Francesco Bagnaia overcame Jorge Martin’s early challenge to win the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, making a light dent in Martin’s championship lead as the Spaniard came home second.

The pair duelled in spectacular fashion after factory Ducati rider Bagnaia converted his pole to a first-corner lead at the restart. However, Martin ultimately had to settle for second place and 20 points aboard his Pramac Ducati.

The result means Bagnaia has cut the gap at the top of the points table to 24, giving him a chance of retaining his world championship crown at the finale — now set to take place in Barcelona — in two weeks.

Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Crash

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Two starts were required to get the race going after an incident in the opening sequence of corners caused a red flag.

Bagnaia had taken the lead from Martin at the first corner when an accident developed behind them, involving the KTMs of Brad Binder and Jack Miller as well as the Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo.

Bagnaia still led when the red flags flew towards the end of the first lap, as Miller still received attention on the circuit.

There was some concern for Miller during the red flag delay, but the Australian was then seen walking away from the medical centre. Though he escaped major injury, he would not take part in the restarted race. Binder joined him on the sidelines for the rest of the day after reporting pain on his shoulder.

Quartararo did however take the restart despite walking with a pronounced limp following the incident.

The ‘second’ race was reduced to 19 laps and got off to a spectacular start as Martin repeatedly attempted to make a move on Bagnaia stick during the first four laps. Thanks to Martin’s scant regard for the idea of following Bagnaia home and banking 20 points, their gripping battle was the longest protracted spell of wheel-to-wheel racing between the championship protagonists this season.

Then Martin’s slight mistake towards the end of lap four allowed Bagnaia a little breathing space to ride normal lines. He responded with fastest lap on lap five, which finally broke Martin’s challenge for victory.

Bagnaia was able to control the rest of the race to win by just over three seconds from Martin, whose choice to go against the grain and run the medium front tyre did not appear to have a meaningful impact on the outcome.

Enea Bastianini finished a lonely and distant third on the second factory Ducati. The Italian initially ran behind Marc Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and Franco Morbidelli (Pramac Ducati), but both fell on lap seven.

Alex Marquez, aboard the second Gresini Ducati, ran one spot behind Bastianini throughout the race. He briefly came under threat from Pedro Acosta, who made up several places from 13th on the grid, before the Tech3 KTM’s challenge faded in the final three laps.

Quartararo took an encouraging sixth place for Yamaha, with Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) and Alex Rins (Yamaha) completing the top eight.

Marco Bezzecchi won a tight battle for ninth place, the VR46 Ducati man holding off Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez by just over a tenth of a second at the flag.

Johann Zarco led the Hondas with his 11th place, while Marc Marquez recovered from his fall to finish 12th ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.

Morbidelli also remounted to score points, picking up two for his 14th place. Last of the scorers was Luca Marini on the factory Honda.

Photos from Malaysian GP Race

MotoGP Malaysian GP — Race results:

MotoGP is poised to replace the cancelled Valencia GP with a new race in Barcelona, Motorsport.com understands.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is now set to stage the season finale on 17 November, having already hosted the sixth round of the championship back in May.

The development follows the decision to scrap the Valencia race on Friday due to devastating flooding in the region in recent days, with over 200 people having lost their lives according to the official figures.

Championship promoter Dorna previously stated that it will announce the venue and other details for the final round at a later date, as it scrambled to organise a replacement event.

Motorport.com has learned that the preferred option in the run-up to the Malaysian GP is Barcelona, with the series sticking to the original date of 17 November.

Barcelona has emerged as the prime candidate in the race against Qatar, which was previously seen as the most likely alternative.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Barcelona was the most popular choice in the paddock, as many teams, especially in Moto2 and Moto3, are tight on budget at this stage of the season. 

Going back to Doha, where the season started eight months ago in March, would have been a considerable expense for a number of teams.

Although Qatar was seen as the least emotionally problematic situation given the distance to Spain, it would have meant making compromises on the logistical side. Added to that, the Losail circuit was also preparing to host its annual Formula 1 race on 1 December.

On the other hand, riders felt it was acceptable to race in Barcelona, which is located some 400km from Valencia

MotoGP spent Sunday morning hosting meetings with the Calalunya government to finalise the deal to race in Barcelona.

