The Spaniard Alex Marquez – assured of finishing 2nd in the MotoGP world championship behind his brother Marc, already titled – won the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday at Sepang, where Francesco Bagnaia, who seemed promised a podium, retired. 2nd on the grid, Marquez took control of the race from the second lap (of 20), to head towards his third GP success of the year.
“The plan was clear (…) I was smart in attacking Pedro (Acosta) from the first round then Pecco (editor’s note: Bagnaia’s nickname) in the second, and then I managed the tires until the end,” he explained after a “perfect race.”
The Ducati-Gresini rider beat his 21-year-old compatriot Acosta (KTM), 2nd, who equals his best performance in the elite.
Francesco Bagnaia mowed down in his tracks
Starting from pole, the double 2022-2023 world champion Francesco Bagnaia had to retire three laps from the end, victim of a rare puncture while he controlled his 3rd place.
If the Italian, who defended his 2nd position against Acosta until the 13th lap, did not manage to double the lead after his victory in the sprint race on Saturday, he still showed this weekend that he had regained his competitiveness on one of his favorite circuits. The Ducati rider remained in the last two disastrous Grand Prix, where he retired while at the back of the pack.
Joan Mir (Honda), 2020 world champion, completes a 100% Spanish podium ahead of the Italian Franco Morbidelli (Ducati-VR46) and the 2021 world champion, the French Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), 5th. The latter, 4th on the starting grid, retained this position for a long time before dropping back halfway.
Raul Fernandez and Fermin Aldeguer threw in the towel
Without the ogre Marc Marquez, absent until the end of the year after falling in Indonesia at the beginning of October, this 20th round of the season out of 22 still seemed open.
Surprise winner of the Australian GP last Sunday, Raul Fernandez (Aprilia-Trackhouse) retired after falling. His compatriot Fermin Aldeguer (Ducati-Gresini), who became at 20 the second youngest winner in the history of the premier category after the Indonesian GP, also had to throw in the towel.
Marco Bezzecchi finished in a modest 11th place. However, a sufficient position for the Italian from Aprilia, who returns to 3rd in the championship ahead of Bagnaia. Five points separate the two drivers.
In the lower categories, the Sunday program was largely revised after the accident in Moto3 – the first race of the day – between the new Spanish world champion Jose Antonio Rueda and Solothurn Noah Dettwiler during the grid lap. The first came violently into the second which was in slow motion. Conscious, the two pilots were airlifted to the hospital.
