Francesco Bagnaia keeps Jorge Martín behind and, after his slip in yesterday's sprint, wins the penultimate race of the MotoGP World Championship. In Malaysia, the Ducati rider, reigning champion, finishes first with the Spaniard second, who still remains at the top of the standings with a 24-point advantage (to win his first title he will only need to secure the sprint). Also on the podium is the other official Ducati of Enea Bastianini.
The world championship will be decided in the last Grand Prix in two weeks, most likely in Barcelona, chosen to replace the battered Valencia : the official announcement is expected soon . In Malaysia, Bagnaia reacted like a champion, engaging in a duel with Martín with a series of overtakings and counter-overtakings, overcoming the resistance of the Spaniard from the Pramac team in the first laps, winning some spectacular duels, then he set the pace and crossed the finish line alone.
"We know that on Sunday we are stronger. On Saturday I always struggle a lot", Bagnaia said at the end of the race. "We did a great job, we will understand how to improve on Saturday. Winning ten races in a season is truly something incredible . The race was what I would have expected, I always follow my potential and today I knew that if I was in front I had more. It was a beautiful, aggressive and clean fight".
Martín still remains ahead: «Thanks to Bagnaia because he makes this challenge increasingly difficult», the words of the Spaniard . «I wanted to win, but Pecco had a different strategy. We tried but when he passed me there was no way to get closer, I was afraid of falling. We are still close in terms of points and we will play it in the last race».
The Sepang race started with a big scare due to a pile-up at turn 2 involving Quartararo, Binder and Miller. The latter was particularly scared, as he found himself with his head under the wheel of the Frenchman's Yamaha for a few moments . The red flag was inevitable, also to allow ambulances to help the Australian, who was immobile on the asphalt for a long time but fortunately conscious. No serious injuries for him, who eventually left the paddock on his own two feet.
At the restart (the race was shortened from 20 to 19 laps) Bagnaia immediately took the lead and the first laps were full of overtaking and counter-overtaking between the Turin native and Martín . An exciting duel between the two with Martín not holding back, making life difficult for the Piedmontese. Only towards the middle of the race did Bagnaia extend his lead, going on to win the tenth race of the season, 28th in MotoGP, 38th in his career. Enea Bastianini also climbed onto the podium, taking advantage of Marc Márquez's fall, which occurred at turn 15 with 13 laps to go. The eight-time world champion then got back on the bike, finishing twelfth and maintaining a one-point advantage over the Italian, with Márquez third and Bastianini fourth.