With the agreement in place between two parties, Ezpeleta met the MotoGP teams’ association IRTA at half past nine to provide the latest update on the situation.

In the next few hours, a protocol will be established for those that bought tickets for the original Valencia race.

Following the grand prix, an official test will be held at the same venue on Tuesday, 19 November.

 «We thought it was important to tell the riders before they went out on track yesterday, especially those in contention for positions, to confirm that there would be another event on the calendar,» Carlos Ezpeleta said on Sunday morning.

«It’s been a very challenging couple of days, much more so for the Community of Valencia of course, but we think that – given the situation the Championship is in, sporting wise, but also for fans across the world – we thought it was important to hold a final event of the season. We owe that to the paddock and our fans.

“We have been looking at all the possibilities we had, it’s very challenging to organise an event in two weeks, but during the last 48 hours we’ve looked at all possible alternatives and we think that Barcelona is the best possible place given the proximity to Valencia, given that a lot of people were already travelling through to get to the finale, and especially for fans – we think it’s the best possible place for them. We also know we will be able to help the Community of Valencia from that location as well.

“That’s why we’ve requested the Government of Catalunya to be able to hold the event there. They want to communicate and align themselves with both the Government of Spain and that of Valencia before confirming the event, and we hope that confirmation comes in the next 48 hours.

«But the urgency right now is Valencia – not confirming our GP. It’s something we can wait for and once it’s confirmed we’ll start working as hard as possible, as it’s definitely a challenge but we think there’s a lot of good we can do and we feel owe it to our fans.

“We want to thank the entire MotoGP community, the riders, and the teams, for their proactiveness, help, and support.”

Francesco Bagnaia has admitted he will need help from other riders to have any chance of winning the MotoGP world championship following his sprint crash on Saturday.

Falling out of the race on lap three while his title rival Jorge Martin went on to win meant Bagnaia’s points deficit grew from 17 to 29 points ahead of Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

This in turn puts Pramac Ducati rider Martin in a mathematical position to wrap up the title on Sunday, with one round still remaining.

The deficit is now such that Bagnaia concedes winning tomorrow’s race will not be enough if Martin simply follows him home second.

Although he would still theoretically be alive in the championship heading to the finale in that scenario, the factory Ducati rider knows he now needs other riders to take points off the Spaniard to have a realistic chance at the last round.

“Giving my maximum and winning the race will not be enough,” said Bagnaia. “So we will need something more.”

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

While a zero-score for Martin would be the ideal scenario for the Italian, the next-best thing would be for the likes of Marc Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and Enea Bastianini (factory Ducati) – who followed Martin home in the sprint – to take some points off the Spaniard on Sunday.

“Tomorrow I really hope Marc and Enea will find something to be close to us. [But the worst] case for Jorge [if nothing changes] is that he finishes second because we don’t have any rivals.

“But I will go like always tomorrow, I will try to win.”

After the sprint, Bagnaia also explained that he had not taken any additional risks heading into the tricky Turn 9 on the lap he fell.

The left-hander has caught out a number of riders so far on the Sepang weekend.

“As soon as I saw that Jorge started better, I waited and then I saw that the pace wasn’t that fast. So I thought, ‘okay, I will overtake, I will have a chance in the next laps’.

“On the first lap I was a bit too aggressive in that corner. I had a lot of movement from the front – and I didn’t crash.

“[Then] I said ‘okay, I will enter more calmly’. I was sure that the risk I was taking wasn’t over the limit. I was quite confident.

“I entered the corner a bit slower but I touched the bump at the apex and I lost the front.

“I don’t know how many laps I’ve done this weekend and in the past, and I’ve touched the bump many, many times without crashing. There is always a first time. It wasn’t the [ideal] moment but honestly, it’s something that can happen.

“It’s not the first time it has happened this season that I’ve told myself I will brake a bit [earlier] not to take any risk and I’ve crashed.”

Photos from Malaysian GP Qualifying and Sprint

Jorge Martin has a chance to wrap up the MotoGP world championship in the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday after winning the sprint race at Sepang.

The Pramac Ducati rider’s points advantage over his title rival Francesco Bagnaia has grown from 17 to 29 points after Bagnaia crashed his factory Ducati while chasing Martin on lap three.

