The problem for Bagnaia was
Martin maintained the cool facade
he's worn in recent weeks in the sti-
fling Malaysian heat. The Spaniard
was almost a match for the Italian,
as they laid waste to the rest of the
field across a weekend high in ten
-
sion. Bagnaia defeated his adver-
sary in a memorable qualifying, se-
curing an astonishing pole position,
a full nine-tenths of a second clear
of third. But Martin responded bril-
liantly in the Sprint, leading from
the start and forcing his rival into a
critical mistake. At no point did he
look anything but comfortable as
the center of attention, a contrast
to the previous year.
The tension was alleviated by
relief minutes after the race was red-
flagged when Alex Marquez (Gresini
Ducati) tagged the back of Brad
Binder (Red Bull KTM) at turn two,
pushing Binder into Fabio Quartararo
(Monster Energy Yamaha) and Jack
Miller. Even though Miller's helmet
made contact with the Yamaha's
rear tire and he was then run over
by Joan Mir's Honda, the Australian
was miraculously unharmed.
A restart was scheduled for 19
laps. And while the two title con
-
tenders had refused to engage in
bickering in the lead up to Sunday,
they showed just what was at
stake in a dizzying opening ex-
change. Desperate for clean air in
stifling temperatures of 35 degrees
(95°F) for overheating front tires,
Bagnaia and Martin went to war
in a breathless opening three laps
when the lead changed hands 11
times.
Martin had said on Saturday
he'd sit behind his adversary and
collect points if necessary. But the
Spaniard showed his determination
VOLUME ISSUE NOVEMBER , P71
to get stuck in when Bagnaia got
the jump into turn one, making
a glorious pass at turn six, only
to run wide. The lead changed
hands four times through turns
14 and 15, and five times on lap
two, with the pair nearly coming
together exiting turn 15. Again,
Bagnaia took control starting lap
three, only for Martin's attempts
at turn four and five to result in a
lead that was short-lived.
we made a step forward, and this is
my best result with Yamaha so far.
Honestly, since Saturday, I was feel-
ing quite good on the bike. We were
unlucky with this red flag. I did an
unbelievable start, and I was fighting
with Marc Marquez. In the restart, I
tried to give it my all again, I tried to
control the tires as much as possible.
We still need to improve tire preser-
vation, but we are working in a good
way.
37 PEDRO ACOSTA
9TH/5TH MOTOGP
Pedro Acosta was happy with fifth in
the GP but wanted more. "A strong
race but not enough," he said. "I lost
time overtaking other riders at the be-
ginning, and if I was a bit more on the
pace then I could have been closer to
fourth. The front-tire temperature was
high, and it was tough to manage. I
did not want to put the race in the bin
for nothing. Happy enough. It was
important to finish the race."
MYOWNRACE
