Malaysian MotoGP tyre gamble backfires for two favourites
Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi both blamed their tyre choice for their tough Malaysian MotoGP races.
It was expected before the Malaysian MotoGP race that rear tyre choice would be an important factor in deciding the result, since the soft-compound rear tyre could face a large drop in performance in the last part of the race, while the medium-compound option was much slower but more consistent.
In the end, everyone on the MotoGP grid went with the soft rear, but on the front there were some different choices, as some riders chose the medium-compound instead of the more popular soft.
One of these riders was Luca Marini, who finished eighth and said afterwards that his race was ruined from the first lap when a mistake at turn four cost him track position.
“I did a very good start,” Marini told MotoGP.com after the race in Sepang, “but then in turn four I didn’t put second gear, I stayed in third gear, so Joan [Mir] and Johann [Zarco] overtook me again.
“Then I was stuck behind Zarco, and he did a fantastic race because he closed everything, didn’t let me pass anywhere.
“He was clever to let the guys in front go away to have fresh air in front so he could control the pressure of the front tyre like this, and also the temperature of the engine.
“For myself, I was trying to pass him every lap and I was stuck behind him, but after six or seven laps the temperature of everything raised up a lot. It was a really difficult race.”
Marini added that his alternative choice of front tyre was a possible factor in the difficulties he faced in Sepang.
“Maybe I did a wrong choice on the front tyre because, especially with this hot temperature on the track, the medium [compound front tyre] was not working, it was just lacking a lot of grip on the edge and there was no turning,” the Honda HRC rider explained.
“So, every corner I was going in and I was understeering every time.
“It was really difficult to ride, I was not comfortable. So, just this compromised a little bit my result at the end of the race.”
Bezzecchi “not able to overtake”
Marini’s choice of the medium-compound front tyre was taken also by two some other riders on the grid, most notably Francesco Bagnaia and Marco Bezzecchi, although Alex Rins, Augusto Fernandez, Lorenzo Savadori, Michele Pirro and Raul Fernandez also made the same choice.
Bagnaia picked up a rear tyre puncture on lap 12 that compromised the final part of his race and ultimately ended in a retirement on lap 18, but before that he was holding second place ahead of Pedro Acosta with a margin of around one second to Alex Marquez.
For Bezzecchi, on the other hand, the experience was much more similar to Marini’s, as he sat just outside the top-10 for almost the whole race, unable to make progress, before ultimately finishing 11th after passing Zarco late on and following retirements for Fermin Aldeguer and the aforementioned Bagnaia.
“It was a super-tough race,” Bezzecchi concluded, speaking to MotoGP.com.
“I have to say that yesterday my feeling was a bit better, but today with even more hot conditions we decided to go with the medium [compound front tyre] that was, in our thoughts, the best option because of the temperature.
“But I wasn’t able to use it in the best way possible and unfortunately I wasn’t able to overtake, I wasn’t able to ride in a smooth way.
“So, I got in trouble pretty soon in the race and it was a really tough one for this.
“Super-sorry for this, because I think we deserve a little bit more, but it was all the weekend that we’ve been struggling so we achieved the maximum that we could and now we think about the next one.”
In this article
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
With a sharp eye for F1’s controversies and storylines, Connor is the heartbeat of our unbiased reporting.
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
Joining Crash.net in 2021 as an Editor for the Indonesian Edition, Derry oversees most of the Indonesian articles on the site.
Rachit joined the Crash.net team in 2025 with a primary focus on F1 and sportscar racing.
He previously served as a news editor at Motorsport.com, where he played a key role in the day-to-day editorial operations.
