Bagnaia wins Malaysian GP to keep title hopes alive
Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia has kept his MotoGP title defence alive with a victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix, cutting Jorge Martin's lead in the standings to 24 points ahead of the season's final race.
Pramac Racing's Martin's second-placed finish on Sunday moved him to 485 points in the standings, while Bagnaia is second on 461. Bagnaia's teammate Enea Bastianini finished third, more than seven seconds behind Martin.
After a chaotic start, the race at the Sepang International Circuit was restarted for 19 laps under dark clouds and in sweltering conditions.
The race was red-flagged early on after Red Bull KTM's Australian rider Jack Miller went down on turn two of the opening lap and crashed into Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo and teammate Brad Binder.
Miller received medical attention on the track and was conscious when taken to the medical centre for an examination.
Pole-sitter Bagnaia, who was set to start on a medium front tyre but made a last-minute switch to a soft front tyre, had a clean start off the line and kept the lead heading into the first turn.
In a thrilling first three laps, Bagnaia and Martin threw caution to the wind and went toe-to-toe on every turn as the lead continuously swapped hands between the two title rivals.
Bagnaia was able to finally put some space between him and Martin in the fourth lap, an advantage he would not relinquish.
The win also helped Bagnaia limit some of the damage from his crash in the sprint on Saturday.
"Managing the heat was the easiest part today, honestly," Bagnaia said after his 10th win of the season.
"Jorge was very aggressive. But our pace was too good and like always in the race on Sunday I can attack, I can be more aggressive.
"We just need to understand why on Saturday I'm struggling more to do the same."
In what was likely a sensible move from Martin, he eased off the throttle slightly midway through the race and cut out any unnecessary risks, opting to prolong his wait for a maiden MotoGP title by a few days.
The Spaniard did have a whiff of an opportunity in the final few laps though, as Bagnaia's soft front tyre degraded and his lap times increased, but the two-time champion's lead was enough to seal the win.
Martin will have his destiny in his own hands at the November 17 final race at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, after the Valencia Grand Prix was cancelled due to catastrophic flooding in the region.
"Thanks to Bagnaia, because he's making this challenge more and more difficult," Martin said.
