Oct 3 (Reuters) – Ducati’s Marc Marquez won the Japanese Grand Prix sprint on Saturday to inch closer to MotoGP championship leader Jorge Martin of Aprilia in the standings.
Marquez made a scorching start and held the inside line on the first turn of the opening lap to surge past Martin, who had set a lap record at the Motegi circuit to grab pole position during qualifying earlier on Saturday.
Reigning champion Marquez maintained the lead and coasted to victory, moving him to 306 points – seven behind Martin, who was demoted to third place behind LCR Honda’s Diogo Moreira for exceeding track limits.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)