Alex Marquez dominated the Malaysian MotoGP yesterday to clinch his third victory of the season, romping home more than two seconds ahead of fellow Spaniard Pedro Acosta.
Marquez, who confirmed his runner-up spot in the world championship standings this weekend behind his brother, Marc Marquez, won for the first time this year outside Spain following success at the Spanish and Catalan Grand Prix races.
Honda’s Joan Mir took home third place, with Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo completing the top five.
Photo: EPA
Newly crowned world champion Marc Marquez was absent because of a season-ending injury.
Pole-sitter Francesco Bagnaia, who won Saturday’s sprint race, started convincingly on a hot and humid Sepang circuit to hold a slender lead in the first lap with Acosta and Alex Marquez in hot pursuit.
Alex Marquez made his move early in the second lap as the Ducati-Gresini star surged past Bagnaia during a sweeping corner, and maintained the lead until the finish line.
Ducati’s Bagnaia had a tailgating Acosta behind him as the front three left the chasing pack behind.
As the race reached the halfway stage, Bagnaia’s focus was to fend off intense pressure from Acosta, leaving Alex Marquez to increase his advantage.
Acosta’s pressure eventually paid off as the KTM stalwart found joy on the 13th lap to overtake Bagnaia into second place.
Unperturbed by the battle unfolding behind him, Alex Marquez crossed the finish line in 40 minutes 09.249 seconds, 2.676 seconds clear of Acosta, and 8.048 seconds ahead of Mir.
Bagnaia’s afternoon ended with a bike issue late on that left him unable to finish the race.
The Moto3 race was delayed by almost two hours and shortened after a nasty collision involving newly crowned world champion Jose Antonio Rueda and Noah Dettwiler during the sighting lap.
Both riders were airlifted to hospital, but were conscious.
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