Marc Marquez storms 44 points clear with commanding Sepang victory

MotoGP 2026

Round 19 – Sepang – Sunday – MotoGP Race

With Jorge Martin watching from the sidelines, the Malaysian Grand Prix presented Marc Marquez with another opportunity to strengthen his grip on the 2026 MotoGP World Championship. But if Saturday’s action at Sepang demonstrated anything, it was that the Ducati rider would have no shortage of challengers.

Martin had arrived in Malaysia determined to keep his championship hopes alive despite suffering a fracture of the distal radius in his right wrist during the Phillip Island Sprint just six days earlier.

The cancellation of Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix had initially offered the Aprilia rider an unexpected reprieve, preserving the ten-point deficit he carried into Malaysia. However, despite an admirable attempt to return to action at Sepang, Martin was ultimately forced to concede that his injured wrist could not withstand the sustained braking loads required to complete a Grand Prix distance.

His withdrawal left Marquez with a clear opportunity to capitalise, and second place in Saturday’s Sprint increased his championship advantage to 19 points. He was also quickest in Sunday morning warm-up ahead of his brother.

But Marquez had hardly enjoyed a straightforward weekend. Younger brother Alex stole pole position by just 0.070 seconds, Pedro Acosta was only another 0.014 seconds further back, and the first five qualifiers were separated by a mere 0.175 seconds.

Alex looked particularly strong in the Sprint before crashing out of the lead at Turn 14 on lap three. That opened the door for Ai Ogura to lead, before Acosta eventually fought his way to the front and held off Marc to claim victory.

Marco Bezzecchi completed the Sprint podium, leaving the Aprilia rider 52 points behind Marquez in the championship and very much aware that a dramatic result in Sunday’s race could bring him back into serious contention.

With 20 laps ahead of them, tropical heat, significant tyre-management demands and the possibility of afternoon thunderstorms, there was little reason to expect the full-length Grand Prix to follow the same script as Saturday’s Sprint.

In the end the rain stayed away, but the circuit temperature climbed to 55 degrees. Every rider started on soft-compound Michelin slicks at both ends, making tyre management just as important as the early fight for position.

Marc and Alex renew their sibling rivalry

Marc looked to have got a bit of wheelspin off the line but had the inside line on his brother into Turn One, Marc leading Alex through the opening turns. Alex took the lead at Turn Four but ran in a little too deep, which allowed Marc to go right back through. Behind them Ogura was in third while Acosta and Bastianini battled over fourth. A mistake by Bastianini though saw Bezzecchi and then Zarco get the better of him.

Across the stripe for the first time it was Marc leading Alex by just over three-tenths, with Acosta a further six-tenths behind. Ogura was fourth, Bezzecchi fifth and Bastianini back in front of Zarco in sixth. Jack Miller was down in 18th.

Bezzecchi then took fourth place from Ogura and there was no friendly fire coming back from his fellow Aprilia rider even when the Italian ran a little wide, which opened the door. A very different Ogura from the feisty elbows-out-on-all-comers approach he demonstrated in Saturday’s Sprint race.

Acosta closed down the Marquez brothers on lap three and was now all over the back of Alex, but the younger of the Marquez brothers was amazing in the braking areas and was managing to keep the KTM behind him. That top three had almost a second over the pursuing Aprilia duo of Bezzecchi and Ogura, but they were now starting to reduce that gap.

Acosta’s fastest lap came early in that pursuit, a 1m59.261s on lap two that stood as the quickest of the entire race.

By lap eight Marc had extended his lead over his brother out to a full second for the first time. Acosta was around two-tenths behind Alex at this juncture. Bezzecchi was a further half-second back in fourth and now had more than half a second over Ogura.

Acosta finally finds a way past Alex

Acosta could get right on the tail of Alex’s Gresini Ducati out of the tight turns that lead on to the straight sections, but Alex was unbelievable under brakes every time to hold Acosta at bay, the Gresini Ducati with the rear wheel in the air and waving all over the place as he tried to get it stopped. The bike was in all sorts of shapes as he tried to haul it down, yet he could still pick it up and find enough drive to keep Acosta behind him.

