Martin wins red-flagged Japanese MotoGP ahead of title rival Bagnaia
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Despite rain beginning to fall moments before the start of the race, riders stuck to dry tyres. But that soon changed as everyone except Michele Pirro, Fabio Quartararo, Stefan Bradl, Franco Morbidelli and Cal Crutchlow pitted for a bike swap on lap one.Japanese MotoGP, Motegi – Warm-up Results Japanese MotoGP at Motegi – LIVE UPDATES Quartararo and Crutchlow then pitted on lap two but Pirro, Bradl and Morbidelli chose to stick it out for one more lap. Pirro eventually pitted on lap four, as Morbidelli stayed out despite being overtaken by 16 riders on that same lap. Espargaro, who was the new race leader, soon came under pressure from the two main title contenders, as Martin first went through on Bagnaia.Five corners later and Martin took the lead as Marc Marquez was slowly going backwards.After being overtaken by Bagnaia and Martin, Marquez lost fourth to Marco Bezzecchi who then followed Bagnaia in getting through on a struggling Espargaro. Brad Binder was the first rider to out of the race, while at the front Martin saw his lead go from eight tenths to 1.4 seconds on lap 10. Related Brad Binder: ‘I could not believe the lap times we were doing’ Martin: ‘I was a bit nervous before the race, I don’t want this pressure’Instead, Bagnaia was being caught by Bezzecchi and Marquez, as the pair dropped Miguel Oliveira as the rain intensified. Vinales, Raul Fernandez and Crutchlow were given Long Lap penalties for an illegal bike swap. As conditions detiriorated, red flags were waved at the end of lap 13 although they weren’t deployed in time for Zarco to avoid a big at the penultimate corner. After sending riders back out on circuit following a 20 minute delay, the race was cut short again as the rain got heavier on the warm-up lap.As a result full points were awared as Martin took the win from Bagnaia and Marquez.
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