MotoGP: Pecco Sprints to Victory in Japan.
By Dawn Hammersley
Pecco Bagnaia takes the Sprint Race victory as Pole man Pedro Acosta crashes out.
Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s Pedro Acosta was on pole position for the Japanese GP Sprint Race, sprint race favourite Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin crashed during Q2, which put the Spaniard in 11th place on the grid.
Lights out as Pecco got the holeshot into turn one, pole man Acosta was close behind. Martin made up some valuable places.
Brad Binder was in the chasing pack at the front of the field until he suffered a technical problem and had to withdraw from the race.
Gresini Racing’s Marc Marquez was moving up the order as was Enea Bastianini.
Pedro saw the chance to pass Pecco and took the opportunity and made the pass stick. Johann Zarco was handed a Long Lap Penalty for tomorrow’s race after colliding with his team-mate Takaaki Nakagami.
On lap nine disaster struck for Acosta as the young Spaniard crashed out of the lead, promoting Pecco to first place, the beast Enea and Marc Marquez were battling it out for second place, Martin was in a strong fourth place after his P11 start.
Pecco crossed the finish line to take the victory, Bastianini held onto second place, Marc was third, Martin finished in fourth place just in front of his team-mate Frankie Morbidelli.
The championship points difference is just 15 points between Martin and Bagnaia.
Featured Images: MotoGP.com.