Overview
- Francesco Bagnaia claimed pole with a new Motegi lap record of 1:42.911, lining up ahead of Joan Mir in second and Marc Márquez in third, while Alex Márquez advanced from Q1 to qualify eighth.
- Bagnaia led the 12-lap sprint from start to finish, with Marc Márquez second and Pedro Acosta third, and Mir finishing fourth.
- Marc Márquez’s sprint result extended his championship lead to 191 points, leaving him a title-clinch scenario that requires defending six points in Sunday’s Grand Prix.
- An early sprint collision sent Jorge Martín wide into Marco Bezzecchi, eliminating both factory Aprilia riders and forcing Alex Rins, Johann Zarco and Jack Miller to run off to avoid the incident.
- In other classes, Jake Dixon set a new Moto2 lap record at 1:48.679 in practice and David Muñoz topped Moto3 practice times.