Japanese MotoGP rider ratings: Strong score for under-the-radar Ducati runner

Francesco Bagnaia completed an important double at the Japanese Grand Prix to close down Jorge Martin’s MotoGP championship lead.

The factory Ducati rider was quick from the off on Friday and made good on his predictions that he was the fastest one on race pace came to pass in Sunday’s 24-lap grand prix.

His lights to flag win follows on from his victory in the sprint, which was somewhat gifted after Pedro Acosta crashed out of the lead. But Bagnaia took advantage when it counted and pounced on a rare off-colour weekend for Martin.

The Pramac rider didn’t have a great feeling on his Ducati on Friday and then crashed in qualifying, which left him 11th on the grid. He recovered to fourth in the sprint and managed second in the grand prix.

But he had to concede defeat to Bagnaia at Motegi and swallow the 11-point swing in the championship back in the Italian’s favour.

Marc Marquez brushed off an unfortunate lap cancellation that dropped him from pole to ninth in qualifying to finish on the podium in both races, while Acosta hopes of a first win in MotoGP disappeared twice at Motegi.

Here are Crash.net's ratings for the full grid after the 2024 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix.

Francesco Bagnaia - 8.5

The reigning world champion needed a big response in Japan after a difficult Indonesia weekend. And Bagnaia was very much back to his best, qualifying second and making sure he was in the best position to capitalise on Acosta’s crash out of the lead of the sprint. Based on the pace of the Tech3 rookie at the point he fell, second was likely the most Bagnaia could have hoped for in that contest. And a second crash for Acosta robbed us of the opportunity to see truly just how competitive Bagnaia was. But he operated within the race in front of him and did so brilliantly on Sunday, maintaining a strong pace against Martin and resisting a late charge for his eighth grand prix win of the season and fourth sprint/GP double.

Jorge Martin - 8

The Japanese GP was shaping up to be a major test of Martin’s resolve after a difficult Friday in which he was quick but not comfortable. A costly crash in qualifying suggested he hadn’t made the gains he’d needed and 11th was his worst starting position since he was 12th in Austria last year. Fourth was all he could get to in the sprint, but was conditioned somewhat by the intermittent drizzle forcing a cautious approach. He was back to his best in the grand prix, getting up to second within four laps. While he pushed Bagnaia in the latter stages, a late scare forced him to give up the chase and settle for 20 points. A higher starting position may have given him a better shot at fighting Bagnaia, having used his rear tyre harder to recover ground in the early laps. While his championship lead is down to 10 points again, his consistency remains his biggest ally in the 2024 title battle.

Marc Marquez - 8.5

Friday at the Japanese GP was something of a return to the first half of the season for Marquez, as he wasn’t too happy with his feeling on the Gresini-run GP23. He cast aside its limitations compared to the GP24 in Q2 to fire in a lap record and pole time that was ultimately cancelled because he exceeded track limits. This left him ninth on the grid, but recovered to third in both races in a display we’ve seen countless times in 2024 from Marquez. The next GP23 was 17s down the road, speaking to just how much Marquez is extracting from the weaker, older Ducati package.

Enea Bastianini - 8

The high tyre wear race expected at the Japanese GP really should have brought Bastianini into play much more than it did. Qualifying solidly in fourth, he lost too much time overtaking KTM’s Brad Binder in the grand prix to get involved in the fight for victory, while it ultimately contributed to him missing out on third to Marquez despite a big push late on. Second in the sprint and almost catching a slowing Bagnaia on the last lap carried forward the Saturday-to-Sunday consistency Bastianini has shown in recent rounds and keeps him ahead in his tight fight with Marquez for third in the standings.

Franco Morbidelli - 7.5

While Morbidelli’s performances in Japan were well shy of what a GP24 rider should be doing this season, and this has been the case for most of his year, he quietly put together a very solid weekend for Pramac. Sixth in qualifying, Morbidelli was fifth in the sprint and came through to the same position in the grand prix. The biggest problem here is the fact he was 13.6s behind the top four group. But nobody, save for Acosta lately, has been able to be a genuine threat to that quartet and judging Morbidelli’s Japanese GP solely on that would not be fair.

Brad Binder - 7

The South African probably would have earned a half mark more had he seen the sprint through, but a technical issue meant he couldn’t capitalise on a strong qualifying in fifth to remain in the podium battle he’d worked his way into early. In the grand prix he was no match for KTM’s leading light Acosta in terms of pace, but he made the most of what he had to finish sixth, especially as his rear tyre dropped off a cliff in the final stages. Overall a better weekend for Binder, but with clear work to do to get on terms with Acosta’s speed.

Marco Bezzecchi - 6

The VR46 rider has been enjoying a better second half to the season on the GP23 he has struggled to extract the same performances from that made him a title challenger on the GP22. Outqualified by his less than fully fit team-mate, Bezzecchi came away without points in the sprint but was a solid seventh in the grand prix.

Fabio Di Giannantonio - 6.5

Di Giannantonio came out of arguably one of the toughest circuits to ride at with an arm injury looking pretty good on the sister VR46 Ducati. He put his bike seventh on the grid ahead of team-mate Bezzecchi and was sixth in the sprint. Involved in a tight battle in the second half of the top 10 in the grand prix, he was eighth and just over a second from his team-mate.

Alex Espargaro - 5

The MotoGP veteran isn’t getting the send off from racing he would have been hoping for as the Aprilia remains a difficult bike to tame in the second half of 2024. Battling with a lack of grip all weekend, Espargaro was knocked out in Q1 and crashed out of the sprint. He managed to come through to ninth in the grand prix and was top RS-GP. But team-mate Maverick Vinales proved there is flashes of potential in the bike and Espargaro hasn’t been able to do the same.

