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Malaysian MotoGP 2024: Bagnaia forces title showdown with victory over Martin | MotoGP

Pabio November 3, 2024

Francesco Bagnaia dominated the 2024 Malaysian Grand Prix after a thrilling opening battle with Jorge Martin to keep his MotoGP title hopes alive and set up a final showdown.

With 29 points separating Martin from Bagnaia heading into the 20-lap Grand Prix, the championship could have been won by the former had he achieved a total of 38.

But Bagnaia held on in a thrilling battle with Martin to dominate the race by 3.141 seconds and claim his 10th Grand Prix victory of the season.

Martin finished second, with his championship lead reduced to 24 points and a final showdown – planned in Barcelona, but not yet confirmed – in the works.

Enea Bastianini completed the podium for another Ducati hat-trick, while Marc Marquez fell out of third on lap seven but came back to finish 12th.

The race was red flagged on the first lap after a scary incident involving KTM duo Brad Binder and Jack Miller, as well as Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo at Turn 2.

Binder made contact with a motorcycle in front of him, then crashed into Quartararo, who had Miller inside.

Miller had to receive medical assistance trackside, but suffered no serious injuries. Binder failed to restart due to a physical problem.

The Grand Prix resumed for 19 laps, with Bagnaia successfully launching from pole to hold off Martin, while Marc Marquez moved into third.

Martin made a brave attempt to take the lead from Bagnaia at Turn 6, but ran a little wide and let the Ducati factory rider come back.

The championship leader took Turn 14 and held on to first place despite going wide in the final corner a few seconds later.

But the Pramac driver was demoted by Bagnaia on the brakes into Turn 1 on lap two, with the latter holding on after another attack from Martin at Turn 4.

Martin regained the lead at Turn 14 and headed Bagnaia out of the final corner – although both of his men touched elbows as they crossed the start/finish line.

Going wide at Turn 1 on lap three, Martin let Bagnaia retake the lead, while the Ducati factory rider held off another raid at Turn 4 – only for Martin to dive on the inside at Turn 5.

Bagnaia carved the inside of Martin on the final corner at the end of the third lap to regain the lead, and that proved to be the decisive move.

By the end of lap five, Bagnaia’s lead reached eight tenths and continued to increase, while a crash by Marc Marquez at Turn 5 on lap seven gave Martin a comfortable gap in second.

The two drivers differed on front tire strategy, with Bagnaia on softs and Martin on mediums. On lap 15, that seemed to come into play as Martin cut Bagnaia’s lead from two seconds to 1.5 seconds.

But a mistake at Turn 9 on lap 16 caused Martin to lose eight tenths to Bagnaia and that ended his charge.

Bagnaia took the checkered flag 3.141 seconds behind Martin, while Bastianini was 7.3 seconds behind in a solitary third.

Alex Marquez finished fourth in his Gresini-driven GP23, while Pedro Acosta rounded out the top five in his GASGAS Tech3.

Quartararo took the restart after his Turn 2 incident with the KTMs and scored the first top six for a Japanese motorcycle at a grand prix in 2024.

Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales finished seventh, with Alex Rins (Yamaha), Marco Bezzecchi (VR46) and Augusto Fernandez (Tech3) completing the top 10.

Johann Zarco was the best Honda in 11th, while Marc Marquez rejoined after his crash to finish 12th and retain third place in the standings.

Le-verdict

Le-verdict

Malaysian MotoGP 2024: Bagnaia forces title showdown with victory over Martin | MotoGP

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Malaysian MotoGP 2024: Bagnaia forces title showdown with victory over Martin | MotoGP

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