VOLUME ISSUE NOVEMBER , P59
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
T
he man who has ruled
MotoGP for so long took
another definitive step
towards an eighth premier-
class title and his 10th GP title
in Malaysia, as Marc Marquez
(Lenovo Ducati) took a second
place in the Sprint and victory
in the Sunday GP to inflict a
near-fatal championship blow to
Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing).
It's been a week from heaven
for the number 93 after Martin
crashed out of the Australian
Sprint race a week ago, fractur-
ing his right wrist. Martin at-
tempted to ride in Malaysia, but
the pain proved too great and the
deficit to the world's fastest rid-
ers insurmountable, the number
89 pulling out of the weekend's
riding before the Sprint and all
but conceding the championship
to his compatriot Marquez.
The Spaniard did just eight
laps in FP2 before realizing
he didn't have the strength or
endurance to challenge for any
significant result in Malaysia.
"I tried my best to ride. I felt I
could ride with almost no pain
but for maybe one lap. After that
I started to have a lot of pain. I
couldn't be constant. Watching
the lap times and my perfor-
mance, we decided to stop."
He traveled back to Spain
on Saturday to resume intense
physiotherapy. His aim is to
try again next week. "We have
Qatar next week and my target
is to go there." Plus, he admitted
he has already given up on the
championship. "Maybe I can win
it, but for me it's already lost. For
sure I will fight until the end."
Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM)
made sure it wasn't a com-
plete Marquez whitewash in
the Sprint as he took his first
"real" short race win, defeating
Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi
(Aprilia Racing), and this time
not having the race handed to
him by the stewards as he did in
Thailand.
The relentless
force that is
Marc Marquez
now has one
hand and
four fingers
on the 2026
MotoGP World
Championship
after a victory
in the 2026
Malaysian
MotoGP.
