Álex Márquez was the big winner of the Sprint race in Sepang! Yes, you read it right. The race in the early hours had an unexpected winner but the truth is that the Gresini Racing rider was in great shape and showed a highly competitive pace from early on. Francesco Bagnaia, in one lap, lost the lead and second place in the race, and immediately to his “worst rival,” Jorge Martín.
All set for the start of the Sprint race in Sepang, with Francesco Bagnaia starting from pole position, ahead of Jorge Martín and with Enea Bastianini closing the first row of the grid. Brad Binder in seventh was the best non-Ducati, ahead of two others, Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Viñales.
The start went well for Bagnaia who had the “help” of Bastianini and Álex Márquez, relegating Martín to fourth place for now. Jack Miller was one of the highlights and went from tenth to fourth in the early stages, before Martín – still in the first lap – rose to third place.
Here is the embedded tweet from MotoGP:
The second lap brought more changes and Martín overtook A. Márquez to reach second place, but the Gresini rider returned the maneuver and returned to second place. Who was benefiting from these battles? Bagnaia, who was already leading by 0.529s. Note the KTM’s of Miller and Binder, in fourth and fifth.
Meanwhile, the first crash of the race was by Marc Márquez, with the Repsol Honda Team rider falling in the 14th lap: it was the 27th time this season that #93 hit the ground.
And… Honda’s bad luck didn’t stop there as, shortly after, Joan Mir also crashed.
Back to the race, Bagnaia was leading but soon probably would have to deal with Álex Márquez. Only 0.174s separated the first from the second, and the Spanish rider had just set the fastest lap in the race so far, in 1:59.013s.
Five laps from the end, Bastianini – now fourth – was the first to complete a lap in 1:58.996s.
On the sixth lap, in the fourth sector, here’s the confirmation: Álex Márquez was the new leader in the race and in a flash… the scenario became even darker for Bagnaia as Martín also took advantage and shortly after rose to second position.
Meanwhile, the broadcast images focused on Bagnaia’s bike, with something strange on the Italian’s motorcycle:
What seemed to be a piece of paper, or similar, shortly after fell and the Italian’s bike was in ‘normal’ condition.
Two laps from the end, this was the top ten:
Everything seemed to be heading towards the victory of the Spaniard while, in turn, behind, Bastianini served as a ‘guard’ for Bagnaia.
Unsurprisingly, the race ended shortly after with Álex Márquez returning to victory in MotoGP. In the championship fight, the difference between Bagnaia and Martín is now 11 points.
