Francesco Bagnaia made it look easy, declaring he is still in the 2025 World Championship fight for third. The Italian won his second MotoGP Tissot Sprint of the year at the Malaysian Grand Prix, over two seconds in front of the rest of the riders. There was more history made by the other Ducati riders on the podium. Álex Marquez has made it a Márquez one-two in the championship standings by finishing second. Meanwhile, Fermín Aldeguer was crowned Rookie of the Year, despite being demoted from his third-place podium. Pedro Acosta was given the position post-race. Follow our summary of the action at Sepang below.
Championship Standings at Stake From the Start
After making it through Q1 to reside in pole position, it looked like Bagnaia was going to end the flyaway rounds on a high. However, given recent performances and stability issues plaguing the Ducati Lenovo Team rider, there was a hint of uncertainty as the grid prepared for the ten-lap event. Right next to him was Á. Márquez, the #73 offered another opportunity to secure second place in the championship in this MotoGP Tissot Sprint. Bagnaia toured on the warm-up lap to let everyone pass him, following the usual tactic from Fabio Quartararo. It seemed to have paid off: the #63 got a great start as Acosta launched from the second row into third.
Franco Morbidelli and Quartararo got stuck in a battle of the fairings, allowing Mir to sneak on through. Behind the action, Aldeguer was following close behind, dragging Johann Zarco with him. With nothing but clear tarmac ahead of him, Bagnaia left the pack behind him. Aldeguer chased down Acosta as he showed better pace in the second half of the race, eventually passing him. That left the remaining two podium spots to the BK8 Gresini Racing riders. However, Aldeguer was immediately investigated for a tyre pressure infringement. The rookie and team claim there was an issue with the dashboard, but the FIM decided differently, handing down an eight-second time incursion. Despite losing his podium position, Aldeguer does not lose his newly crowned title.
Mid-Pack Overtakes Cause Headaches
After not making it out of Q1 earlier, Marco Bezzecchi was left to crawl up the ladder and contend with the mid-pack. This also put the #72 outside the points, as he struggled to get past Luca Marini. Joan Mir looked like he would be a real threat to Acosta. But the #36 went sideways into a spin at Turn 9, bumping Bezzecchi up into a point-scoring position. This made the forty-fourth DNF result for the Honda HRC rider—not an enviable record to hold in MotoGP.
It was more bad news for the team as Marini took the inside line at Turn 14, coming down and nearly collecting Pol Espargaró in the process. The incident was investigated since the #44 had to take evasive action and lost places in the process. While Bezzecchi managed to crawl up a few more positions, he was still on the defensive. The #72 managed to fend off Zarco and Enea Bastianini to finish in seventh.
The Top Nine
The Pressure is Off for Some, But Not All
With BK8 Gresini Racing having achieved every goal they set for themselves at the beginning of the season, they will be feeling a little lighter for the remaining three races. But the coveted third place in the championship is still up for grabs. Can Bagnaia make it another pole-to-flag victory on Sunday to hold off Bezzecchi? Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion of the Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia.