Jorge Martin yesterday narrowed the gap on championship leader Francesco Bagnaia to just three points with six races left after winning a MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix cut short by rain.
Starting from pole, the Spaniard had already cut the difference to Italy’s Bagnaia to only eight points on Saturday with his third straight sprint victory and fifth of the season.
Ducati’s Bagnaia came second in the race, giving the defending world champion 319 points compared with 316 for Martin from Ducati satellite team Pramac Racing. Marc Marquez took third.
Photo: AFP
The 24-lap race began under overcast skies and light rain quickly intensified once the race started in mountainous Motegi.
This made for treacherous conditions with slippery turns and a sea of spray, and most riders came into the pits early on to change tires.
Martin and Bagnaia worked their way back to the top of the field before organizers suspended the race with 12 laps to go.
They attempted a restart, but the red flags quickly came out again and the riders were awarded full points according to their positions at the stoppage.
“I was committed to do a great result today,” Martin said afterward.
“I felt really good with the rear grip and I was able to overtake all of them [after the pit stop] and make this gap to win today,” he said.
“I’m so, so happy. Luckily everybody’s away, but it was too dangerous to keep going,” he added.
Bagnaia said he thought he could have overtaken Martin, but still appeared satisfied.
“I’m happy because it’s the first time on wet that I’m doing the podium so I’m very happy,” he said.
Six-time world champion Marquez on Honda made his first podium finish of the year at the home circuit of the Japanese brand.
He started from the third row, but as rain caused other riders to go wide or even into gravel, the Spaniard saw an opening to race to the podium.
“I enjoyed [it]. In the beginning of the race I was very calm, just tried to understand the tires,” Marquez said.
“When I saw that there was water on the track, I started to attack and I was increasing the speed step by step,” he said.
Martin had already narrowed the difference to 13 points the previous weekend in India in Greater Noida.
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