Francesco Bagnaia ended his barren run with a commanding performance at Motegi, converting pole position into his first sprint race win of the 2025 season.
The factory Ducati rider controlled the 12-lap dash from the start, breaking clear after only a few laps and crossing the line with a 1.842s margin over teammate Marc Marquez.
Pedro Acosta completed the podium in third for KTM, fending off Joan Mir despite struggling with rear tyre wear in the closing stages.
The Honda rider had been involved in a fierce mid-race scrap with Marquez, forcing the Ducati man into several failed lunges before finally conceding at the final corner.
🔄⚔️ @JoanMirOfficial holds strong to P3 and relegates @marcmarquez93 to P4#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/Db0ZU0hCUm
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 27, 2025
Bagnaia’s pace was unmatched from lap four onwards. Running consistently in the 1:43s bracket, he stretched his advantage to over three seconds before easing off late on.
The result not only marked his first sprint victory of the 2025 season but also secured Ducati a 1-2 finish and the chance to snatch the Teams’ Championship in tomorrow’s Grand Prix race.
Behind the leading trio, Mir delivered Honda’s strongest sprint of the year in fourth, holding off Franco Morbidelli’s VR46 Ducati in fifth.
Fabio Quartararo brought Yamaha into sixth, clear of Luca Marini in seventh. Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura gave Trackhouse a strong double top-10, finishing eighth and ninth, with Alex Marquez completing the top ten.
The Spaniard will need a miracle in tomorrow’s Grand Prix race – he will need to outscore Marc by seven points – should he want to deny his brother the title.
Further back, Enea Bastianini retired early with a technical issue, while Jack Miller crashed out on the final lap.
Aprilia’s sprint was poised to be challenging from the get-go – both factory riders starting from outside the top ten – but unravelled even further when reigning World Champion Jorge Martin lost control of his Aprilia heading towards Turn 1 on the opening lap.
LIGHTS OUT in the #TissotSprint 🚥@PeccoBagnaia nails the start as @88jorgemartin and Bezzecchi are out at the first corner 😱#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/Q9d9z35wMY
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 27, 2025
Having blitzed the start, the Spaniard took the inside line but clipped Fermin Aldeguer on the run-up to Turn 1 and clattered head-first into the field, taking out his teammate Marco Bezzecchi.
Both Aprilia riders didn’t rejoin the race after an incident that could easily have ended worse.
As of writing, Jorge Martin is in the medical centre for a check (presumably on his shoulder, which he looked to have some pain in after the incident).
UPDATE: X-rays at the track revealed a diplaced fracture to the right collarbone. Martin will be transferred to a nearby hospital for further assessment.
