The Ducati Lenovo Team has scored the perfect result in today’s sprint race for the Japanese Grand Prix, in what is the sixteenth event of the season. Francesco Bagnaia took the win in the 12-lap encounter at the Twin Ring Motegi as he crossed the finish line ahead of his teammate Enea Bastianini.
Bagnaia had the perfect start from second place on the grid and stayed in the lead until lap four, when he was overtaken by Acosta at turn five. After the latter crashed out with four laps to go, Bagnaia did a great job in managing the small margin on his nearest rivals, despite a few drops of rain in the closing stages and a resurgent Bastianini on the final lap. Thanks to his seventh sprint race win of the season, Pecco has narrowed the gap to the leader Martín down to 15 points.
Bastianini also did an excellent start from row two as he took the outside line on Acosta at turn one. A slight mistake at turn 5 during the opening lap cost Enea one position, but the Italian did well in not losing ground to the riders ahead. Bastianini had a great battle with Marc Márquez with two laps to go, eventually taking second place back with a successful overtake at turn 11. He then bridged the gap to Bagnaia during the final lap as he crossed the finish line only 0.186secs away from his teammate.
The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action tomorrow at 9:40 local time (GMT +9) for the warmup session, which will be followed by the 24-lap, Japanese Grand Prix – scheduled at 14:00.
Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“It surely wasn’t an easy race as there were some wet patches and a few drops of rain. We used the sighting lap to get a better understanding of the track conditions, at the expense of some race performance. I had a good start and managed to lead in the early laps, but Pedro (Acosta) was really strong and he was pushing a little bit beyond what I thought was my limit. When I thought about letting the tyre cool off a bit, before pushing again, he crashed out of the race. It wasn’t an easy situation as there were again a few drops of rain. I was aware of the lead I had on Enea (Bastianini) during the last lap, so I just chose to manage the gap and to avoid any risk.”
Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd
“It was a great sprint race. I wasn’t close enough to Pecco (Bagnaia) to try and take the win as I had lost a bit of time in the final two-three laps. Marc (Márquez) did get really close and managed to overtake me, but at turn 11 I simply released the brakes, and it worked. This battle pushed me into giving that little extra on the last lap, while trying to avoid any unnecessary risk. It’s true that I did a competitive lap, but Pecco surely managed the lead he had. This second place his still an excellent result.”
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