Grand Prix Malaysia
03/11/24 – 8:00 AM
Started
Grand Prix Malaysia
LIVE
Sepang International Circuit • Race
avant-match
Follow the Grand Prix Malaysia live. This MotoGP race starts at 08:00 on 3 November 2024. Find race results, calendar, standings, scores and all of this season’s MotoGP races.
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12/19
BAGNAIA PULLS AWAY
The defending champion pulls 2.1s away from Jorge Martin running in second. After clearing the Spaniard on Lap 4, Francesco Bagnaia started to pull away and create a gap while Martin settled cosily into second place.
As the temperature increases each lap, the riders are running under a painful Malaysian heat with the scorching sun beaming down on the track. Their tyres are beginning to wear at the halfway point of the race, and especially after a fierce early battle.
Enea Bastianini occupies the final podium spot, pulling away from Alex Marquez who cruises around Sepang in fourth. The fight for P3 in the championship has been blown wide open once again after Marc Marquez crashed out of third place.
9/19
MARQUEZ DOWN AS BAGNAIA LEADS
Francesco Bagnaia leads the Malaysian Grand Prix after a scrappy opening act saw the two rivals trade positions each lap. Jorge Martin tails 1.2s behind Bagnaia, likely keeping it safe for the middle act of the race to save his tyres for a fight at the end.
Meanwhile, Marc Marquez crashes out of third place at Turn 15 on Lap 7 after taking the corner too aggressively in the hunt for Martin. This puts his future teammate at risk as he gives Martin some free air to run and manage his tyres. Enea Bastianini inherits third place, which is bad news for Marquez who was hoping to clear him in the Riders’ Standings.
6/19
BAGNAIA LEADS AS MARTIN RESTS
Francesco Bagnaia leads the pack heading into Lap 4 after a risky move saw him squeeze down the inside of Turn 1 while Jorge Martin creeps behind. Marc Marquez is patiently lingering behind the two rivals but Bagnaia runs 0.2s faster than the other riders as his tyres begin to find some heat.
Bagnaia sets the fastest lap of the race on Lap 5, setting a new lap record during the race. He begins to lose Martin, sitting 0.5s behind as he takes some laps to rest after a feisty opening act. The defending champion has pulled almost one second away from Martin running in second on Lap 6 as his rival takes a brief step back to recover his tyres.
3/19
RIVALS GO BLOW FOR BLOW
The two championship rivals have put everything on the line here in Malaysia. The opening lap saw the two riders go blow for blow as they attack and defend for the lead. Going side by side into the third lap, almost colliding on the first straight, they trade positions every corner.
Bagnaia ran wide heading into turn 4, allowing Martin past on the third lap. This battle has brought Marc Marquez right into the picture as he tails behind waiting for a mistake to capitalise on. The extremely close battle shows Bagnaia leading heading into Lap 4 after usurping the lead from Martin on the run from the starting straight into Turn 1.
1/19
BAGNAIA LEADS OFF THE LINE
Francesco Bagnaia gets off to an amazing start, pulling ahead of Jorge Martin on the starting straight as he leads the pack into the first corner. Martin attempted a move around the inside of Bagnaia but a small wobble allowed the defending champion to take his lead back.
A big swap saw Martin snatch the lead after lunging down the inside of the final turn. Martin led the pack heading into the second lap, but Bagnaia pulled one back on the Spaniard on the first corner on Lap 2. He slammed the door shut on Martin, stealing back the lead.
1/19
WARM UP LAP PT 2
The riders are back on track to complete a second warm-up lap after a nasty incident on the initial opening lap called a red flag. Brad Binder has a mechanical issue so he headed back to the pits, while his teammate Jack Miller returns from the medical centre after the crash.
1/20
RED FLAG!
The race will be restarted after a first-lap crash left three riders out of the race. They will start from their original grid positions as three laps have not been completed, so the procedure is to use the qualifying spots rather than gained positions.
