The Malaysian GP certainly brought no shortage of drama as Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) took victory ahead of Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) producing a sensational effort from P12 on the grid to claim a podium and keep his hopes of retaining the World Championship alive. There’s plenty to discuss from a scorcher in Sepang, and below you have some of the biggest talking points from Round 19 of the Championship!

After a stunning penultimate weekend of 2022, the title fight is going all the way. Bagnaia and Quartararo both produced world class rides to come from P9 and P12 to P1 and P3 respectively, and ensure that the season finale will act as the decider.

Bagnaia: “Now I can relax. The weekend was quite tough for the mistakes I did yesterday. For Valencia, we like to understand that we can be strong enough without forcing as I did yesterday. Today the race was the demonstration that our pace was good enough without doing crazy things.”

Quartararo: “I didn’t expect Pecco to win. In the end, the most important for me is that I enjoy this race. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed being on the bike, especially during the race. So, pretty happy. Let’s see. Valencia is a track that I like. Last year was not our best race, but the only thing I need to do is fight for the win. Then we will see, but at least I want to enjoy the last race.”

Bagnaia took the win, but it most certainly wasn’t handed to him as he had to fight tooth and nail to get past and then hold off his Gresini Racing counterpart and future teammate Enea Bastianini. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen some great battles between Pecco and ‘The Beast’, and it certainly makes for an interesting dynamic in 2023.

Bagnaia: “It will not be easy, but we have to try to do a good work. For sure, it’s different compared to now because he’s another person.

“I want to say that it will be a different situation because he’s another person and I think at the start when you arrive to the factory team, you have to adapt a bit to the work with all the engineers. So, it will not be easy for him at the start in the test, but then in the championship, it will be the same. Like always, the first person you want to beat is your teammate. It will be like this for all the years.

On the topic of teammates, Ducati Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti has said that constructor orders are go in Valencia! The Bologna bullets chief is desperate to bring a first Riders’ Championship back to the Borgo Panigale factory since 2007, and they must do everything in their power to stop Quartararo from taking the win.

“There will be constructor orders, a Ducati must win in Valencia regardless of the rider. If a Ducati wins, then Fabio, even if he comes second, he cannot win the Championship,” he said post-race in Malaysia.

It’s been a tough run of form for Aleix Espargaro on the Asian leg of the tour, with the Aprilia rider seeing his credible title tilt come to an official end in Sepang. It’s been a heck of a year for the Noale factory and the number 41, but he was still heartbroken to see his 2022 World Championship dream end.

“I’m very disappointed today. I’m very sad. I’m very proud of everybody in Aprilia, of myself, of my teammate of everybody in Noale. What we did this year is amazing, historic, it will be forever. It will last forever.

“But at the same time, the way we ended the season. It’s a bit sad, because if we could maintain our level in the last four races, we would have arrived in Valencia with a chance. But we really lost it. It looks like the dream was too big for us yet. So hopefully we can learn about it and be more ready for the future.

“Believe me I tried everything I could, I really pushed like hell until the last lap, knowing that every single point is important for the third place of the championship. But it was not enough. I was very slow. All race and all the last four races were a nightmare.

By the end of the Malaysian GP, Espargaro had been awarded P10, despite crossing the line 11th. The reason being that Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) was handed a three-second penalty for a clash with the Aprilia rider during the race, which drew some heated comments from the Spaniard.

“I don’t know what this guy is doing this year. I don’t understand if he’s here or on another planet in his head. They have given him some sanctions at almost every GP, but he keeps doing stupid things. I don’t know, he hit me two times in Thailand when we were in eleventh place! I didn’t understand. And today he hit me super hard, I don’t know why I don’t crash, for tenth place.

“They gave him 3 seconds, which I think is good because they give me back one important point. But I think you need to start last or from the pit lane. They keep giving him some sanctions, but he don’t improve. It’s crazy. I don’t know, I don’t understand. I was very lucky to not crash.”

Commenting on the end of his brother’s Championship bid, Pol Espargaro was full of praise for his elder sibling and Aprilia as he reminded everyone of how far they have come in the space of 12 months.

“What he has done with Aprilia, and what Aprilia have done this year is something that will stay in the books. For sure they don’t realise how big their achievement is because when you lose something it’s difficult to see the big picture.

“I’m sure in a couple weeks, after Valencia, they will see the year they have done that nobody expected, even them. They have. Been super all year. Aleix’s riding and Aprilia with the bike. I wish one day to do a Championship like Aleix did this year!”

Away from all the podium and title drama, we saw an impressive streak end as Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) recorded his very first DNF in the premier class. The Italian had completed all 36 of his previous races in MotoGP™ but he was forced to retire early in Malaysia.

