Francesco Bagnaia took another step closer to hist maiden MotoGP world championship title after winning the Malaysian GP at Sepang International Circuit.
- Bagnaia and Quartararo to take the championship battle to Valencia.
- Bagnaia recorded his seventh win of the season.
Despite starting from the middle of the grid, the Ducati rider made a brilliant start to place himself just behind race leader, Jorge Martin at Turn 2 while Quartararo was up from 12th to fifth.
Martin made the early effort to widen the gap from Bagnaia but his effort were in vain as the Spaniard crashed out on lap seven.
While the disaster may be a gift for Bagnaia, the Italian got into an intense battle with Gresini’s Enea Bastianini who remained close behind the championship leader.
Bastianini made the move on lap 11 when he pounced under braking at Turn 3.
However, Bagnaia managed to find an extra speed to overtook his soon to be teammate at Turn 15 and maintained his lead until the chequered flag.
Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo managed to hold on 3rd spot to keep the championship fight alive ahead of Valencia.
Although there were some pressure from the emerging Marco Bezzecchi, the Frenchman managed to widen the gap at lap 15 to secured the much-needed podium.
Bagnaia continue to lead the championship with 258 points after claiming his seven win of the season while Quartararo is close behind with 235pts.
Both riders will take the fight to Valencia in November.
