Marquez takes complete control of title fight with Sepang win
Defending MotoGP champion Marc Marquez dominated the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang to put one hand on the 2026 title.
With main title rival Jorge Martin absent after aborting an attempt to complete the weekend with a broken wrist, Marquez maximised the points damage by winning a race that was lively to begin with but quickly settled into a procession.
Marquez overtook polesitting brother Alex into Turn 1, then rebuffed a counter-attack at Turn 4 as Alex couldn't quite get his Gresini Ducati stopped to complete the move.
They ran in tandem for the next few laps, with a charging Pedro Acosta moving up to third after a feisty opening lap - but Alex simply had no answer for Marc's pace further into the race, as the gap between the two tipped over a second on lap seven of 20.
By the time Acosta worked his way past Alex Marquez with a move into the hard braking zone of Turn 9, Marc was already nearly two seconds clear.
And the change in second place made little difference to his race, as the elder Marquez ultimately won by a commanding 4.1s - the third-highest grand prix winning margin of the season.
With Acosta and Alex Marquez joining him on the podium, there was further disillusionment for Aprilia late on as Marco Bezzecchi's grand prix fell apart.
Bezzecchi had overtaken Aprilia stablemate Ai Ogura early on, and looked like joining the podium battle - but never quite did, instead falling into the clutches of the Japanese rider in the closing laps.
With no team orders in effect within the Aprilia camp, or at least none that Ogura paid heed to, the pair made contact as Ogura tried to take a tighter line through Turns 1-2, with Ogura's left-side aero ripped off from his fairing.
Yet despite that he easily overtook Bezzecchi at Turn 4 - and Bezzecchi continued to struggle from there, a last-lap error at the penultimate corner handing fifth place to Tech3 KTM rider Enea Bastianini (who was up to third on the opening lap but ended up shuffled down the order).
Bezzecchi is now 67 points back from Marc Marquez, while the injured Martin trails by 44. It means that, if the Qatar Grand Prix does take place, Marc Marquez will have a plausible if unlikely chance to wrap up this once-intense title fight with two rounds to spare.
Luca Marini (Honda) took seventh upon his return from injury, just 0.066s ahead of good friend Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) at the chequered flag.
Marini was the sole Honda finisher. There was a stamina-related retirement for Marini's team-mate Joan Mir and a dispiriting technical failure for Johann Zarco (LCR Honda), who had been on course for seventh, while Zarco's team-mate Diogo Moreira crashed from the top 10.
In combination with an early crash for Augusto Fernandez, it meant just 16 finishers in the race.
Results
1 Marc Marquez (Ducati)
2 Pedro Acosta (KTM) +4.172s
3 Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) +5.955s
4 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) +6.759s
5 Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM) +10.896s
6 Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) +11.259s
7 Luca Marini (Honda) +17.724s
8 Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) +17.790s
9 Brad Binder (KTM) +23.729s
10 Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati) +25.097s
11 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) +25.826s
12 Alex Rins (Yamaha) +27.063s
13 Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) +32.960s
14 Maverick Vinales (Tech3 KTM) +34.597s
15 Iker Lecuona (Gresini Ducati) +38.446s
16 Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) +43.327s
DNF Johann Zarco (LCR Honda)
DNF Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda)
DNF Joan Mir (Honda)
DNF Augusto Fernandez (Pramac Yamaha)