Surely Acosta would just send it up the inside somewhere, and he did exactly that as the race entered its second half. Bezzecchi then pushed Alex further back to fourth on that same lap but ran a little wide, which allowed Alex to take that third position right back. I was surprised Acosta waited that long to put a move on Alex, and he was now almost two seconds behind Marc.

Joan Mir retired at this point, still feeling the effects of the illness that kept him sidelined at some previous events.

Despite now having clear track, Acosta was not making any inroads towards Marc as the defending champion continued to incrementally stretch his lead. With nine laps to run his lead was hovering around two seconds, but Marc did seem to ease off a little on lap thirteen, which saw the KTM man reduce the gap to just under two seconds once again. Moreira crashed from tenth at Turn 15 at this point of the race but managed to get up and going again, then dropped gravel across the track as he rejoined before eventually returning to the pits.

With six laps to run Marc led Acosta by almost two-and-a-half seconds, while Acosta had more than a second-and-a-half over Alex Marquez. Alex had a few tenths on Bezzecchi, who in turn had almost half a second over Ogura.

Marc was now again the fastest rider on track, stretching his lead to just under three seconds with five laps to run. A lap later his advantage over Acosta had grown to more than three seconds, and with three laps left it was approaching four seconds. Alex Marquez was now falling further behind the KTM.

Ogura gets physical with Bezzecchi

Ogura squeezed under Bezzecchi at Turn Nine to take fourth but got in a little too deep, which allowed Bezzecchi to simply sweep back through. That battle was unfolding nearly two seconds behind Alex Marquez.

Ogura was not done with his attacks on Bezzecchi. The two brushed fairings, so no Aprilia orders after all. Ogura hit the back of the factory Aprilia, taking out some of its aero. Aprilia management back in pitlane were having kittens… Once through, Ogura left Bezzecchi in his wake and pulled away, so he clearly had much more pace, but the temerity in the way he put the move on Bezzecchi was pretty surprising.

At the last-lap board Marc led Acosta by just over four seconds, and Acosta had just over two seconds on Alex. Ogura was nine-tenths behind Alex and was now more than a second-and-a-half clear of Bezzecchi.

Marc’s 80th premier-class Grand Prix victory was completed in dominant fashion, and his championship defence and eighth MotoGP world title now look a surety. Marc now has a 44-point lead over Jorge Martin, who is carrying that significant wrist injury, but there are still 111 points left to score across the final three rounds. One of those rounds, Qatar, remains clouded by the war in the Middle East, although MotoGP organisers said on Sunday they still intend to go ahead.

Acosta was second and Alex Marquez third, eight-tenths clear of Ai Ogura.

Before the flag, Enea Bastianini relegated Bezzecchi to sixth after Bezzecchi made a mistake and ran very wide, opening the door for the KTM man to close in and swoop through unchallenged. That last-lap slip cost the Italian one championship point and left Ogura as the leading Aprilia in fourth.

Luca Marini was the first Honda home in seventh ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio and Brad Binder, while Franco Morbidelli rounded out the top ten.

Fabio Quartararo was the first Yamaha home in eleventh ahead of Alex Rins.

Another disappointing race for Bagnaia, the Sepang outright lap record holder only managing 13th, just ahead of Maverick Viñales and Iker Lecuona. Jack Miller was the final finisher in 16th place.

For Marc, the result was emphatic. His 399-point championship tally leaves Martin on 355 and Bezzecchi a further 23 points back in third.

Acosta remains fourth in the points rankings after completing an excellent KTM weekend with Saturday’s Sprint win and Sunday’s runner-up finish.

Alex Marquez has indicated that he may return directly to Europe for surgery to remove a troublesome plate from his right collarbone, which has continued to cause him considerable discomfort. Bringing forward an operation originally planned for the off-season will rule him out of next weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix. That is one way to avoid having to go to Lusail.

