Marc Marquez strengthened his bid for the 2026 MotoGP championship with a commanding victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang. The factory Ducati rider converted his strong start into a comfortable win, while Pedro Acosta finished second and Alex Marquez completed the podium for Gresini Ducati.
Marc Marquez launched from second on the grid and passed polesitter Alex Marquez on the run to Turn 1. Alex briefly reclaimed the lead under braking for Turn 4, but he ran wide and surrendered the position again. Behind them, Acosta moved into contention and spent several laps pressuring Alex Marquez before finally making his pass on lap 10.
By then, Marc Marquez had established a 1.7-second advantage. He increased the gap after Acosta moved into second and ultimately crossed the finish line 4.172 seconds ahead. The victory was his seventh grand prix win of the season and his 80th in the premier class.
Acosta secured a second podium of the weekend after winning Saturday’s sprint. Alex Marquez, who was still affected by a shoulder injury sustained at the Catalan Grand Prix, held on for third after keeping Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi behind for much of the race.
Bezzecchi eventually finished sixth after running off the circuit on the final lap. Trackhouse Aprilia rider Ai Ogura won a close battle for fourth, while Enea Bastianini took fifth for Tech3 KTM. The result meant Aprilia had no rider on the podium.
Luca Marini was seventh for Honda, followed by Fabio Di Giannantonio, Brad Binder and Franco Morbidelli. Fabio Quartararo finished 11th, ahead of Yamaha team-mate Alex Rins, while Francesco Bagnaia recovered to 13th after briefly falling outside the points.
Diogo Moreira and Augusto Fernandez crashed out, while Johann Zarco and Joan Mir retired with suspected mechanical problems. Jorge Martin was absent through injury.
Marc Marquez now leads Martin by 44 points and Bezzecchi by 67. He could secure the 2026 title as early as next week’s Qatar Grand Prix.
Sources: Autosport.