ROUND 18 / NOVEMBER 10-12, 2023
SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT / SELANGOR, MALAYSIA
MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P74
turn one line astern, but Bastiani-
ni would come out first ahead of
Alex Marquez. Martin ran wide
and dropped to fifth after Bezzec-
chi got in front of him.
A lap later, Martin was past
and after Bagnaia, then on lap
three, he had a go at the number
one onto the back straight, run-
ning wide once again and giving
the place up.
Half a lap later, Martin was
past Bagnaia at turn four, but the
world champion refused to give
in and rode around the outside at
turn five to retake third place.
Meanwhile, Bastianini and Mar
-
quez were gone, 1.5 seconds up the
road and going ever further away.
Marquez smashed 'em by 1.6
seconds, which is astounding,
given he was only in front for a
little over three laps. Martin was
second, taking Bagnaia's lead
down to 11 points. Bagnaia was
third, Bastianini, Binder, Miller,
Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46
Ducati), Johann Zarco (Prima
Pramac Ducati), Luca Marini
(Mooney VR46 Ducati) and Mav
-
erick Vinales (Aprilia Racing)
rounded out the top 10.
SUNDAY
MOTOGP RACE
A near-dead-even start from the
top three of Bagnaia, Martin and
Bastianini saw all three go into
(Above) Bastianini
goes for the inside
line at turn one as
Francesco Bagnaia
(1) and Jorge
Martin (behind
Bagnaia) run
out wide. (Right)
Awful doesn't
begin to describe
Repsol Honda's
season. Both
riders crashed
out of the Sprint
Race, Mir also in
the Sunday Grand
Prix, bringing the
team's crash total
to an incredible 50
for the year.
