SEPANG: Alex Marquez played his cards to perfection to secure victory in the MotoGP main race at the Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia today (Oct 26).
The BK8 Gresini Racing rider crossed the line in 40 minutes and 9.249 seconds. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pedro Acosta (+2.676s) came in second while Honda HRC Castrol’s Joan Mir (+8.048s) was a distant third.
Marquez, who started from second on the grid, overtook pole leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) for the lead on the second lap and held on until the finish.
Acosta and Bagnaia, who won Saturday’s sprint race, had initially dueled for second but the latter appeared to suffer an issue with his rear tyre on the 17th lap and retired soon after.
It was double joy for Marquez at Sepang as he had secured second place overall in the championship, behind his brother Marc, after finishing second in Saturday’s sprint race.
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The Spaniard, who crashed twice on Friday, said his strategy was spot on today. It was his third main race win of the season after Jerez and Catalunya.
“We started (the weekend) with a lot of suffering and crisis on Friday. And even later on the feeling was not really perfect,” said Marquez.
“But today, the strategy was clever. It was a winning strategy. I knew I had to be aggressive during that specific moment of the race.
“I knew it (execution) was key as I had lost a race here a few years ago because I waited too much and did not go in the beginning.
“So I decided to go for it today and I am really happy with the outcome.”
Marquez, however, said his thoughts are with Moto3 duo Noah Dettwiler (CIP Green Power) and Jose Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) who suffered a serious crash during the Moto3 sighting lap and were airlifted to hospital.
“It is important for us to celebrate but my prayers and thoughts are also with these (Moto3) guys,” said Marquez.
“In my stomach I have some strange feeling, so I am just crossing my fingers for them.”
Marquez’s win also continues Ducati’s dominance at Sepang. Ducati riders, from both factory and satellite squads, have won every race at Sepang since 2022.
Finishing on the podium in the main race was extra special for Acosta as his KTM machine has struggled with accelerated tyre degradation this season.
“Well, in the end I had my moment,” said Acosta.
“I was super fast from the beginning and he (Bagnaia) was also super aggressive.
“I have to thank my crew as they did a great job, it was just super cool today.”
Acosta was promoted to third in Saturday’s sprint race following Fermin Aldeguer’s (Gresini) demotion after the latter was slapped with an eight second penalty due to a tyre pressure infringement.
Aldeguer, Trackhouse MotoGP’s Raul Fernandez and Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Pol Espargaro all crashed out of the main race today.
Portimao will host the next round of the world championships on Nov 7-9 while Valencia will be the venue for the season-ender on Nov 14-16.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
