Malaysian MotoGP 2024: Bagnaia wins at Sepang to keep title hopes hanging by thread

Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia kept his MotoGP title defence alive with a victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang on Sunday, 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.

Polesitter Bagnaia, who was set to start on a medium front tyre but made a last-minute switch to a soft front tyre, 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.

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. We just need to understand why on Saturday I’m struggling more to do the same.”

Martin’s wait prolonged

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 tyre degraded and his lap times increased, but the two-times champion’s lead was enough to seal the win.

Martin will have destiny in his own hands at the November 15-17 final race, which will be held in Barcelona at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona after the Valencia Grand Prix was cancelled due to catastrophic flooding in the region.

“Thanks to Bagnaia, because he’s making this challenge more and more difficult,” Martin said. “I wanted to win, I wanted to be in the lead, but for sure Peco had the strategy. I completely understood his strategy, he was quite aggressive.

“We were making a good start for the first few laps, but then as soon as he overtook me, it was impossible to fight… We go to the final race, a big challenge, so let’s try to do the best.”

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Gresini Racing’s Marc Marquez did well to keep pace with the leading two for the first few laps but it proved too much of a challenge as the six-times MotoGP champion crashed out in the seventh lap.

Earlier on Sunday, the race was red-flagged after Red Bull KTM’s Jack Miller went down on turn two of the opening lap and crashed into Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and teammate Brad Binder.

Australian Miller received medical attention on the track and was conscious when taken to the medical centre for an examination.