From start to finish, it felt like we had a glimpse of the genius that is Francesco Bagnaia once again. The #63 claimed his first Tissot Sprint win of the 2025 MotoGP season at the Japanese GP in Motegi. He stayed ahead and clear of the rest of the drama to lead his Ducati Lenovo teammate, Marc Márquez, and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider, Pedro Acosta. While it was a smooth no-nonsense ride for Bagnaia, the sprint race was by no means bland. Read on for all the key points and MotoGP Tissot Sprint results below.
A Front Row of Champions Starts Sprint, But Márquez Falls Behind
After a nail-biting MotoGP Qualifying session, the Ducati Lenovo Team riders started on the front row, split by Joan Mir on the Honda HRC Castrol. While each rider has held the title of MotoGP World Champion, only M.Márquez was a handful of points from claiming it again. Every single one in this sprint would count for him to do so after the main race on Sunday. Unfortunately, the #93 had a less-than-ideal launch off the line and was passed by Acosta. In multiple attempts to catch the front three, M.Márquez conducted some serious trailbraking but came up short until it finally paid off. He had to force Mir wide to achieve it before chasing Acosta back to clinch a second-place finish.
Double DNF for the Factory Aprilia
From the very first corner, the MotoGP Tissot Sprint was drama-filled. A gasp-inducing incident saw Jorge Martín wobble and collide with his teammate Marco Bezzecchi. The #1 rider had attempted to come around the outside line of Fermín Aldeguer and Jack Miller, but also forced Alex Rins and Johann Zarco wide. Both Aprilia Racing riders appeared to be conscious, however, Martín was taken to hospital for further checks on a broken collarbone and ruled out of Sunday’s race. The incident was noted for review after the race.
Poor Day at the Office for Gresini and KTM
Álex Márquez tried what he could to cling on to a point-scoring position in the Tissot Sprint. But fell back behind the home hero Ai Ogura. Meanwhile, the other rider in the BK8 Gresini Racing box, Aldeguer, could not get further than eleventh position. With these two results, it will take a lot of legwork to make it up in the main race at the Mobility Resort Motegi.
Notable Retirements to Reset for Sunday
Enea Bastianini was the first to retire from the race, pulling his Red Bull KTM Tech3 machine off to the side as it puttered out. After his involvement in the first corner incident, Zarco was forced to retire from the race and pulled into the Castrol Honda LCR garage after completing nine laps. On the penultimate lap of the Tissot Sprint, Miller finished his sprint race in the gravel. The #43 held onto his Pramac Yamaha machine until it slowly came to a stop.
The Top 9
Here are the nine-point scorers of the Grand Prix of Japan Sprint Race:
Will We Crown the Champion on Sunday?
Our team has done the calculations and confirmed this from several sources: as long as M. Márquez maintains a gap of 185 points or more, he will be a MotoGP champion once again. The drama of the Motul Grand Prix of Japan has only just begun.