Marquez extends his lead over Martin, bringing the title closer for the Ducati rider, who could already be crowned champion in Qatar. Aprilia crashes out at Sepang.
Marc Marquez nearly swept the board at the Malaysian Grand Prix. After finishing second in the sprint race, he won the full-length race at Sepang. The reigning MotoGP champion dominated, making no mistakes and accomplishing his mission of scoring maximum points. With today's victory, he has extended his lead over absent rival Jorge Martin to 44 points in the overall standings. With three Grands Prix still to go, the Ducati rider is in an excellent position to claim the tenth world title of his career. He will have his first match point at next weekend's Qatar Grand Prix.
Malaysian GP: Acosta between the Marquez brothers, Aprilia beaten
Pedro Acosta claimed the second step on the podium. He spent ten laps behind Alex Marquez, then was unable to catch Marc, who was already around 1.7 seconds ahead when he was passed by his brother. The KTM rider can still be pleased with his result at Sepang: he got the most out of an RC16 that only he can bring to the very front of the field.
Alex Marquez completed the podium. He tried to take the fight to Marc at the start of the race, but eventually had to concede and settle for third place in the Malaysian GP. The best-placed Aprilia was Ai Ogura, who passed Marco Bezzecchi with three laps remaining and tried to close in on the Gresini team's number 73 Ducati. However, the Japanese rider was unable to launch an attack for a shot at the final podium spot.
Bezzecchi made a mistake on the final lap and was also passed by Enea Bastianini, who thereby put the Tech3 KTM in the top five. Behind the factory Aprilia rider were two more Italians: Luca Marini on a Honda and Fabio Di Giannantonio on the VR46 Ducati. Brad Binder and Franco Morbidelli rounded out the top 10. It was a disastrous race for Pecco Bagnaia, who finished just 13th today.
2026 MALAYSIAN MOTOGP, RACE RESULTS: FINAL STANDINGS AT SEPANG
2026 Malaysian MotoGP, Race results: final standings at Sepang
2026 MotoGP World Championship: updated rider and manufacturer standings
In addition to Marquez extending his lead over Martin and Bezzecchi in the riders' standings, Ducati has moved ahead of Aprilia in the manufacturers' championship. The Noale-based team risks losing both titles in a 2026 season that had seemed the perfect opportunity to secure its first-ever MotoGP world crown.
MOTOGP RIDERS' STANDINGS
- Marc Marquez 399 points
- Jorge Martin 355 points (-44)
- Marco Bezzecchi 332 points (-67)
- Pedro Acosta 295 points
- Ai Ogura 278 points
- Fabio Di Giannantonio 265
- Raul Fernandez 236
- Alex Marquez 197
- Pecco Bagnaia 173
- Enea Bastianini 134
- Fermin Aldeguer 125
- Brad Binder 118
- Luca Marini 117
- Fabio Quartararo 79
- Diogo Moreira 78
- Franco Morbidelli 65
- Johann Zarco 51
- Joan Mir 33
- Jack Miller 31
- Alex Rins 29
- Toprak Razgatlioglu 18
- Maverick Vinales 14
- Iker Lecuona 11
- Augusto Fernandez 6
- Pol Espargaro 5
- Somkiat Chantra 3
- Takaaki Nakagami 3
MOTOGP MANUFACTURERS' STANDINGS
- Ducati 537 points
- Aprilia 529 points
- KTM 348
- Honda 178
- Yamaha 105
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