Marc Marquez scored a commanding victory within the Malaysian Grand Prix to maneuver a step nearer to sealing the 2026 MotoGP title, with Aprilia failing to complete on the rostrum.
The manufacturing unit Ducati rider gained the lead initially and constructed a buffer within the first half of the race, aided by his youthful brother Alex Marquez appearing as a rear-gunner.
Whereas Pedro Acosta was in a position to move the Gresini rider on lap 10 following a prolonged battle, he had no reply to Marc Marquez, who cruised to the end to say his seventh grand prix win of the season.
The end result strikes him 44 factors away from injured Jorge Martin and 72 in entrance of Marco Bezzecchi, that means he might wrap up the 2026 title as early as subsequent week’s Qatar Grand Prix.
Nonetheless compromised by a shoulder damage he sustained on the Catalan GP, Alex Marquez needed to accept third place, however he efficiently stored Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi at bay in the course of the center of the race.
When the 20-lap Sepang contest received underway, Marc Marquez made one of the best launch from second on the grid, streaking previous polesitter Alex Marquez on the run right down to Flip 1.
The Gresini rider retaliated below braking for Flip 4 however ran too deep into the right-hander, permitting the reigning champion to retake the place.
Behind the main duo, Ai Ogura initially moved as much as third on the Trackhouse Aprilia, earlier than dropping behind Pedro Acosta and Marco Bezzecchi in fast succession.
Acosta then closed the hole to Alex Marquez, placing the reigning Malaysian GP winner below critical strain. However regardless of clearly being the quicker of the 2, the dash winner struggled to finish a move on him, permitting Marc Marquez to drag away on the entrance.
It wasn’t till the midpoint of the race on lap 10 that Acosta was lastly in a position to make a transfer, by which level his 2027 team-mate had constructed a bonus of 1.7s.
Marquez instantly picked up his tempo after Acosta moved to second, extending his result in properly over two seconds.Â
On lap 14, Acosta gained 4 tenths on the race chief, however Marquez responded to his tempo on the next tour, with the KTM rider unable to maintain up along with his countryman’s velocity.
Marquez finally took the chequered flag with a snug margin of 4.1s, scoring his eightieth premier class win and boosting his probabilities of a tenth world title.
Acosta accomplished a double podium in second following his dash win on Saturday, whereas Alex Marquez rounded out the highest three.
Manufacturing facility Aprilia rider Bezzecchi initially remained inside strike distance of Alex Marquez, briefly edging forward of the Gresini rider on lap 10. However he couldn’t full the transfer on the Spaniard and fell into the clutches of Trackhouse rider Ogura.
The 2 then engaged in a fierce battle for fourth, making heavy contact initially of lap 18. Ogura finally received the higher of his team-mate to take fourth, whereas Bezzecchi ran off the monitor on the ultimate lap and dropped to sixth, behind the Tech3 KTM of Enea Bastianini.
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