Francesco Bagnaia described his battle with Jorge Martin as “fantastic” but admitted he “needs some help” to secure a third MotoGP crown.

Bagnaia claimed his tenth Grand Prix of the season in Malaysia and crossed the line three seconds ahead of Martin.

The Italian’s win ensures the title fight heads to the season finale, though the venue has yet to be confirmed.

24 points separate the duo and Martin’s best opportunity to wrap up the title is after the Sprint race.

Bagnaia and Martin battled hard for first and second place in the opening stages, producing several hard-fought and aggressive manoeuvres.

The product on display was the first significant on-track battle between the duo all season, but Bagnaia’s superior pace allowed the Torinese rider to compile a multi-second advantage come the end of the race.

“[It] was fantastic, because we fought hard, was quite aggressive but clean because we never touched.

“And I knew that after three, four laps if I was in front and pushing I could open this gap – not just for the pace, but also for the temperature of the tyres.

“So, I was able to set my pace, opening the gap. And after that I was just hoping that Enea and Marc were closing the gap to Jorge.

“But we know right now in the championship we [Martin and myself] are making the difference and it’s giving us the potential to open the gap.

“Even if he slowed down a bit, he still finished the same seven seconds to the third.”

Francesco Bagnaia will ‘need help’ at season finale

With Barcelona rumoured to be the season finale following the deadly flooding in Valencia, the factory Ducati rider admitted he would “need help” from his fellow riders.

The previous race in Barcelona was a carbon copy of this weekend’s events, with Bagnaia crashing out in the Sprint before winning the Grand Prix.

“We still have a chance,” he said.

““I crashed there in the sprint race when I had a one-second lead, even though I was trying to avoid any mistakes.

“It will be tricky; the conditions will be tougher compared to [May] because it will be cold. And two corners there are quite tricky: Turn 2 and Turn 5. It will be important to try to be competitive but still calm.

“We really need some help from others, because in case of a win he will finish second because we are in another level.

“But I will try to help everybody during the weekend to give my slipstream, so someone will follow.

“I know that in Barcelona also Aleix Espargaro will be strong and will help Jorge all weekend. I just need someone who will go in between me and him.” 

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Francesco Bagnaia produced a commanding MotoGP race win in Sepang, taking the championship fight to the season finale.

After winning a sensational on-track battle in the opening laps with Jorge Martin, both riders retained and settled for first and second-place spots, and they were in a world of their own over the rest of the field.

The penultimate Grand Prix of the season commenced, and Martin produced a carbon copy start to Saturday’s Sprint but went wide into Turn 1.

Bagnaia produced a switchback move as the Italian reclaimed the lead before a Turn 3 incident caused an early red flag before the race arrived at the first sector.

Jack Miller, Fabio Quartararo and Brad Binder had a calamitous three-bike incident. A high side from one of the riders caused the abrupt end of the Australian’s race to end first as he fell off his bike and collided right into Quartararo’s Yamaha, which compromised Binder’s race as a result.

Miller was sent to the medics for further checkups, but no serious injuries were reported before the race re-started as the Australian walked back to the paddock.

Bagnaia kept hold of his lead on the second attempt, but the factory Ducati rider lost his lead at Turn 6 to Martin before performing another switchback move.

Martin turned the bike underneath Bagnaia before the back straight and snatched the lead, but proceeded to go wide at the final Turn.

However, the Pramac rider had a sensational drive out of the final corner to accelerate past the factory Ducati rider and re-claim the lead.

An incredible battle between the championship protagonists ensued on laps 2 and 3, with the lead switching in at practically every Turn. The long-awaited on-track battle arrived, and it duly delivered.

The two GP24 Ducati riders squabbled and battled hard at the notoriously tricky overtaking spots, providing some of the best racing seen all year. Martin built a 29-point lead from Saturday’s Sprint race win but had the mentality of giving it his absolute all to claim the lead.

Bagnaia successfully regained the lead over Martin, and the Spaniard in second decided to hold fire and preserve tyres. On lap 5, Bagnaia formulated a 0.7s advantage, but the gap stretched to one second by the end of lap 6.

Gresini’s Marc Marquez rose to third place after the restart and witnessed the sensational Bagnaia and Martin on-track battle. The Spaniard never looked over the limit, but a crash at Turn 15 on lap 7 put him out of podium contention.

Franco Morbidelli retired from fourth spot earlier on lap 7 at the problematic Turn 9, which has caught multiple riders out throughout the weekend.

Both riders rejoined in 16th and 17th place to try and salvage points on the board. However, Joan Mir’s crash a few laps prior ended any chance of the Spaniard securing multiple points from all the riders retiring up to that point.

