2024 Japanese MotoGP, Motegi – Race Results

After their Moto3 and Moto2 colleagues did a great job setting up an intriguing Sunday show in Motegi, the premier class didn’t really bring out the fireworks. However, it was another dominant display from Pecco Bagnaia, the world champion doing an impeccable job on route to his eighth victory of the season and his first success in Japan. Jorge Martin was happier than usual with second place, considering that his battle started in 11^th position on the grid and he ended up limiting the damage in the world championship as much as possible. Similarly, Marc Marquez overcame a third row start and some illness overnight to replicate his sprint feat in the main grand prix and take another third place from ninth on the grid.

Bagnaia was quick to take the lead off the line, ahead of poleman Pedro Acosta, with Brad Binder making another quick start to climb into third, ahead of Enea Bastianini. Marquez and Martin pulled off another solid start, up into 5^th and 6^th positions on the opening lap, while Jack Miller impressed going from 14^th grid slot to 7^th place and Maverick Viñales did the opposite, going from the front row to the bottom of the top 10.

Bagnaia, Acosta and Binder were untroubled on the opening lap but there were plenty of battles behind them, Martin taking advantage of some early mistakes and moments from Bastianini and Marquez and taking over 4^th place by lap two. Miller also briefly demoted the two Ducati men, but Marquez soon reclaimed 5^th on lap three and Bastianini further demoted Miller by lap four. Franco Morbidelli, Aleix Espargaro and Marco Bezzecchi completed the top 10, dropping Viñales to 11^th, however, the Spaniard was soon promoted back into the top 10 after Acosta crashed out of second place at the final corner of lap four.

The poleman’s déjà vu mistake left Bagnaia untroubled at the front, with a 1.3 second advantage over the pursuit now led by Martin. The Spaniard had Binder and Marquez in tow, although the KTM man seemed to be struggling to keep up with Martin and by the time Marquez got past him on lap five, Martin had stretched an advantage of over a second over the Gresini rider. Binder soon had Bastianini breathing down his neck, the Italian having to play catchup once more. The next group led by Miller was over two seconds down the road, the Australian battling the likes of Morbidelli, Bezzecchi, Espargaro, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Viñales for 6^th place.

Back at the front, Bagnaia was keeping Martin in check in the early stages of the race, although the Pramac rider reduced the gap to under a second for the first time on lap seven. Marquez didn’t have the pace to match the leading duo and dropped two seconds behind his rivals, with a limited threat from behind as Bastianini was struggling to find a way past Binder and the duo were losing one second on the Gresini rider. Meanwhile, Morbidelli took over the group battling for 6^th by lap nine but was not making any progress in catching up with the men ahead, 3.5 seconds behind Bastianini and not helped by harassment from Bezzecchi.

There was some brief cause for concern on lap 10, as race direction waved the white flag, although there were no reports of rain. Bastianini certainly didn’t seem to be concerned about the conditions as he finally overtook Binder that same lap and found himself trailing Marquez by two and a half seconds. The Spaniard had the same gap separating him from the leading duo, so Martin had room to focus on reeling in Bagnaia. The gap between the two title contenders briefly reduced to six tenths of a second, but Bagnaia promptly picked up the pace to keep Martin one second away at the halfway point of proceedings.

There wasn’t much action to enjoy mid-way through the race, as Bagnaia was out of Martin’s reach, Marquez dropped three seconds behind and Bastianini was reeling him in but still two seconds back. A mistake from Marquez running wide at the first corner allowed Bastianini to halve that gap a couple of laps later and we finally got a hint at a possible battle. Things were pretty quiet behind them too, Binder losing three seconds to Bastianini but held nearly three seconds over Morbidelli, with a lonely Bezzecchi in 7^th and Di Giannantonio just as unperturbed in 8^th. Miller was the only rider in the top 10 with a contender close in tow, Espargaro waiting to pounce for 9^th position and carrying the flag for Aprilia after Viñales crashed out of 11^th place a couple of laps earlier.

With the sun starting to break through the clouds, the only storm that this calm was prefacing was the one for third place, as Bastianini closed within half a second of Marquez with seven laps remaining. Marquez got the message to match his rival’s pace, and the duo were the quickest men on track at that late stage of proceedings. While Marquez was doing just enough to keep Bastianini out of striking distance, Binder wasn’t as successful in the fight for 5^th, where Morbidelli caught up with him and was glued to his rear wheel going into the final five laps.

Bagnaia allowed Martin to get back within a second for the final four laps, but never let him close enough to contemplate an attack, despite Martin finding some impressive lap times late on, and the two rivals cruised to the chequered flag unchallenged. Similarly, Marquez was keeping Bastianini at bay, the gap yoyo-ing between half a second and eight tenths until the very end, when the Spaniard secured the final podium spot and the Italian missed out by half a second. Morbidelli took fifth place after eventually getting past Binder with three laps to go, but finished 17 seconds behind the victor. Binder settled for 6^th, with teammates Bezzecchi and Di Giannantonio 7^th and 8^th. Espargaro and Miller completed the top 10, with Johann Zarco robbing Fabio Quartararo of 11^th position in the run to the line, as the Yamaha ran out of fuel again. Takaaki Nakagami celebrated his final home GP in 13^th place, with Luca Marini and Raul Fernandez claiming the final points on offer.

Martin’s recovery and Bagnaia’s triumph leaves them separated by 10 points heading to Australia, while Marquez catches up with Bastianini – only two points behind the Italian in the battle for third.

Results: