Francesco Bagnaia overcame the early challenge from Jorge Martin to win the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, making a slight dent in Martin’s championship lead as the Spaniard came home second.
The duo dueled in amazing fashion after Bagnaia, a Ducati rider, converted his first pole into a lead from the first corner at the start of the second half. However, in the end, Martin had to settle for second place, 20 points behind, riding his Pramac Ducati bike.
The result means Bagnaia has closed his gap at the top of the points table to 24, giving him a chance to retain his World Championship title in the final – now scheduled to be held in Barcelona – in two weeks’ time.
Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Brad Bender, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Crush
Photography: Gold & Goose/Motorsports Images
Two starts were needed to start the race after an accident in the opening sequence of corners brought out a red flag.
Bagnaia had taken the lead from Martin into the first corner when an accident occurred behind them, involving KTMs Brad Bender and Jack Miller as well as Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.
Bagnaia was still in the lead when the red flags flew near the end of the first lap, with Miller still receiving attention on the track.
There was some concern for Miller during the red flag delay, but the Australian was then seen walking away from the medical centre. Although he escaped serious injury, he will not participate in the resumed race. Bender joined him on the sidelines for the rest of the day after reporting pain in his shoulder.
However, Quartararo restarted even though he was visibly limping after the accident.
The ‘second’ race was reduced to 19 laps and got off to a stunning start with Martin repeatedly trying to make a move on Bagnaia’s stick during the first four laps. With Martin having little interest in the idea of following Bagnaia home and taking 20 points, their thrilling battle was the longest stretch of wheel-to-wheel racing between the champions this season.
Then Martin’s slight error at the end of lap four allowed Banja a little breathing room to ride the normal lines. He responded with the fastest lap on lap five, which finally broke Martin’s challenge for victory.
Bagnaia was able to control the rest of the race to win by just over three seconds over Martin, whose choice to face the current and run the medium front tire did not appear to have had much of an impact on the result.
Enea Bastianini finished a lonely and distant third in the second factory Ducati. The Italian initially ran behind Marc Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and Franco Morbidelli (Pramac Ducati), but both fell on the seventh lap.
Alex Marquez, riding the second Gresini Ducati bike, trailed Bastianini by one point throughout the race. He was briefly threatened by Pedro Acosta, who rose several places from 13th on the grid, before the Tech3 KTM’s challenge faded in the final three laps.
Quartararo finished sixth for Yamaha, while Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) and Alex Rins (Yamaha) completed the top eight.
Marco Bezzicki won a tight battle for ninth, with the VR46 Ducati driver edging Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez by just over a tenth of a second at the flag.
Johann Zarco topped the Honda team in 11th place, while Marc Marquez recovered from his fall to finish 12th, ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.
Morbidelli also returned to scoring points, earning two points to finish 14th. The latest scorer was Luca Marini at the Honda factory.
Photos from the MotoGP Malaysia GP – Race Results:
