Marc Marquez gears up for potential title-winning weekend in Qatar after Malaysian MotoGP victory
Nearly 200,000 fans witnessed Marc Marquez close in on his eighth MotoGP World Championship with a convincing victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang, his seventh of the season.
With a 44-point advantage over Jorge Martin, Marquez has a chance of wrapping up the title in Qatar this weekend.
The championship battle took a dramatic turn in Malaysia as Jorge Martin was forced to abandon his comeback after just a handful of laps in FP2, having fractured his wrist during the previous weekend’s Sprint race at Phillip Island.
“I gave it everything I had!,” Martin said.
“The recovery process is progressing fast, but not fast enough for me to be competitive.”
With his main championship rival sidelined, Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) took full advantage at the Malaysian Grand Prix, delivering another commanding performance to strengthen his title challenge.
Saturday's Sprint produced plenty of drama as pole-setter Alex Marquez crashed out of the lead, allowing Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM) to claim victory ahead of Marc Marquez, who secured second as rain arrived in the closing stages. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) completed the podium.
In Sunday's 20-lap Grand Prix, Alex Marquez made the strongest start, leading from the lights. However, by the end of the first lap, his elder brother had seized the advantage.
From there, Marc produced a masterclass, controlling the race from the front and steadily extending his lead. He eventually crossed the line more than four seconds clear of Acosta to secure his first Malaysian Grand Prix victory since 2018.
Acosta claimed second after passing Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) at Turn 9 on lap 10, with the younger Marquez, struggling with a shoulder injury, completing the podium in third.
Reflecting on his victory, Marquez said: “I was super concentrated all weekend. From FP1, I went out like a time attack, trying to find the limits because, as I said, it's time to take a risk.
“We did it, and we did a perfect race, so I'm super, super happy. But my mentality still cannot change: keep focused, keep pushing. Not many races to go, but many moments to go, so we must be super concentrated.”
Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) survived a late clash with factory Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi to secure third place.
Bezzecchi's championship challenge suffered a further setback when a last-lap mistake allowed Enea Bastianini to snatch fifth, leaving the Italian 67 points adrift of Marc Marquez in the standings.
Colombian David Alonso took victory in the Moto2 class while newly crowned World Champion Max Quiles was a convincing winner of the Moto3 race, where Irish rider Casey O’Gorman finished a difficult weekend in 16th.