“Mechanics took out the spring, the preload from the fork, they tried to do it, and it was working well, like usual. But on track, it stayed blocked. Some piece of dirt or another tyre or something it picked up from the ground during the straight, arriving at the first corner was blocking something, I don’t know. But it was impossible to make the fork come back.

“At the first corner I didn’t feel this because we were very slow, and everybody was really slow. But entering in Turn 3, yes. Because you enter very fast, and then you start to feel like this, because the fork is blocked. But I felt very soon that it was that problem, so I tried to avoid any contact or something like this and just arrive into pit lane. That’s it. It’s something that can happen. We have a lot of devices, we have a lot of stuff on the bike, and this is part of the game.”

Over at Honda, work continues as they aim to build for a more prosperous 2023 campaign, however, given that two of their four riders won’t be at the factory next season and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) is still out with injury, Marc Marquez has had to assume a testing role in recent weeks.

In the past few weeks, he has been seen riding with a Kalex swing arm and various aero packages as he looks to find a good balance on the RC213V, and it appears he will continue in that testing role at the season finale in Valencia.

“I tried parts with radical changes just to understand the concept for the future. We know some things we tried were not working before going out but it was time to understand it. Somebody needs to do it, and Honda believe I’m the person to do it and I agree. It’s not the best way to take the best from the weekend but we did it in a good way.

On Friday (in Valencia) yes, but I’ll ask to keep calm on Saturday. The Friday plan is to work for 2023 and then if I feel ok, I will say ‘please, let me enjoy the weekend!’”

Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup Race 1 in Sepang didn’t disappoint, with a three-rider battle to the line seeing Carter Thompson come out on top for his first ATC win. The Australian held off a last corner attack from Gun Mie as the Japanese rider was then relegated to third, with Rei Wakamatsu taking second.

Big drama earlier in the race hit for former points leader Hakim Danish as he crashed out from the race lead, rider ok after a check-up in the Medical Centre. Buriram winner Veda Ega Pratama then took a tumble as he was pushing to catch the fight for victory, leaving two key players taking home nil points from Saturday.

Thompson got the perfect start from pole to take the early lead, but Danish hit quickly to take over. He pushed to make a gap and looked to be controlling the race before crashing out, leaving Thompson, Mie and Wakamatsu battling for the win and not just the rostrum. That went down to the final corner after Thompson had taken the lead at Turn 1 on the final lap, with Mie heading round the outside but then overcooking it. Thompson cut back and hit the gas to the line, taking his first victory. Wakamatsu kept his powder dry in second, with Mie able to gather it back up and take third.

Shinya Ezawa was able to take a valuable fourth place and with it the points lead as Danish crashed out, with some clear air for the Japanese rookie too. Behind there was a group battle won by Amon Odaki in fifth, ahead of Marianos Nikolis right from the back of the grid. Farish Hafiy and Hamad al-Sahouti took P7 and P8, close on the chase.

Behind them, Reykat Fadillah took P9, with Diandra Trihardika and Farres Putra for close company.

Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup Race 2 went down to the wire on Sunday at Sepang, with home hero Hakim Danish coming out on top after a final corner attack. The Malaysian recovered from a moment of grasstracking just before he made the move and lost the lead, hitting back to defeat Veda Ega Pratama by just 0.047. Shinya Ezawa completed the podium in the damp conditions on Sunday morning, with Race 1 winner Carter Thompson crashing out on the final lap, rider ok.

Off the line it was a lottery for the holeshot but Gun Mie took it, the number 5 impressively late on the brakes and drama free to boot. Still, it became a lead group of six of Mie, Thompson, Pratama, Ezawa, Danish and Wakamatsu, and that it remained until late on.

Then, it became a duel for the win as Pratama and Danish started the final lap glued together. And despite his short excursion – clearly losing out and dropping the lead to Pratama on the run to the final corner – Danish was able to hit back and attack, opening the throttle for the drag to the line and just holding on for the win by 0.047.

As those behind faded slightly and Thompson crashed out, rider ok, Ezawa managed to hold onto third for some valuable points, but not quite enough to retain the overall lead. It’s Danish back on top with a margin of just three heading into the final round.

Fourth in Race 2 went to Wakamatsu as he stayed within a fair margin of Ezawa, with Mie fading late on to a few seconds off his compatriots. The number 5 is now therefore 35 off the top with 50 points remaining, now staring down a long shot at the crown.

Hamad al-Sahouti moved through to sixth with some clear air, of which the same is true of Thanakorn Lakharn in seventh. Reykat Fadillah, Emil Izdhar and Jakkreephat Phuettisan completed the top ten in a close trio at the flag.

An early crash saw Cameron Swain, Marianos Nikolis and Amon Odaki go down and out of contention for solid points, riders ok.

That’s a wrap on Sepang and now there’s only one round and 50 points left in play in the 2022 Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup. Come back for more at Mandalika from the 11th to the 13th of November – with Danish just three points ahead of Ezawa heading in!