1/20
BAGNAIA LEADS AS FIRST-LAP CHAOS UNFOLDS
Jorge Martin gets off to another great start, but the Spaniard is forced to run wide as chaos unfolds behind. An entire pack of riders were taken out on the second corner as yellow flags were called.
Francesco Bagnaia leads Martin around the pack but a red flag is called before the opening lap ends. Three riders went down in the pile-up, including Brad Binder, Fabio Quartararo, and Jack Miller.
The incident saw Binder run wide, crashing into the back of Quartararo in the busy corner. This caught out Miller, who fell off his bike and was squashed in between the other riders. All riders are conscious and Quartararo has returned to his pit box.
07:00
WARM UP LAP
The riders set off on their warm-up lap around Sepang in the scorching heat. The track temperature is 52°C as the riders get ready to endure a race full of chaos in the heat.
06:55
WHAT DOES MARTIN NEED TO WRAP IT UP EARLY?
Jorge Martin has the chance to wrap up the title fight early here in Malaysia, due to a costly crash from Francesco Bagnaia in the sprint that rid him of any potential points in the standings.
With a 29-point lead to Bagnaia in the standings, Martin is the only rider with the title to lose now. Bagnaia put it all on the line in the sprint, but the risk did not pay off and he essentially has to win both races and a sprint race in order to claim his third world championship.
Martin needs to score nine more points than Bagnaia in the race today in order to secure his maiden MotoGP title. This means if Martin wins the race, Bagnaia will have to finish in third or lower. If Martin finishes in second or third place, Bagnaia will have to finish in fifth and ninth place or lower respectively.
Can Martin claim the title in Malaysia?
06:50
MARTIN: “IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER” ITS A TITLE FIGHT
Jorge Martin cruised to victory from start to finish after snatching the lead off the line from his championship rival. After Francesco Bagnaia’s crash, Martin added 12 points to the tally.
Martin said: “I think we did an amazing job this weekend.
“We were riding really precise in a really difficult weekend with this heat, but I was trying to always be constant, understand the bike.
“For sure some changes for tomorrow, because even if I win tomorrow, Pecco will be super strong, so the important thing is to beat him.
“As soon as I saw Pecco crash, it was a difficult moment, it was really mental and I had tried to manage the gap with Marc, but he was catching.
“At some point I thought maybe it’s better to finish second and get a few points, but I just kept my riding style comfortable, and I was able to increase the gap a little bit.
“Sometimes you need to remember that you are fighting for a championship.
“Today after Pecco’s crash I kept pushing, but maybe I make a mistake, so I was trying to understand the bike to improve for tomorrow.
“It’s been a difficult week for me but the important thing is that I ride like I know, which is winning.
“I don’t go out there and try to do second and third because then I make mistakes. I will keep this riding style until the end of the season.”
06:45
BAGNAIA: “JUST WINNING IS NOT ENOUGH”
Francesco Bagnaia suffered an unfortunate crash during the Malaysian sprint race, possibly costing him his third world championship and gifting Jorge Martin the chance to wrap up the title fight a round early.
Bagnaia said: “We need something more because just winning is not enough.
“The only one that can lose this Championship is Jorge. So we need something in the middle, a little help by the others, I will try to win.
“The target was to be just better on the Saturdays this season, but it’s given him this gap in the Championship.
“I pushed a lot in the first lap but in the second one I said to myself ‘Okay we’ll break a bit after’ because I don’t want a risk, and I crashed the same.
“Honestly, I just touched the bump on corner nine and I lost the front.
“I need to go 100% like always, trying to win the race. I will do my maximum.
“I just hope that Marc and Enea [Bastianini] will improve their pace because right now we are too strong for everybody else.”
06:40
MARQUEZ: “PECCO MUST TAKE THE RISK”
Marc Marquez earned his tenth sprint podium of the year in a hectic Sepang sprint that saw him inherit second place after the defending champion Francesco Bagnaia crashed out of the battle for the lead.
Marquez said: “Pecco must take the risk and today I saw that he was struggling a bit those first two laps.
