the waiting game, believing
his stronger rhythm would tell
late on. Yet, just when his mind
switched to thoughts regarding
the later laps, he was sliding on
his backside toward the gravel
at turn nine.
"I told myself to not risk, but I
touched the bump in the apex of
the corner, and I lost the front,"
he said. "It's not the first time
that happened."
Team Manager Davide Tar-
dozzi's face soon after spoke of
the general
mood: Bagnaia was
in the process of relinquishing
his crown. And while Marquez
made a good go of it, Martin
was always in control from
there, winning by nine-tenths of
MOTOGP SPRINT
A Sprint success in Thailand
meant Martin could follow Bag-
naia home in the five remaining
encounters and still be champion.
But he was determined to take
initiative in the Sprint, and did so
by executing his start perfectly
to lead into turn one, with Marc
Marquez sitting behind in third.
Having attempted a move
at turn 15 on lap one, Bagnaia
decided to hold tight and play
garo (Aprilia Racing) and Raul
Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia)
complaining of excessive heat
coming off their RS-GPs, which
drained all energy from them.
Yet Maverick Vinales (Aprilia
Racing) saved some face with
a solid seventh, ahead of Alex
Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha)
in a season-best eighth, Marco
Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati) in ninth
and Augusto Fernandez (Tech3
KTM) in 10th.
Martin (485 points) now has
some clear breathing space,
with his lead up to 24 points
over Bagnaia (461). Marquez
(369) is now occupied in a fight
for third with Bastianini (368),
one point behind.
ROUND 19 / NOVEMBER 1-3, 2024
SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, MALAYSIA
ROAD RACE I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P74
Franco Morbidelli (21) was toward
the front early on but faded to 14th
in the Sunday GP. Quartararo (20), on
the other hand, rode superbly after
his crash to take sixth. Alex Marquez
follows Enea Bastianini (23), finishing
fourth and third, respectively.
