Marc Marquez defeated Pedro Acosta at Sepang to claim his seventh Grand Prix victory of the season and the 80th of his MotoGP career. Alex Marquez finished third. With injured championship rival Jorge Martin absent and Marco Bezzecchi sixth, the Ducati rider opened a 44-point lead and earned a chance to secure the title in Qatar.
Marc Marquez won the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, finishing ahead of Pedro Acosta and Alex Marquez. The Ducati Lenovo rider secured his seventh Grand Prix victory of the season and the 80th of his career in MotoGP, the premier motorcycle racing class. The result left him 44 points clear of injured rival Jorge Martin.[1], [2]
Marquez led from the start. Alex Marquez challenged at the fourth corner but ran wide, while Acosta worked his way back to third by the end of the opening lap. On lap ten, Acosta passed Alex at the ninth corner to take second. The leader continued pulling away and finished 4.1 seconds ahead.[1]
Ai Ogura finished fourth, just behind the final podium place. Enea Bastianini took fifth after Marco Bezzecchi made a mistake at the penultimate corner on the last lap. Bezzecchi’s sixth place left him 67 points behind Marquez in the championship.[1]
Marquez can retain the championship at the next round in Qatar if he scores 30 points more than Martin and eight more than Bezzecchi. Martin missed the Malaysian weekend through injury and is aiming to return in Qatar. Acosta followed his Saturday sprint victory with a second successive runner-up finish in the Malaysian Grand Prix.[1]