The 2022 MotoGP™ World Championship title race will be decided at the season finale in Valencia, despite Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) claiming a magnificent seventh win of the campaign at the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) made Pecco and Ducati sweat to finish a close second, as a fabulous effort from reigning World Champion Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) saw the Frenchman claim P3 to take his title defence to the wire. 

The rain was holding off for the start of the race as #MatchPointPecco burst into life as Bagnaia got a spell-binding launch. The Italian went P9 to P2, Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) held onto P1 from pole, Quartararo got a great start and was P5 on Lap 1 after passing teammate Franco Morbidelli, with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) up to P9 on the opening lap. Bastianini, the other rider in the title frame, was P3 behind Pecco.

At the end of Lap 2, Martin was 0.8s clear of Pecco. Bastianini was tucked up right behind his 2023 teammate in P3, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was 0.7s away from Bastianini in P4, with Quartararo a further 0.6s down the road in P5. A mistake on Lap 3 saw Aleix Espargaro slip from P11 to P14, as the Spaniard struggled to get going in the early exchanges.

Quartararo moved past Marc Marquez at the beginning of Lap 5 as the eight-time Champion was wide down at Turn 1. Now, the gap Quartararo had to bridge to Bastianini and title rival Bagnaia was 2.4s, with the two Italians now 1.2s away from race leader Martin.

Pushing at the front, Lap 7 then threw up huge drama for Martin. The Spaniard was down at Turn 5 and what did that do? Hand the lead to Bagnaia. As things stood, with Pecco P1 and Quartararo P3, the gap heading to Valencia would be 23 points. Close, but not enough for the title to be decided today. Furthermore, Bastianini was still climbing all over the back of Pecco. A predicament to say the least for Bastianini and Ducati – does he stick, or does he twist?

Quartararo was 2.8s away from the lead duo but cue the Jaws music: a certain Italian riding a Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati was coming. That man was Marco Bezzecchi and the 2022 Rookie of the Year was charging. If Bezzecchi got the better of Quartararo and Bagnaia won the race, that would be enough for the latter to win the title in Malaysia.

A huge moment in the race then came. Turn 4, Lap 11. Bastainini was up the inside, late on the brakes and through on Bagnaia for the lead of the race he went. Quartararo was still P3, 2.7s away, with Bezzecchi now just 0.5s down on his VR46 Academy friend and fellow Italian’s rival.

Seven to go. Bastianini and Pecco were locked together, with Bezzecchi right behind Quartararo. Pecco at this stage of the race looked to have a better pace and at Turn 15, just before the clock ticked to six laps remaining, Bagnaia led again. Would Bastianini retaliate? Now we were back to the situation a few laps earlier. If Bezzecchi got the better of Quartararo, and Pecco stayed P1, it would be World Champion Pecco. Everything was on the line here and to add to the palpable tension, Quartararo was starting to gain on the Ducati duo up front.

Five to go. The gap to Bastianini’s rear wheel from Quartararo’s front tyre was 1.6s. Four to go. Pecco led by 0.4s, Bastianini was 1.6s ahead of Quartararo, and Quartararo was now 1.3s ahead of Bezzecchi. Aleix Espargaro’s title hopes were now diminishing by the lap, the number 41 on his 300^th Grand Prix appearance was P11.

Three to go, the situation was unchanged. Two to go. Quartararo was marginally quicker than the leaders but the gap was 1.5s over the line – not enough to mount more pressure. The good news for El Diablo was Bezzecchi being 2.4s in arrears.

The final lap in Malaysia. Pecco and Bastianini were split by nothing, surely the latter wasn’t going to make a move at this stage? Turn 4 passed by – the earlier passing point – as Turn 9 appeared. Bastianini didn’t go for a move but it was a little close for comfort. Nothing came of it though, Bagnaia kept his cool and took the chequered flag to win in Sepang to take a 23-point lead to the season finale in Valencia. Bastianini was 0.2s away from victory to finish P2, with Quartararo doing a phenomenal job to end the race on the rostrum to still be in with a chance at keeping his MotoGP™ crown.

Bezzecchi’s charge to the podium didn’t quite come to fruition, but P4 for the Italian was another fantastic job done. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) rounded out the top five, the Australian GP race winner was 1.5s up the road from sixth place Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) – the Australian produced a great comeback ride from P14 on the grid to help Ducati Lenovo Team pick up the Teams’ title.

Marc Marquez ended the race down in P7, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) claimed eighth, with Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) rounding out the top 10. After a three-second penalty, Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) finished P11 after contact was made with Espargaro at Turn 14, with Morbidelli also taking two Long Lap penalties in the race. Cal Crutchlow (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team), Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) and Raul Fernandez (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) were the final point scorers. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) – who managed to re-join –, Darryn Binder (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), and Tetsuta Nagashima (LCR Honda Idemitsu) crashed out alongside Martin, with Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) forced to retire with a technical issue. 

