia has been playing catch up to Jorge Martin on the Prima Pramac Ducati in the closing stages of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship. With every point crucial, Pecco could not believe his luck as he saw Acosta crash.
Acosta made a brilliant start as the lights went out and held on to P1. Pecco battled with him while the rest of the field playing catch-up. Acosta, meanwhile, began setting a hot pace at the front, putting enough daylight between himself and Pecco. And then, with less than half the race distance left, he lost the front and slid into the gravel trap. The rookie held his head in his hands, dejected as he lost the chance to win the race.
Martin and Marquez on the rise
Jorge Martin had a poor qualifying session as he crashed, which meant starting way below Pecco’s position on the Grid. However, the Spaniard kept his nerve and made some stunning overtakes to finish fourth.
Marc Marquez, meanwhile, rode his heart out to rise from P9 to P3. He momentarily grabbed P2 from Enea Bastianini on the second factory Ducati but Enea managed to wrangle the position back from Marc.
The main race of the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix will be held at 10:30am on Sunday.
