ROUND 16 / OCTOBER 4-6, 2024
MOTEGI MOBILITY RESORT / MOTEGI, JAPAN
P86
MARQUEZ'S
QUALIFYING RAGE
Marc Marquez was furious after
Q2 was finished—not because
his pole-position lap had been
canceled for exceeding track
limits on the exit of turn four, but
because the news wasn't relayed
to him until it was too late to push
for another lap. "When I saw they
didn't cancel the lap, I decided
not to make any more laps push-
ing, because there was some
drops, and I decide not to take
any risks," he said. "I went to the
Stewards to understand why the
notification arrived five minutes
later. And they said, 'Sorry.'"
ACOSTA'S
HEARTBREAK
He was so close. But Pedro
Acosta must wait at least another
race before claiming a first victory
in MotoGP. Not long after becom-
ing the third youngest polesitter in
premier-class history, he led the
Sprint and was easing clear of
Pecco Bagnaia when he crashed
out at turn seven. The Spaniard
fronted up to the mistake immedi-
ately. "A little wide, with too much
lean angle," he said. And Acosta
reckoned it was the biggest dis-
appointment of his career to date.
"F---, today was good," he said.
"I have to say that today, with
my crash in Moto2 in Le Mans
[in 2023], it's even more painful.
But I remember that crash helped
me to really grow up inside this
championship."
NAKAGAMI'S
DISAPPOINTMENT
It wasn't the Saturday Takaaki
Nakagami had envisaged at his
home GP. The Japanese rider
Briefly...
ROAD RACE I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
