{"id":820656,"date":"2026-11-01T10:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T10:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/820656\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T10:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T10:50:10","slug":"motogp-malaysian-gp-marc-marquez-takes-dominant-win-to-inch-closer-to-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/820656\/","title":{"rendered":"MotoGP Malaysian GP: Marc Marquez takes dominant win to inch closer to title"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/marc-marquez\/17122\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Marc Marquez<\/a> scored a commanding victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix to move a step closer to sealing the 2026 MotoGP title, with Aprilia failing to finish on the podium.<\/p>\n<p>The factory\u00a0Ducati rider gained the lead at the start and built a buffer in the first half of the race, aided by his younger brother <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/alex-marquez\/20860\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Alex Marquez<\/a> acting as a rear-gunner.<\/p>\n<p>While <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/pedro-acosta\/875418\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Pedro Acosta<\/a> was able to pass the\u00a0Gresini rider on lap 10 following a lengthy battle, he had no answer for Marc Marquez, who cruised to the finish to claim his seventh grand prix win of the season.<\/p>\n<p>The result moves him 44 points clear of injured <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/jorge-martin\/109340\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Jorge Martin<\/a> and 67 in front of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/marco-bezzecchi\/291374\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Marco\u00a0Bezzecchi<\/a>, meaning he could wrap up the 2026 title as early as next week\u2019s Qatar Grand Prix.<\/p>\n<p>Still compromised by a shoulder injury he sustained at the Catalan GP, Alex Marquez had to settle for third position, but he successfully kept\u00a0Aprilia\u2019s Marco Bezzecchi at bay during the middle of the race.<\/p>\n<p>When the 20-lap\u00a0Sepang contest got underway, Marc Marquez made the best launch from second on the grid, streaking past polesitter Alex Marquez on the run down to Turn 1.<\/p>\n<p>The Gresini rider retaliated under braking for Turn 4 but ran too deep into the right-hander, allowing the reigning champion to retake the position.<\/p>\n<p>Behind the leading duo, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/ai-ogura\/445065\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Ai Ogura<\/a> initially moved up to third on the Trackhouse Aprilia, before dropping behind Pedro Acosta and Marco Bezzecchi in quick succession.<\/p>\n<p>Acosta then closed the gap to Alex Marquez, putting the reigning Malaysian GP winner under serious pressure. But despite clearly being the faster of the two, the sprint winner struggled to complete a pass on him, allowing Marc Marquez to pull away at the front.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t until the midpoint of the race on lap 10 that Acosta was finally able to make a move, by which point his 2027 team-mate had built an advantage of 1.7s.<\/p>\n<p>Marquez immediately picked up his pace after Acosta moved to second, extending his lead to well over two seconds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On lap 14, Acosta gained four tenths on the race leader, but Marquez responded to his pace on the following tour, with the\u00a0KTM rider unable to keep up with his countryman\u2019s speed.<\/p>\n<p>Marquez eventually took the\u00a0chequered flag with a comfortable margin of 4.1s, scoring his 80th premier class win and boosting his chances of a 10th world title.<\/p>\n<p>Acosta completed a double podium in second following his sprint win on Saturday, while Alex Marquez rounded out the top three.<\/p>\n<p>Factory\u00a0Aprilia rider Bezzecchi initially remained within striking distance of Alex Marquez, briefly edging ahead of the Gresini rider on lap 10. But he couldn\u2019t complete the move on the Spaniard and fell into the clutches of Trackhouse rider Ogura.<\/p>\n<p>The two then engaged in a fierce battle for fourth, making heavy contact at the start of lap 18.\u00a0Ogura eventually got the better of his team-mate to take fourth, while Bezzecchi ran off the track on the final lap and dropped to sixth, behind the Tech3 KTM of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/enea-bastianini\/109333\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Enea Bastianini<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Further back, factory Honda rider\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/luca-marini\/201096\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Luca Marini<\/a> capitalised on a fast getaway from 13th on the grid to finish seventh, beating the VR46 Ducati of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/fabio-di-giannantonio\/289790\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Fabio di Giannantonio<\/a>. KTM\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/brad-binder\/109348\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Brad Binder<\/a> and di Giannantonio\u2019s team-mate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/franco-morbidelli\/109314\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Franco Morbidelli<\/a> completed the top 10.<\/p>\n<p>Yamaha duo\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/fabio-quartararo\/109330\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Fabio Quartararo<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/alex-rins\/109319\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Alex Rins<\/a> were next up in 11th and 12th, while factory Ducati rider <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/francesco-bagnaia\/109338\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Francesco Bagnaia<\/a> wound up 13th after dropping outside the points at one stage.<\/p>\n<p>Maverick\u00a0Vinales, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/iker-lecuona\/442167\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Iker Lecuona<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/jack-miller\/20959\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Jack Miller<\/a> were the last of the classified finishers.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/diogo-moreira\/945074\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Diogo Moreira<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/augusto-fernandez\/445329\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Augusto Fernandez<\/a> crashed out early in the race, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/johann-zarco\/20642\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Johann Zarco<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/driver\/joan-mir\/289391\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Joan Mir<\/a> retired due to suspected mechanical issues.<\/p>\n<p>            We want your opinion!<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-auto\">What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?<\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"#\" class=\"ms-link text-link font-bold\">Take our 5 minute survey.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-1 text-body\">&#8211; The Motorsport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marc Marquez scored a commanding victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix to move a step closer to sealing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":820657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[269295,59,96315,4691,28944,269294,96316,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-820656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ducati-team","tag-gb","tag-malaysian-gp","tag-marc-marquez","tag-motogp","tag-motogp-malaysian-gp-marc-marquez-takes-dominant-win-to-inch-closer-to-title","tag-sepang-international-circuit","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=820656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/820657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=820656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=820656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=820656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}