The 20th round of the MotoGP, the Malaysian Grand Prix, was held at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia from October 24th to 26th, and Alex Marquez (Ducati) won the final race.
Alex Marquez finishes second in the rankings
Following the previous race, the Australian Grand Prix, Marc Marquez (Ducati), Jorge Martin (Aprilia) and Maverick Vinales (KTM) will be absent from the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Marc Márquez injured his right shoulder blade in a crash during the Indonesian Grand Prix final race and subsequently underwent surgery. On October 23rd, it was announced that he would miss the final round of the season.
Martin remains out of action after breaking his right collarbone in a crash during the sprint race at the Japanese Grand Prix, while Viñales is concentrating on his rehabilitation after recovering from a fractured dislocation of his left shoulder sustained at the German Grand Prix. Michele Pirro took Marc Marquez’s place, Lorenzo Savadori for Martin, and Pol Espargaro for Viñales.
In Saturday’s Qualifying 2 (Q2), Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) took pole position, followed by Alex Marquez (Ducati) in second and Franco Morbidelli (Ducati) in third, giving Ducati riders the first row. Ai Ogura (Aprilia) started from 17th place.
Bagnaia won the sprint race on Saturday afternoon, with Alex Marquez in second place. Fermín Aldeguer (Ducati) finished third, but was penalized 8 seconds for a tire pressure violation, meaning Pedro Acosta (KTM) finished third. Ogura finished 12th.
This race also secured Alex Marquez second place in the championship standings. Alex Marquez is the younger brother of Marc Marquez, who won the championship at the Japanese GP, making this the first and second place finish for both brothers in the championship.
In the sprint race, Aldeguer also won Rookie of the Year ©Gresini Racing
Alex Marquez wins, Bagnaia retires
Sunday’s race began with the Moto3 class, but a serious crash occurred on the sighting lap. As a result, the start time of the Moto3 class race was significantly delayed and the number of laps was reduced. The Moto2 class will start after the MotoGP class, and other schedule changes have been made.
The MotoGP class started as scheduled at 3pm with 20 laps. After the start, Bagnaia took the lead, followed by Alex Marquez in second, Acosta in third, Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) in fourth, and Fermin Aldeguer (Ducati) in fifth.
On the second lap, Alex Márquez passed Bagnaia at the fourth corner to take the lead. Bagnaia was now in second place, and Acosta was closing in. While Bagnaia and Acosta were fighting for second place, Alex Márquez was widening his lead.
Behind them, Joan Mir (Honda), who had started in seventh place, was making inroads. He had moved up to fifth place and was right behind Quartararo, looking for an opportunity to move up to fourth. Honda had struggled in recent years, but they have been improving in the second half of the season, with Mir taking third place at the Japanese Grand Prix.
On lap 10, Mir overtook Quartararo to move up to fourth place, leaving him with a gap of around four seconds to Acosta in third place. Mir then began to close the gap.
On lap 13, Acosta finally overtook Bagnaia to move up to second place. With five laps remaining, Mir closed the gap to Bagnaia to within two seconds. With three laps remaining, Bagnaia slowed down. He drove slowly along the side of the track, pitted and retired.
After the race, Michelin informed us that Bagnaia’s rear tire had been punctured.
With Bagnaia’s retirement, Mir moved up to third place, with Alex Marquez in first place, Acosta in second, and Mir in third.
Alex Marquez took the lead early on and continued to race well to take the win, his third victory of the season. Acosta came in second, while Mir took third, giving Mir his second podium of the season since the Japanese Grand Prix.
Morbidelli came in 4th and Quartararo in 5th. Ogura finished 10th, the highest position for an Aprilia rider.
After the Malaysian Grand Prix, MotoGP returns to Europe for the 21st round, the Portuguese Grand Prix, which will be held at the Autódromo Internacional Algarve in Portugal from November 7th to 9th.
