Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia kept his MotoGP title defence alive with a victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang, Malaysia, yesterday, cutting Jorge Martin’s lead in the driver’s standings down to 24 points ahead of the season’s final race.
Pramac Racing’s Martin’s second-placed finish in Sepang moved him up to 485 points in the overall standings, while Bagnaia is second on 461. Bagnaia’s teammate Enea Bastianini finished third, over seven seconds behind Martin.
After a chaotic start, the race at the Sepang International Circuit was restarted for 19 laps under dark clouds and in sweltering conditions.
Photo: AFP
Polesitter Bagnaia, who was set to start on a medium front tire but made a last-minute switch to a soft front tire, had a clean start off the line and kept the lead heading into the first turn.
In a thrilling first three laps, Bagnaia and Martin threw caution to the wind and went toe-to-toe on every turn as the lead continuously swapped hands between the two title rivals.
Bagnaia, who had vowed on Saturday to go all out in the race, was able to finally put some space between him and Martin in the fourth lap, an advantage he would not relinquish.
Photo: AFP
The win also helped Bagnaia’s limit some of the damage from his crash in the sprint on Saturday.
“Managing the heat was the easiest part today, honestly,” said Bagnaia, whose win was his 10th of the season.
“Jorge was very aggressive. But our pace was too good and like always in the race on Sunday I can attack, I can be more aggressive,” he said. “We just need to understand why on Saturday I’m struggling more to do the same.”
In what was likely a sensible move from Martin, he eased off the throttle slightly midway through the race and cut out any unnecessary risks, opting to prolong his wait for a maiden MotoGP title by a few days.
The Spaniard did have a whiff of an opportunity in the final few laps though, as Bagnaia’s soft front tire degraded and his lap times increased, but the two-times champion’s lead was enough to seal the win.
Martin would have destiny in his own hands at the final race Friday next week to Sunday, which is to be held in at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona in Spain after the Valencia Grand Prix was cancelled due to catastrophic flooding in the region.
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