The Italian gained the penultimate MotoGP in Sepang to drive a closing spherical showdown for the championship with Jorge Martin on November 17.
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia stored his MotoGP title defence alive with a victory on the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang, chopping Jorge Martin’s lead within the driver’s standings right down to 24 factors earlier than the season’s closing race.
Pramac Racing’s Martin’s second-placed end in Sepang moved him as much as 485 factors within the total standings, whereas Bagnaia is second on 461. Bagnaia’s teammate Enea Bastianini completed third in Sunday’s race, over seven seconds behind Martin.
After a chaotic begin, the race on the Sepang Worldwide Circuit was restarted for 19 laps beneath darkish clouds and in sweltering circumstances.
Polesitter Bagnaia had a clear begin off the road and stored the lead heading into the primary flip.
In an exciting first three laps, Bagnaia and Martin threw warning to the wind and went toe-to-toe on each flip because the lead repeatedly swapped arms between the 2 title rivals.
Bagnaia, who had pledged on Saturday to go all out within the race, was capable of lastly put some house between him and Martin within the fourth lap, a bonus he wouldn’t relinquish.
The win additionally helped Bagnaia restrict among the injury from his crash within the dash on Saturday.
“Managing the warmth was the simplest half immediately, actually,” mentioned Bagnaia, whose victory was his tenth of the season.
“Jorge was very aggressive. However our tempo was too good and like at all times within the race on Sunday I can assault, I might be extra aggressive.
“We simply want to grasp why on Saturday I’m struggling extra to do the identical.”
Martin can have future in his personal arms on the November 15-17 closing spherical, which will likely be held in Barcelona on the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona after the Valencia Grand Prix was cancelled because of catastrophic flooding within the area final week.
Earlier on Sunday, the race was red-flagged after Purple Bull KTM’s Jack Miller went down on flip two of the opening laps and crashed into Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and teammate Brad Binder.
Australian Miller acquired medical consideration on the observe and was aware when taken to the medical centre for an examination.
