The Spanish Alex Márquez (Ducati Desmosedici GP22) has achieved his second victory in a “sprint” race by winning with authority the Malaysian MotoGP Grand Prix, at the Sepang circuit.
Finishing alongside Márquez on the podium were his compatriot Jorge Martín (Ducati Desmosedici GP23), who reduced the gap in the world championship standings by two points with the Italian Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia (Ducati Desmosedici GP23), who was third.
There were moments of tension prior to the start of the race when the Spaniard Jorge Martín lost one of the small spoilers that he has on the front wheel suspension of his motorcycle, although his mechanics were able to solve the complication generated by that aerodynamic appendage before the crash occurred. start of the “sprint” race.
In the game, the author of the pole position, the Italian “Pecco” Bagnaia with one of the six Ducati Desmosedici that took those positions, maintained his hegemony when reaching the end of the Malaysian straight, with Jorge Martín, winner of the five last “sprint” races held so far, fourth by losing two positions with the Italian Enea Bastianini (Ducati Desmosedici GP23) and the Spanish Alex Márquez (Ducati Desmosedici GP22), when the front wheel of his motorcycle lifted.
Before completing the first lap, Alex Márquez managed to overtake Bastianini to get in Bagnaia’s wake and, shortly after, Martín did the same, crossing the finish line third, with the Australian Jack Miller (KTM RC 16) fourth, after also surpassing the Italian.
Although Bagnaia and Márquez pulled hard, they couldn’t get distance from Martín, who stuck as close as he could to the head duo.
Márquez tried to overtake Bagnaia in the curve at the entrance to the finish line, but he slipped in and caused Martín to overtake him to try to get behind the slipstream of the Italian, who had gained a few meters advantage, but it was Alex Márquez who recovered the second position.
Behind him, his brother Marc Márquez (Honda RC 213 V) completed the third lap, despite crashing in turn 14, when he was thirteenth, very far from his usual positions, although he was recovering from twentieth position, to be relegated to twenty-first place after the accident.
A lap later his teammate, Joan Mir, crashed at turn 15, although like Marc, he also returned to the race in last position.
In the lead, Alex Márquez regained ground and began to “harass” Bagnaia, looking for the right moment to overtake him, and with Jorge Martín also approaching them.
On the sixth lap came the opportunity for Alex Márquez, who overtook “Pecco” Bagnaia, something that Jorge Martín also did a few corners later.
In just one lap the world championship leader had given up two positions and had his own teammate, Enea Bastianini, close to him, while Alex Márquez was gradually leaving alone without Martín being able to do anything to prevent it.
And that was the evolution of the race, with Alex Márquez gradually standing out from his rivals, the same as Jorge Martín did in second place, while the two official Ducati riders, “Pecco” Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini, entered for that order at the finish line, despite the final attempt by South African Brad Binder (KTM RC 16), to try to defeat one of them in the last curve of the Asian track.
Sixth place went to the other official KTM rider, the Australian Jack Miller, with three more Ducatis behind, the Italians Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini and the Frenchman Johann Zarco, among them.
Thus, Ducati’s dominance was overwhelming in Sepang, placing four of its motorcycles at the head of the race, and another three in the top ten. Only Fabio di Giannantonio was left out, in thirteenth position, behind the Aprilia riders, Maverick Viñales, eleventh, and Aleix Espargaró, thirteenth, with the Italian Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha YZR M 1), twelfth.
Augusto Fernández (Gas Gas RC 16) was fourteenth, ahead of his teammate Pol Espargaró, Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha YZR M 1) and Raúl Fernández (APrilia RS-GP), with the last four positions going to as many Spanish riders, Iker Lecuona (Honda RC 213 V), Marc Márquez, Álvaro Bautista (Ducati Desmosedici GP23) and Joan Mir.