A late crash for Japanese Grand Prix poleman Pedro Acosta gifted Francesco Bagnaia an important sprint victory to close up his deficit in the MotoG🐻P standings to Jorge Martin.

Tech3 rookie Acosta stunned in Q2 wh🎶en he took his first pole in MotoGP and looked on cours♔e for a first sprint win when he assumed the lead on lap three of 12.

He held Bagnaia at bay and began to pull away on lap nine w🐷hen Acosta crashed out at Turn 7, promoting the factory Ducati rider into the lead.

Despite almost being caught by Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez on the last lap, Bagnaia held on for a third successive sprint victory to clos💯e Jorge Martin’s championship lead to 15 points.

Martinꦇ came from 11th to fourth but couldn’t get involved i🃏n the podium battle.

From second on the grid, Bagnaia took t𝄹he lead 💎off the line to head team-mate Bastianini and Acosta as the threat of rain hung constantly over the Motegi circuit.

Acosta very quick🌌ly took second from Bastianini when the D⛄ucati rider ran wide at Turn 5, with the Tech3 GASGAS rookie pulling away at the front with Bagnaia.

On lap three, Acosta threw hi𓆉s KTM up the inside of Bagnaia into Turn 5 o🅷n lap three and was able to quickly get his lead up to around 0.4s.

At the start🅷 of lap nine, Acosta’s lead was 0.6s and ris𝓰ing through the first part of the ninth tour.

But at Turn 7 he tuckeဣd the front of his motorcycle on the way into the corner and crashed 🍷out.

This promoted Bagnaia into the lead, while Bastianini ꧂came under threat from Gresini’s Marc Marquez for second.

On lap 11, Marquez and Bastianini battled hard through Turns 9, 10 and 11, with 🔥the latter coming out on top. This scrap gavဣe Bagnaia a 1.3s lead to start the final tour.

But Bagnaia’s gap evaporated across the final lap and he t⛎ook the chequered flag just 0.181s clear of Bastianini.

Marquezꦰ completed the podium having come from ninth on the grid, while Pr🦄amac’s Martin could do no more than fourth from 11th.

His championship lead has been knocked down🃏 to 15 points ahead of Sunday’s grand prix.

Franco Morbidell🧜i was fifth on the sister Pramac Ducati, with Fabio Di G💃iannantonio sixth for VR46 ahead of KTM’s Jack Miller and Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales, who dramatically faded out of podium contention on the opening lap.

His Aprilia team-mate Aleix Espargaro crashed out late on, with Honda’s Joan Mir and LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami also🧜 tumbling ൩out of the sprint.

Nakagami was taken out by his team-mate Johann Zarco at Turn 2 on l✱ap five, with the Frenchman handed a long lap penalty. He finished 14th behind top Honda Luca Marini.

Fabio Quarta♎raro was the leading Yamaha in 12th, while KTM’s Brad Binder retired from the early podium battle with a technical issue.

Full 2024 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix sprint results