“Martin was opening us up more, and he pushed, he tried, because it was the only chance, and he made a mistake.
“It’s a mistake, anybody can make a mistake. But in the end, when you are riding on the limit, we are humans and nobody’s perfect.
“It is always great to be honest and realistic, and I do struggle more than the others.
“But words I try to keep is ‘never give up,’ and when you are in trouble, when you have problems, you need to work even harder and that’s what we did.
“I will try, it’s true that tomorrow will be a super long race. Let’s see how is the weather. Let’s see what we can do.
“Today helps me a lot, the start was incredible, to start from the second row and I was already third on the first corner. Let’s see tomorrow if we can keep going.”
06:35
VALENCIA FINALE CANCELLED
The classic MotoGP finale in Valencia has been cancelled due to severe flooding in the region. Scheduled from November 15-17, the Valencia Grand Prix has been home to the MotoGP finale for a decade.
Valencia has suffered severe damage and fatalities from the flash floods, as a month’s worth of rainfall fell over just two days. The flooding has not just damaged the circuit, but countless homes and businesses.
MotoGP has pledged support for the region, collecting funds to donate and providing support to the local authorities. A number of riders also came out in support of the region, with Francesco Bagnaia refusing to race in Valencia no matter the cost of the title.
The riders stood in solidarity ahead of the sprint, giving a minute of silence for the Valencia flood victims. Barcelona is rumoured to be the replacement venue for the finale.
06:30
A SPRINT TO REMEMBER
Jorge Martin took another step closer to his maiden MotoGP title after dominating the Malaysian sprint race, leading from start to finish after snatching an immediate lead from pole-sitter Francesco Bagnaia.
Bagnaia was ready to put up a fight, but ran slightly wide at Turn 9 mid-race and crashed out in an unexpected turn of events which gifts championship front-runner Martin 12 points in the standings.
Marc Marquez settled for third place ahead of Enea Bastianini, making yet more progress towards securing third place in the world championship.
The penultimate round in Malaysia leaves Bagnaia with few chances to make a comeback to win his third championship, as the points gap increases to 29.
06:25
HOW WAS QUALIFYING?
Francesco Bagnaia starts from pole position at Sepang, clearing Jorge Martin by just 0.2s in a hectic qualifying session. The two championship rivals traded blows throughout the session, but it was Bagnaia who came out on top to smash the lap record.
Francesco Bagnaia
Jorge Martin
Alex Marquez
Franco Morbidelli
Marc Marquez
Enea Bastianini
Jack Miller
Fabio Quartararo
Alex Rins
Brad Binder
06:20
A SEPANG STORY
This Malaysian gem is one of the most beloved motorsport tracks. The Sepang International Circuit was constructed by legendary track designer Hermann Tilke in the 1990s. It sits in the Selangor region of Malaysia, not too far from Kuala Lumpur.
It currently features on the MotoGP, Asian Le Mans Series, and GT World Challenge Asia calendars, and used to be the home of the Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix for 18 years. The track is 5.54km with 10 right corners and five left corners, with two long straights to shake up the riders. Sepang is around 16m wide, giving loads of space for overtaking.
The intense heat and humidity are bound to shake up the pack, as the unpredictable conditions catch out even the best riders each year.
06:15
WELCOME BACK TO SEPANG
Hello and welcome back to Sepang for more action in the penultimate round of the MotoGP season. The grid returns to the fan-favourite track in Malaysia with chaos unfolding yesterday during the sprint race.
Jorge Martin held a 17-point lead in the standings to his rival Francesco Bagnaia before the sprint, but the gap has now increased to 29. A critical error during the sprint saw Bagnaia lose his Ducati heading out of Turn 9 on Lap 3 amid a battle for the lead. A mistake this big may ultimately cost him the title…
Either way, it’s a new day today and Bagnaia starts from pole position. Can the defending champion redeem his unfortunate sprint race?
Malaysian GP Live – Jorge Martin hopes to wrap up the title fight early in Malaysia after Francesco Bagnaia’s sprint crash blew the fight wide open
