MotoGP Sprint
Out of the top 10 on Friday, few
predicted Bagnaia's rise through
Q1 to pole on Saturday morn-
ing. That was just for starters.
The Italian risked
everything in
turn one to ensure he had that
crucial clean air on his front tire.
And much like his success in
Japan, his run to the top spot
was, in truth, helped by events
behind.
Knowing second would seal
the runner-up spot in the cham
-
pionship behind brother Marc,
Alex was beset by
nerves on
the bike. Still feeling pain in
the neck after two Friday spills,
he lacked front-end feel and
showed little interest in chasing
Bagnaia down once he passed
Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM) on
the second lap of the Sprint.
The pesky Spaniard was
hungrier than ever in Malaysia,
but Acosta had little to offer the
Ducatis on Saturday. Soon he
was looking over his shoulder as
Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati)
rocketed into view after a lousy
first lap when he dropped to
seventh. Aldeguer eased to third
three laps from the flag, with
Acosta bemused by his RC16's
performance. "It wasn't that he
was coming so fast; it was more
that I was so slow," he quipped.
Not to worry. Soon after,
Aldeguer was penalized eight
seconds for failing to comply
with the right front-tire pressure
rule. That dropped him to sev
-
enth, but it was still enough for
him to
wrap up the Rookie of the
Year award. Acosta's consola
-
tion was a sixth Sprint podium
of
the year.
VOLUME 62 ISSUE 43 OCTOBER 28, 2025 P67
It also promoted Franco Mor-
bidelli (VR46 Ducati) to fourth
and
Fabio Quartararo (Monster
Energy Yamaha) to fifth. Marco
Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) re-
covered brilliantly from 14th on
the grid to
come home sixth.
"I'm super happy," Marquez
said of clinching second behind
his brother in the champion
-
ship. "The emotions were there
the pace. With Joan Mir, I was riding
defensively. I tried to close everything
and be as fast as possible. At one
moment, Franky overtook me quite
aggressively in the last corner—it's
racing, so it's normal—but after that I
had to slow down. Finishing [be-
tween] fifth-seventh was the goal for
today, so I'm quite happy."
42 ALEX RINS
15TH/13TH MOTOGP
"We have been struggling since FP1
this weekend, and it looks like when
grip levels are low and temperatures
are high, it affects us more than the
others," said Alex Rins of his 13th
in Sunday's MotoGP race. "So, we
were expecting a really tough race.
In the beginning, I could have gone
faster than I did. The problem was
that I was thinking about the end of
the race. Maybe this smooth riding on
the first seven laps, losing positions,
allowed me to stay in P13 in the last
laps. So, it was a tough weekend, but
we need to keep going."
MYOWNRACE