Whether the rest of the grid makes it to Qatar is becoming an increasingly contentious question.

There is growing unrest among riders over the prospect of racing in the Middle East while the conflict involving Iran continues. The majority of the grid is understood to have backed demands for firm guarantees covering emergency evacuation, medical and repatriation insurance, and what happens if the security situation deteriorates while the paddock is in Qatar.

The championship’s commercial rights holder, now under Liberty Media’s ownership, is standing firm. Despite the riders’ concerns, organisers insist the event will go ahead, with warnings that those who refuse to attend without an accepted justification could face financial or sporting consequences. Any sporting sanctions would ultimately fall within the FIM’s jurisdiction.

With the riders demanding greater assurances and the championship apparently unwilling to budge, this is shaping up as a rather uncomfortable stand-off before anyone has even turned a wheel at Lusail.

Watch this space…

Sepang MotoGP Race Results

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	M. Marquez	Duc	40m14.236
2	P. Acosta	KTM	+4.172
3	A. Marquez	Duc	+5.955
4	A. Ogura	Apr	+6.759
5	E. Bastianini	KTM	+10.896
6	M. Bezzecchi	Apr	+11.259
7	L. Marini	Hon	+17.724
8	F. Di Giannantonio	Duc	+17.790
9	B. Binder	KTM	+23.729
10	F. Morbidelli	Duc	+25.097
11	F. Quartararo	Yam	+25.826
12	A. Rins	Yam	+27.063
13	F. Bagnaia	Duc	+32.960
14	M. Viñales	KTM	+34.597
15	I. Lecuona	Duc	+38.446
16	J. Miller	Yam	+43.327
Not Classified
DNF	J. Zarco	Hon	17 laps
DNF	D. Moreira	Hon	14 laps
DNF	J. Mir	Hon	9 laps
DNF	A. Fernandez	Yam	1 lap

2026 MotoGP Championship Standings

Pos	Rider	Points
1	M. Marquez	399
2	J. Martin	355
3	M. Bezzecchi	332
4	P. Acosta	295
5	A. Ogura	278
6	F. Di Giannantonio	265
7	R. Fernandez	236
8	A. Marquez	197
9	F. Bagnaia	173
10	E. Bastianini	134
11	F. Aldeguer	125
12	B. Binder	118
13	L. Marini	117
14	F. Quartararo	79
15	D. Moreira	78
16	F. Morbidelli	65
17	J. Zarco	51
18	J. Mir	33
19	J. Miller	31
20	A. Rins	29
21	T. Razgatlioglu	18
22	M. Viñales	14
23	I. Lecuona	11
24	A. Fernandez	6
25	P. Espargaro	5
26	S. Chantra	3
27	T. Nakagami	3
28	C. Crutchlow	0
29	J. Folger	0
30	L. Savadori	0
31	M. Pirro	0
32	A. Espargaro	0

2026 MotoGP Calendar

Rnd	Date	Event	Circuit
1	01 Mar	Thai	Chang International Circuit
2	22 Mar	Brazil*	Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna
3	29 Mar	US	Circuit of the Americas
4	26 Apr	Spain**	Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto
5	10 May	France	Le Mans
6	17 May	Catalonia	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
7	31 May	Italy	Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello
8	07 Jun	Hungary	Balaton Park Circuit
9	21 Jun	Czech	Automotodrom Brno
10	28 Jun	Netherlands	TT Circuit Assen
11	12 Jul	Germany	Sachsenring
12	09 Aug	GB	Silverstone Circuit
13	30 Aug	Aragon	MotorLand Aragon
14	13 Sep	San Marino	Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
15	20 Sep	Austria	Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
16	04 Oct	Japan	Mobility Resort Motegi
17	11 Oct	Indonesia	Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit
18	25 Oct	Australia	Phillip Island
19	01 Nov	Malaysia	Petronas Sepang International Circuit
20	08 Nov	Qatar	Lusail International Circuit
21	22 Nov	Portugal	Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
22	29 Nov	Valencia	Circuit Ricardo Tormo

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