MotoGP: Martin wins the Sprint, Bagnaia crashes and finishes -29

Jorge Martin wins the Sprint Race of the Malaysian Grand Prix and takes another small big step towards his first World title in MotoGP, thanks to the very heavy ‘zero’ caused by a fall by Francesco Bagnaia. There is now a 29 point difference between the two fighting rival friends: Sunday 3 November will be the first crucial turning point as well as the first match point for the Spaniard, with the Italian no longer able to afford any further missteps.

Second place which today therefore goes to Marc Marquez, while third was won by Enea Bastianini. Martin, as usual, makes a great start and at the first corner immediately jumps into the lead, overtaking Bagnaia, forced to chase chased by Marc Marquez. The twist, probably the biggest of the whole season, arrives already during the third lap when the reigning Italian world champion slips to the ground and is eliminated from the fight. Martin thus has a clear path to escape, Marquez acts as his squire at a safe distance while in the meantime Bastianini climbs to the podium area. Before the finish line practically nothing happens anymore, so Martin wins without major worries.

Bagnaia, “only Martin can lose the title”

Bitterness and disappointment, yes, but no desire to give up. “There is still life, as long as there is mathematics I will fight”, assures Pecco Bagnaia to Sky Sport after the Sepang Sprint which severely complicates his title race. Forced to retire due to a fall, the reigning champion handed the victory to Jorge Martin who significantly extends his lead in the standings.

“Unfortunately on that lap I braked a little slower, there was a pothole and I caught it – says the Ducati rider speaking of the fall -. Unfortunately Turn 9 is like that, but it shouldn’t have happened. Jorge was smart and well done, the pace wasn’t so fast in that phase but anything could happen.” A costly mistake. “I didn’t make any mistakes over the weekend, we always finished in the lead. Jorge was better than me in the Sprint races this year. The matter is not mathematically closed but we are in a situation where only he can lose the title. I I’ll do my best as always, with the sprint I struggle to understand why I don’t have the same progress as in the actual races. In any case, it will be difficult for someone to get between me and him and him to finish third or fourth.” concluded Bagnaia.

These are the MotoGP World Championship rankings after the Sprint Race of the Malaysian Grand Prix, penultimate event of the calendar: 1. Jorge Martin (Esp) 465 points 2. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita) 436 3. Marc Marquez (Esp) 365 4. Enea Bastianini (Ita) 352 5. Brad Binder (Rsa) 206 6. Pedro Acosta (Esp) 198 7. Maverick Vinales (Esp) 180 8. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ita) 165 9. Franco Morbidelli (Ita) 159 10. Aleix Espargaro (Esp) 143 11. Alex Marquez (Esp) 142 12. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita) 137 13. Fabio Quartararo (Fra) 98 14. Jack Miller (Aus) 84 15. Miguel Oliveira (Por) 71.

With the victory in the Sprint in Malaysia and Bagnaia’s simultaneous crash, Martin is therefore very close to winning the Moto GP world championship which could come as early as the end of the race in Sepang. The Pramac Ducati rider now has a 29 point lead with 62 still available between the two Grands Prix and the Sprint still to be contested. The title for Martin can arrive in Malaysia if in the race scheduled for Sunday 3 November at 8am (Italian time) he manages to gain 9 points more than Bagnaia: at +38 he would become unattainable given that the last Grand Prix (moved from Valencia to circuit to be decided) will offer a total of 37 points between the Sprint and the race.

In case of Martin’s victory in Malaysia, it will be world championship if Bagnaia finishes third or lower; in the event of a second place for the Spaniard, the Turin driver should not do better than fifth place and so on until the hypothesis of Pecco not scoring points, in which case Martin would be enough to finish seventh. Otherwise everything will be postponed until the last Grand Prix, with Martin who, barring any shocks in Malaysia, could close the matter already in the Sprint.