Martin will confirm himself as world champion in tomorrow’s grand prix if he can stretch his advantage over Bagnaia by a further nine points.

The Spaniard set up his sprint victory by getting into the lead over polesitter Bagnaia at the first corner, having made a superiorr launch from second on the grid. The two approached and entered the turn side-by-side but Martin, with the inside line, was able to edge clear at the apex.

That put the pressure back onto Bagnaia, whose points deficit meant he could take no other approach than try to overtake Martin during the course of the 10-lap race.

Bagnaia was able to shadow Martin until Turn 9 of the third lap, but then he asked too much of his Ducati in the dirty air and lost the front end.

That left Martin to take what looked like a comfortable win, although Marc Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and Enea Bastiani kept a close eye on him and tested his concentration in the intense Malaysian heat.

“It was a difficult race,” said Martin afterwards. “I had to be super precise and focused. It would have been really easy to make a mistake today.”

Just as Marquez could do nothing about Martin, so factory Ducati rider Bastianini could only shadow Marquez throughout. That allowed the eight-time world champion to grow his points advantage over fourth-placed Bastianini to 13 points.

The better part of five seconds behind the leading trio, Alex Marquez brought his Gresini Ducati machine home fourth after overtaking Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli on the second lap and holding his position from there.

The same lap two wobble that allowed Alex Marquez through also opened the door for Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo to seal what would become fifth place.

Morbidelli settled for sixth in a race that saw small gaps in the lower half of the top 10 but little in the way of overtaking activity.

Behind the Italian came a string of KTMs, with South African Brad Binder the best of them in seventh.

Fellow factory KTM rider Jack Miller held off Tech3 rookie Pedro Acosta for eighth, despite the Spaniard’s finest efforts to repeat his successful late attack on the Australian a week ago in Thailand.

VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi completed the top 10 ahead of Alex Rins (Yamaha) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia).

Luca Marini was the best Honda in 15th after LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco pulled out of the race with a technical failure.

Andrea Iannone finished 19th and second from last on his MotoGP return with VR46.

Photos from Malaysian GP Qualifying and Sprint

MotoGP championship leader Jorge Martin put a positive spin on today’s crash in Practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix, saying it will help him to know where the limit is at the Sepang circuit.

Martin lost the front end of his Pramac Ducati at the tight first corner moments after seeing that his title rival Francesco Bagnaia had posted a faster time late in the session. 

The accident brought practice to an early end for Martin, but the Spaniard’s best time still put him second-fastest and directly into Q2 on Saturday.

While falling on a day when factory Ducati rider and two-time champion Bagnaia was fastest in both sessions could be seen as a psychological blow for Martin, there is no major consequence to the incident given that he comfortably made the top 10.

Nor does Martin subscribe to the idea that the mishap will rob him of any confidence as he defends a 17-point lead at the penultimate round of the championship.

“I think it’s also positive that I crashed today,” said Martin, who is chasing a maiden crown. “Because I can see the limit and understand why I crashed. So it’s good to crash today!

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“I prefer to crash now than in the race. I like this track and the bike is working really well. I was feeling competitive throughout and I feel confident with our work.”

Martin confirmed that he had been trying to respond to Bagnaia’s lap of 1m57.679s.

“I was okay with my time attack, even if I almost crashed on my [previous] lap,” he said. “Then I went down the [start/finish] straight and saw I was second, so I said ‘okay, I will try to improve a bit more’. 

“But even at the first corner it was already too much, and I just crashed. 

“We [Martin and Bagnaia] were pushing – it was a normal day! We were pushing and still able to keep the gap between ourselves and the rest, so it’s impressive.”

Martin also explained that engine braking was a key factor in his crash, as was the case in previous accidents this season.

“I think we are struggling a bit with the engine braking,” the 26-year-old added. “We have quite a lot of grip on the rear tyre, so with the Ducati you need to slide the rear on entry because otherwise the front pushes. That’s why I crashed. 

“So the thing is to be really clever about how you use the engine braking. It’s [more important] than the set-up. It’s much better to stop [working on] the set-up and work on the electronics.

“All the crashes I had this season during races, like Germany, Jerez and Mugello, were the same. The rear was pushing the front. So I’m trying to be really precise on that — today we didn’t make it and I crashed.”