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Jorge Martín continues to reduce the gap in the overall standings, and after a victory for Álex Márquez in the sprint race in Malaysia, Martín’s second place moved him to within 11 points of the World Championship leader, Pecco Bagnaia, who was third. Starting from pole, Bagnaia tried to escape on the opening laps, but halfway through the race Márquez and Martín both overtook him on the same lap, and their positions did not change until the chequered flag.
The trio led a race followed by Enea Bastianini, Brad Binder and Jack Miller. Marco Bezzechi, Johann Zarco and Luca Marini completed the points in the sprint race.
Crashes halt comebacks from Márquez and Mir
Starting from 20th position, Marc Márquez overtook seven rivals on the first lap. However, the Repsol Honda team rider had a crash that relegated him to the back of the pack, from where he continued until the finish line, coming home 21st.
Joan Mir had a similar fate, starting 16th and, although he lost some positions on the first lap, he was up to 15th when he also went down. He also remounted and completed the rest of the race, finishing 23rd.
Sprint Race Results: Malaysian GP (10 laps)
| RIDER | TEAM | TIME |
| 1. Álex Márquez | DUCATI | 19:58.713 |
| 2. Jorge Martín | DUCATI | +1.589 |
| 3. Pecco Bagnaia | DUCATI | +3.034 |
| 4. Enea Bastianini | DUCATI | +3.242 |
| 5. Brad Binder | KTM | +3.310 |
| 6. Jack Miller | KTM | +4.318 |
| 7. Marco Bezzecchi | DUCATI | +5.307 |
| 8. Johann Zarco | DUCATI | + 5.501 |
| 9. Luca Marini | DUCATI | +6.420 |
| 21. Marc Márquez | REPSOL HONDA | +24.930 |
| 23. Joan Mir | REPSOL HONDA | +40.594 |
General Standings
| RIDER | TEAM | POINTS |
| 1. Pecco Bagnaia | DUCATI | 396 |
| 2. Jorge Martín | DUCATI | 385 |
| 3. Marco Bezzecchi | DUCATI | 313 |
| 4. Brad Binder | KTM | 254 |
| 5. Aleix Espargaró | APRILIA | 198 |
| 6. Johann Zarco | DUCATI | 196 |
| 7. Maverick Viñales | APRILIA | 170 |
| 8. Luca Marini | DUCATI | 165 |
| 9. Jack Miller | KTM | 148 |
| 10. Fabio Quartararo | YAMAHA | 145 |
| 14. Marc Márquez | REPSOL HONDA | 81 |
| 22. Joan Mir | REPSOL HONDA | 24 |
Statements
Marc Márquez
“This is a difficult weekend, our pace has not been too bad but we made a big mistake during Qualifying practice and starting down in 20th is a big battle. In the Sprint race I started really well in the first two laps and made up a lot of positions, but when you push like this you overheat the tyres and I lost the front. We got back up and finished the race, getting the information for the team which is necessary for tomorrow. Finishing 21st or 15th in the Sprint doesn’t really change much. We go again tomorrow.”
Joan Mir
“An intense day with the conditions and what we had to do. I was able to keep improving my feeling throughout the day and our times weren’t too bad as we went into Q1. If we did this time last year we would have been on the front row I think! But we still need to find more speed in Qualifying. Again, starting where we did made the race a bit complicated and falling at the last corner was not ideal. We got back on and finished the race to get as much information as possible for Sunday.”