Pecco Bagnaia took victory in the Japanese GP MotoGP sprint after Pedro Acosta crashed three laps from the end while leading. El Tiburón was close to the first victory of his career in the premier category, but a mistake doomed him and he found himself on the ground. The current champion achieved victory and cut points from Jorge Martín, who finished fourth, in the fight for the World Cup. Márquez moved up to third and battled with Bastianini for second place on the final lap.
Jorge Martín made a memorable start, moving from eleventh to fifth position in the first few laps. Marc Márquez was seventh, starting from ninth, but he quickly overtook Morbidelli and found himself in the wake of the World Championship leader, while Joan Mir crashed on the Honda. In front, the pole sitter, Pedro Acosta, lost two positions against the two Ducati Lenovos, Bastianini and Bagnaia.
But the Mazarrón Shark was not determined to give up and took advantage of an error from the Beast to regain a place. Once in second place, Acosta stalked his prey, Pecco, little by little, until he managed to get the bike into him. It was on the third lap that the #31 KTM put the bike back in the hands of the reigning champion and braked it in time to regain the lead of the race. He wanted his victory and was ready to do anything to achieve it.
Behind, on the second lap, Márquez overtook Jorge Martín and shortly after both gained a position after the problems of Binder, who retired. Marc seemed to have something more than Martinator and gained almost half a second on him in one lap after passing him. The World Cup leader was not comfortable and he took advantage in the 93rd to overtake him and shoot to track down Enea in the fight for the podium. Bastianini seemed to stay, but he recovered and rejoined the group of Pecco and Acosta.
Behind, Maverick Viñales, who started third, was tenth, battling with the Ducati of Bezzecchi and Álex Márquez. The one in Figueres was not comfortable. Meanwhile, Acosta continued to push for his first victory and gained ground on both red bikes. But, with three laps to go, when he was already close to victory, the Shark Mazarrón crashed and handed victory to Bagnaia.
The battle was for second place. Marc Márquez tracked down Bastianini and led to a great fight between the two Ducatis. The man from Cervera returned the motorcycle several times, but on the 23rd he returned it to him again and again. As the final lap approached, Enea decided to do everything possible to prevent the Spaniard from getting close enough to try to overtake him. So much so that he got closer to his teammate, but he was unable to defeat him. So, after this victory, Pecco is 15 points behind Martín in the championship.
