MotoGP Malaysian GP: Alex Marquez takes dominant win, drama for Francesco Bagnaia

Alex Marquez scored a commanding victory in MotoGP’s Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, while Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia endured a late-race heartbreak while running in third position.

Having secured runner-up spot in the championship on Saturday, Marquez passed polesitter Bagnaia early on and then disappeared into the distance, proving why he was considered the pre-weekend favourite.

Pedro Acosta grabbed another podium position in second, while a mechanical problem denied Bagnaia a podium finish.

At the start of the race, Bagnaia made the perfect getaway from pole position to lead into Turn 1, while Acosta took full advantage of KTM’s superior launch control system to shoot past Marquez into Turn 1.

But Marquez kept Acosta within sight and repassed him immediately into Turn 4, preventing Bagnaia from running away in the front, as he had in Saturday’s sprint.

That move proved decisive early on, as Marquez grabbed the inside line into the right-hander on lap 2 to snatch the lead from Bagnaia.

Just a lap later, Acosta mirrored Marquez’s move on Bagnaia, but the factory Ducati rider cut back across him to reclaim the spot.

For the next phase of the race, Bagnaia and Acosta continued to run nose to tail, with Marquez pulling out a lead of around eight tenths at the front.

It wasn’t until lap 13 of 20 that Acosta was able to make a pass on Bagnaia, who was struggling on Michelin’s medium front, overtaking the Ducati on the brakes into Turn 4.

By this time, Marquez had checked out at the front on his Gresini Ducati, with his advantage doubling to over two seconds.

Even in clear air, the KTM rider could do little to trouble the Spaniard, who romped to his third win of the season by 2.6s.

Bagnaia was on course for a first podium finish since Japan until his Ducati hit a mysterious problem just three laps from the finish, forcing him to pull off the track.

The dejected Italian was able to return to the pits, where he retired from the race.

Bagnaia’s heartbreak elevated Joan Mir to the final spot on the podium after the Honda rider won a long battle with his Yamaha counterpart Fabio Quartararo.

Mir first made a move on Quartararo at the end of lap 6 but ran wide into Turn 15, allowing Quartararo to come back through. Four laps later he finally got the job done, passing the Frenchman on the brakes at Turn 4.

Quartararo eventually finished the race in fifth place after VR46’s Franco Morbidelli barged past him into the final corner of the lap.

Fabio di Giannantonio was classified sixth on the other VR46 Ducati, while Enea Bastianini completed an incredible recovery from 19th on the grid to finish seventh.

Luca Marini took eighth for Honda, with KTM’s Brad Binder and Trackhouse rider Ai Ogura completing the top 10.

Factory Aprilia star Marco Bezzecchi was unable to make much progress after a tough qualifying, finishing the race in 11th ahead of LCR’s Johann Zarco.

Fermin Aldeguer was among the three riders to retire from the race, along with Bagnaia and Raul Fernandez, the Gresini rookie crashing late on at Turn 15 while running in seventh position.

Photos from Malaysian GP – Race

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