Marc Márquez wins the sprint race in Japan and reduces the gap to Jorge Martin

Marc Márquez (Ducati) won the Motegi sprint race on Saturday, finishing ahead of Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) and Jorge Martín (Aprilia). The victory allowed the reigning world champion to recover five points in the overall standings and move to within seven points of the championship leader.

The race was largely decided at the start. Márquez got away better than Martín, who had taken pole position, and overtook him at the very first corner. Shortly afterward, a crash involving Alex Márquez (Ducati Gresini) triggered a chain reaction that brought down Pedro Acosta (KTM) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati VR46).

After taking the lead, Márquez managed his advantage without difficulty. He maintained a lead of a few tenths of a second for most of the race, before pulling more than a second clear in the final laps. The Ducati rider thus claimed his 22nd sprint race victory.

Diogo Moreira finished second after Martín and Enea Bastianini (KTM) were each handed a one-position penalty for exceeding track limits on the final lap. Martín finished third, with Bastianini fourth.