Pecco Bagnaia wins the Moto2 race in Japan, Quartararo disqualified

The Moto2 World Championship at the Motegi Circuit, in Japan, was the next to take to the track, with plenty of excitement and tension among the riders at this weekend’s event.

The start was good for pole-sitter Fabio Quartararo, the Frenchman got off to a strong launch, followed by Bagnaia, who wasted no time in pouncing on the Frenchman, overtaking him to take the lead and try to break away. But Quartararo was very strong today, and did not let the Italian go alone, managing to overtake him two laps later and reclaim the lead.

With 15 laps to go, the Frenchman was still leading the race, followed by Pecco, with Baldassarri right behind them, while Márquez had lost several positions, though still within the top 10 and fighting to win some back. Meanwhile, Oliveira, who is second in the championship, was trying to make up places from behind to prevent Pecco from scoring more points.

Then came the decisive moment, the final stretch, with Quartararo vs Bagnaia, the rest of the riders were far behind, so the victory was a two-man affair. Pecco tried, but today Fabio was very strong, closing every gap and pushing hard, certainly an interesting day for Fabio, who secured the victory in Japan. But a few hours later, Race Direction announced that Quartararo had been penalised for tyre pressure below the permitted limit. As a result, all the riders moved up one position. Bagnaia wins the race, with Baldassarri in second and Oliveira in third.

Without a doubt, the disqualification of Fabio was a twist in the race, with victory for Bagnaia, who now has a 36-point lead over Oliveira. The top 10 was completed by Márquez 4th, Binder 5th, Augusto Fernández 6th, Xavi Vierge 7th, Lecuona 8th, Marini 9th and Schrotter 10th. The rest of our riders finished Mir 11th, Pons 23rd, Viñales 26th.

On to the next race.