Jack Miller - 5.5

Miller’s rear chatter issues on the KTM got a public showing during the Japanese GP, which he felt offered him some vindication for the struggles he’s been complaining about for much of 2024. He put aside a difficult 14th in qualifying to come through to eighth in the sprint and was up inside the top five in the early stages of the grand prix. But he tumbled down the order to 10th. He’s having a tougher time on the RC16 than Binder and Acosta, and Japan further highlighted that.

Johann Zarco - 4.5

Our superstar scorer from Indonesia endured a far more disappointing weekend than he’d hoped for on the LCR Honda. Qualifying 16th, albeit as top Honda, Zarco let himself and the team down in a big way when he collided with team-mate Takaaki Nakagami at Turn 2 in the sprint race and knocked the Japanese rider off. He was rightly penalised for that. In the grand prix he was on course to finish behind Fabio Quartararo, but gained 11th when the Yamaha rider ran out of fuel exiting the last corner. While top Honda, it was only by 1.5s.

Fabio Quartararo - 6.5

The Japanese GP was always going to be a bit of a nightmare for Yamaha, with the M1’s lack of rear grip not suited to Motegi’s stop-and-go layout. Not even a new chassis could help him out. Quartararo did a great job to get out of Q1, but bike limitations meant 12th was as high as he could climb. He stayed there in the sprint, while in the grand prix he was on for 11th before running out of fuel on exiting the final corner and losing a position to Zarco. Still miles clear of Yamaha team-mate Alex Rins, Quartararo continues to make the most out of a bad situation.

Takaaki Nakagami - 5.5

On his final appearance on home soil as a full-time race, Nakagami went out with his head held high after a solid weekend for the Japanese rider. He narrowly missed direct Q2 passage at the end of practice, while qualifying let him down as he could do no more than 21st. The sprint tangle with his team-mate was unavoidable on his part, while a fine ride to 13th and just 1.5s behind top Honda Zarco was a good showing for Nakagami.

Luca Marini - 5

A quiet weekend in Honda’s home territory for Marini saw him qualify behind factory team-mate Joan Mir in 20th in the grid, though he ended up top Honda in the sprint in 13th. Just under two seconds from Nakagami, Marini took the chequered flag in the grand prix in 14th and showing reasonably comparable pace to his fellow HRC runners. Perhaps a more aggressive tyre strategy to go for the soft instead of the medium could have yielded a little more, but it was far from a bad weekend for the Italian.

Raul Fernandez - 5

The Trackhouse rider frustratingly missed out on a Q2 place by 0.117s and had to line up 13th instead. He advanced to 11th in the sprint on the underperforming Aprilia package, though his race was. Much more disappointing he took the final point on offer in 15th. His feeling is getting stronger on the RS-GP, but the better results to back this up were missing in Japan.

Alex Rins - 4

There really isn’t much to say about Rins’ weekend at Yamaha’s home race. He lagged well behind team-mate Quartararo throughout, qualifying 19th and finishing 16th in both races. Over eight seconds shy of his team-mate at the chequered flag was a tough one for Rins to take as his improved feeling with rear contact on the M1 was undone when his medium Michelin faded.

Remy Gardner - 3

Gardner was parachuted into the Yamaha wildcard slot vacated by test rider Cal Crutchlow owing to the Briton’s ongoing injury troubles. Gardner qualified last and finished last in both races. But with little bike time to begin with coming off the back of a recent busy run in the World Superbike calendar, there wasn’t much to expect from the Australian.

Pedro Acosta - 6

Acosta backed up his claims after the Indonesian GP that he is getting “closer and closer” to a first win in MotoGP. A major threat from Friday based on long run pace, Acosta’s first pole in the class may have been somewhat gifted following the late cancellation of Marc Marquez’s lap, but it was no less earned. A first sprint win was coming his way when he crashed on lap nine of 12. It was a mistake he repeated in the grand prix early on while running second. Acosta cut a dejected figure, and it’s easy to forget that this is all a natural part of being a rookie. But in three of the last four grands prix, Acosta has thrown good results away to errors. He’s still learning, but he also needs to rein in the mistakes.

Maverick Vinales - 5.5

Vinales has been saying for a few rounds that there is a lot of potential still in the RS-GP package and it’s only a matter of time and tweaks before good results are on offer again. In Japan he put in a brilliant effort to qualify third. A failure to disengage his front start device contributed to his tumble down to ninth in the sprint. Another poor start in the grand prix saw him plummet again and he was outside of the top 10 when he crashed on lap 12. The speed was there, the consistency not, and that’s something Vinales has regularly been guilty of.

Augusto Fernandez - 3

The Tech3 team made some big changes to Fernandez’s KTM in Japan which has given him back a bit of the feeling he has been missing in 2024. But it’s not been enough to transform his results, with the Spaniard 15th in the sprint and crashing out of the grand prix.

Lorenzo Savadori - 3.5

The Aprilia test rider isn’t really replacing Miguel Oliveira at Trackhouse to put in strong results. For as long as he’s on the bike it’s an opportunity for the Noale brand to do some testing work in racing conditions. He won the battle of the test riders ahead of Gardner in the sprint, while a technical issue forced him out of the grand prix.

Alex Marquez - 2

Alex Marquez’s speed throughout the Japan weekend was solid enough, with the Gresini rider 10th in qualifying and seventh in the sprint. But his reckless lap one crash with Joan Mir has earned him our lowest rating of the weekend.

Joan Mir - 2.5

Joan Mir’s decision to re-sign with Honda for two more years seems baffling after confidence-denting weekend’s like Japan, in which he registered double DNFs for the second round in a row. Granted, his Sunday crash was not his fault, while credit should also be given for only narrowly missing top Honda honours in qualifying. But Mir knows he’s not going to help RC213V development from the gravel trap.