2025 Malaysian MotoGP: Alex Marquez dominates, Pecco Bagnaia retires
Alex Marquez dominated a sweltering Malaysian Grand Prix
Gresini’s Alex Marquez dominated the 2025 MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix for his third win of the season, as Pecco Bagnaia retired from a podium late on with a technical issue.
Securing runner-up spot in the championship on Saturday in the sprint, the Gresini Ducati rider said he could contest the grand prix without any pressure.
He duly snatched the lead early on in the 20-lap race on Sunday afternoon at Sepang and cleared off into the distance to dominate by 2.676s.
He gets his third grand prix win of the season ahead of KTM’s Pedro Acosta, while Honda’s Joan Mir completed the podium.
Factory Ducati rider Pecco Bagnaia was on course to finish third, but retired on lap 18 of 20 due to a technical issue on his GP25.
Bagnaia seized the lead from pole at the start of the race ahead of Acosta and Alex Marquez.
Marquez took second from Acosta at Turn 4 on the opening lap to begin pressuring Bagnaia in the lead.
At the same place on lap two, Marquez made his move for the lead on Bagnaia.
Acosta then put Bagnaia under attack at Turn 4 on the third tour, though the Ducati rider retaliated with a bold response at the Turn 5 left-hander.
This squabble allowed Marquez to build a lead of almost a second, though that gap wouldn’t grow for a while.
With all riders on the soft rear, managing rubber was crucial to success on Sunday afternoon.
Marquez began to break away around lap 13, as he moved 1.5s clear of the chasing pack, while Bagnaia came under serious pressure from Acosta.
Acosta overtook Bagnaia at Turn 11 on that tour to move into second, with Bagnaia quickly fading away.
Marquez continued to extend his advantage at the front, with the Gresini rider 2.676s up the road at the chequered flag.
Acosta was comfortable in second, with his position secured on lap 18 when Bagnaia pulled up with a technical issue.
This promoted Honda’s Mir up to third, after he’d worked his way to fourth from seventh on the grid in the early stages of the race.
Franco Morbidelli was fourth on the VR46 Ducati ahead of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, while Fabio Di Giannantonio was sixth on the sister VR46 Ducati.
Enea Bastianini came from 19th on the grid to seventh on the Tech3 KTM, with Luca Marini (Honda), Brad Binder (KTM) and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse) rounding out the top 10.
Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi made little inroads from 14th on the grid, with the Italian 11th at the chequered flag ahead of LCR’s Johann Zarco, Yamaha’s Alex Rins, Pramac’s Jack Miller and LCR’s Somkiat Chantra.
Augusto Fernandez was second-to-last in 18th on the Yamaha V4, 47.060s off the lead.
Pramac’s Miguel Oliveira finished last after a late crash, while Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer, Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez and Tech3’s Pol Espargaro all fell out of the grand prix.
Full 2025 MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix results
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