MotoGP: Marquez wins Malaysian GP to extend championship lead over injured Martin

Sepang: Marc Marquez marched to a seventh win of 2026 with his third Malaysian Grand Prix title, taking a giant step towards the MotoGP title here at the Sepang circuit.

Marquez, in the absence of injured rival Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing), inflicted maximum championship damage to take a giant stride towards the title. He is staring down the barrel of a first-match point at the Lusail International Circuit next weekend.

The seven-time MotoGP King Marquez now has a healthy 44-point lead over Martin ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix and a 67-point advantage over the teammate Marco Bezzecchi after the Italian finished P6 in Malaysia, MotoGP reports.

Joining the reigning World Champion on the Sepang rostrum was second-place Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), the KTM star completing a brilliant weekend at the office, and polesitter Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) on third.

For the second year in a row, Acosta took home a second place from Malaysia. Polesitter Alex did hold onto that final podium spot, as Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) after forcing his way through on Bezzecchi, collected a double P4.

Enea Bastianini was placed fifth. A last-lap Turn 14 error from Bezzecchi allowed his compatriot to come through to pinch crucial points away from the Aprilia star, which now leaves Bezzecchi 67 points off Marquez.

Closing out the top 10 positions were Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) in seventh, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in eighth as just 0.066s splits the Italians at the flag, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in ninth, and Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in P10.

The rest of the points in Malaysia went to Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), the Frenchman’s teammate Alex Rins, a disappointed Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3), and Fermin Aldeguer’s BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP stand-in Iker Lecuona.

As the action will head to Qatar, Marquez and Ducati need to score 30 points more than Martin, and eight points more than Bezzecchi to seal the crown.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

IANS

[email protected]