So, after a magical return to Malaysia, we head to Valencia with the MotoGP™ title race still left on the table. Bagnaia vs Quartararo, Ducati vs Yamaha, Italy vs France. See you at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. 

Top 10:
1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) – 20 laps
2. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) + 0.270
3. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 2.773
4. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 5.446
5. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 11.923
6. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 13.472
7. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 14.304
8. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 16.805
9. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 18.358
10. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 21.591

Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) has taken victory at the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia as the Moto2™ title race was turned on its head yet again. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) looked to have one hand on the crown as he ran second on the road and Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) struggled to break into the top five, all the way to the start of the 18th and final lap around the Sepang International Circuit. However, Ogura then tried to press home his advantage with a move on Arbolino and disaster struck, the Japanese rider tucking the front and crashing out.

Arbolino went on to win by 11 seconds but the rider who was happiest with his result most likely would have been Fernandez, who inherited fourth position and a 13-point haul. The Spaniard crashed out last Sunday at Phillip Island but, with Ogura scoring a zero this time, he is now back on top of the riders’ standings by 9.5 points with just the Valencia GP to come in a fortnight from now.

Arbolino had qualified on the middle of the front row and cleared pole-sitter Ogura by the time they arrived at Turn 1. Ogura’s Idemitsu Honda Team Asia teammate Somkiat Chantra started eighth and was trying to slot into fourth at Turn 2 but made contact with the rear wheel of Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) and went down, with Pedro Acosta’s (Red Bull KTM Ajo) bike coming down on top of him. Fortunately, Chantra was at least able to ride back to the pits and retire, while David Sanchis (MV Agusta Forward Racing) went no further after he also hit the deck in the incident.

Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up) would emerge in third, behind Arbolino and Ogura, while Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) did not take too long to pass Dixon for fourth position. Fernandez barely avoided the drama back at Turn 2 and found himself in sixth position, right where he had started, but was unable to make early progress.

Indeed, that top six ran as you were until Gonzalez got into Lopez’s slipstream and passed the Australian GP winner at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 9. By then, the top two were more than four seconds up the road, Arbolino’s margin over Ogura ebbing and flowing at half to one full second, while Fernandez still sat sixth and was conceding almost a second per lap relative to ‘Tiger Tony’ and his rival for the Championship. Meanwhile, Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40), who had been forced wide as Acosta crashed on Lap 1, got himself back into the top 10 on Lap 10.

Ogura started to apply the pressure on Arbolino and would dive down the inside at Turn 1 to take the lead on Lap 13. However, a lap later, he ran well wide at the end of the straight and very nearly crashed, opening the door for the Italian to reclaim top spot. As that was all going on, Lopez had a big save of his own at Turn 9 before turning under Gonzalez and taking third position back through Turns 10 and 11 on Lap 14.

Fernandez seemingly decided that it was time to attack, with every point crucial as he looked to minimise the damage relative to Ogura in his title quest. However, Dixon was in no mood to simply hand over fifth spot, and they made contact on multiple occasions as they chopped and changed position in the final four laps.

Up the front, Ogura was still pushing hard, with the carrot of an extra five points dangling in front of him if he could pass the Marc VDS entry which was just ahead. On the final lap, the Honda Team Asia pilot went for a move at Turn 9 but asked too much of his front tyre and ended up on the floor. Arbolino had been let off the hook and could cruise to victory over a distant Lopez while Dixon assumed third and Fernandez had just passed Gonzalez for what became fourth position once Ogura came unstuck.

Gonzalez therefore rounded out the top five, ahead of Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP), Cameron Beaubier (American Racing), Canet, Jeremy Alcoba (Liqui Moly Intact GP), and Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools Speed Up) in 10th. Acosta had remounted after the second-corner drama but then crashed a second time, on Lap 10 at Turn 15 while running 20th, and would not see the chequered flag. Joining him and Ogura among the DNFs was Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) due to a spill on Lap 6 while running 12th.

For the second time in as many Sundays, the Moto2™ race finishes with a new Championship leader. Will Fernandez hold onto it from here or can Ogura snatch it back? A title goes on the line in a grandstand decider when the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana takes place at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo on November 4-6!

Moto2™ Race Top 10

1. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team)
2. Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up) + 11.411
3. Jake Dixon (Inde GAGSAS Aspar Team) + 11.802
4. Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 13.206
5. Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) + 14.770
6. Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) + 17.166
7. Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) + 20.222
8. Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) + 24.279
9. Jeremy Alcoba (Liqui Moly Intact GP) + 24.407
10. Fermin Alduguer (Beta Tools Speed Up) + 24.482