Marc Márquez puts together the perfect Sprint at Motegi, taking the win with the Ducati Lenovo Team. Francesco Bagnaia retires in the closing stages

 

The Ducati Lenovo Team claimed victory in the Motegi Sprint with Marc Márquez, who secured his twenty-second win in the Saturday race. Francesco Bagnaia was forced to retire with one lap remaining.

Márquez got off to an excellent start from second on the grid and took the lead after the first two corners. Marc then managed the race perfectly to cross the finish line as the winner. Bagnaia, who qualified thirteenth, stayed in touch with the top ten for most of the Sprint but experienced a significant grip issue in the second half of the race, which eventually forced him back to the pits at the end of the penultimate lap.

The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action tomorrow morning at 9:40 a.m. local time (GMT +9) for the warm-up, which will be followed by the Japanese Grand Prix, to be contested over a 24-lap distance starting at 7:00 a.m.

Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st

“Securing a front-row start—especially in the first two positions—was the key to having a good Sprint. We made a small modification ahead of this race, and I felt a lot better on the bike and rode in a way that’s more in line with what I like. I was quite comfortable in the lead, and I’m happy with this win. Now we’re focusing on the long race. We need to analyze the condition of the rear soft tire and make the best decision ahead of tomorrow. It won’t be easy, but I’d sign up in a heartbeat to have the same feeling I had today.”

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – DNF

“It was a difficult Sprint. We didn’t know what to expect from the rear tire given the new asphalt on the track. We made the choice we thought was the best compromise, but with the lack of grip, the tire tends to overheat, and unfortunately that’s what happened as a result. Starting on lap six, I began to experience some vibrations when entering corners, and to avoid this, I ended up using the rear brake more. This caused the rear tire to overheat quite a bit. We need to work on finding a bit more grip, as that would certainly allow us to perform better.”