The leaders out front formulated a seven-second advantage over the rest of the field in the closing laps and produced some of the year’s best racing in the early stages.

Bagnaia had a 2.1s lead with four laps to go, and Martin closed the gap to 1.6s, which appeared to worry the Turin master out front.

It proved to be Bagnaia lapping uncharacteristically slower, and Martin sensed a late win charge, but the Spaniard opted to solidify second position after having a wobble at Turn 9 himself.

Bagnaia achieved his tenth Grand Prix win of the season and won by just over 3s ahead of his Pramac rival, but now 24 points separate the pair going into the season finale.

Bastianini solidified third place after Marquez’s early crash, but the Gresini outfit had one Marquez finish in fourth place and it belonged to younger brother Alex.

Pedro Acosta secured fifth for GasGas after a difficult day for KTM due to its incident with both riders early on.

Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins delivered sixth and eighth, to the delight of the struggling Yamaha team, with Maverick Vinales separating the duo to bring his Aprilia bike home in seventh.

Marco Bezzecchi finished in ninth for the VR46 Ducati team, while GasGas rider Augusto Fernandez rounded off the top ten to deliver one of his best results in MotoGP.

Johann Zarco delivered Honda’s best result of 11th and fended off a late and rapid charge from Marquez who recovered to 12th after his crash early on.

Aleix Espargaro settled for 13th place in his second to last outing in MotoGP, as the second Pramac rider of Franco Morbidelli finishing in 14th.

Luca Marini secured the final point-scoring position in 15th. Still, the last three riders belonged to the Trackhouse duo of Raul Fernandez and Lorenzo Savadori, with VR46 rider stand in Andrea Iannone wedged between in 17th.

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KTM Ajo’s Celestino Vietti took a commanding Malaysian Moto2 victory on his return from injury to clinch his third win of the campaign. 

Vietti led every lap of the race on his return from a broken collarbone after getting the jump off the line ahead of stand-in rider Jorge Navarro

The Italian took the lead of the race ahead of Ogura and the American Racing pair of Marcos Ramirez and Navarro into the first corner.

A crash in the early stages took Alberto Surra, who was replacing Fermin Aldeguer at Speed Up, out of the race alongside Senna Agius and Zonta van den Goorbergh.

Ramirez was able to overtake Ogura going into the penultimate corner of the first lap, restoring himself into second place. 

Race leader Vietti managed to pull a gap on the group behind, putting a second between himself and Ramirez on the first lap. 

The battle in the early stages was for the top five as Deniz Oncu was overtaken by Navarro after making a double save, while Jake Dixon forced his way through on Albert Arenas for seventh. 

Ramirez was able to close the gap on race leader Vietti and was briefly able to overtake the Italian after a mistake into Turn 1. 

The KTM Ajo rider was able to regain his lead, but the race became a battle between a group of five riders. 

Navarro looked to recover from his shaky start and overtook Izan Guevara for fourth, before then passing Ogura to reinstate himself amongst the podium positions. 

The polesitter continued on his road to recovery as he overtook teammate Ramirez for second as he hoped to hunt down Vietti for the lead. 

Positions continued to change in the top five, as Ogura passed Ramirez for third and Dixon was able to overtake teammate Guevara for fifth. 

As Navarro was chasing down Vietti for the lead, a technical issue for Ogura saw the world champion out of the race. 

Dixon momentarily dropped behind Ramirez after Ogura’s incident in front of him, but the Briton was able to regain the final podium spot with six laps to go. 

The podium positions remained locked with three laps remaining, but Guevara was still able to make progress as he overtook Ramirez for fourth. 

Tony Arbolino made quiet progress through the pack and was also able to overtake Ramirez to move into the top five. 

Dixon looked to have secured a podium place going onto the final lap of the race but believed that the race had finished, meaning the British rider rolled off and lost his podium place to teammate Guevara. 

It was KTM Ajo’s Vietti who crossed the line to take his third win of 2024 after leading every lap of the race. 

Valencian rider Navarro sealed an emotional second place as a stand-in rider for the American Racing team. 

Former Moto3 champion Guevara took his first podium in the Moto2 class after overtaking teammate Dixon on the final lap of the race. 

Arbolino crossed the line fifth behind the Aspar pairing, while Ramirez eventually finished sixth.

Oncu took seventh after struggling with the tyres late on in the race ahead of Aron Canet in eighth, who sealed second place in the championship with his result.

Somkiat Chantra was ninth narrowly clear of Diogo Moreira who completed the top ten. 

Manuel Gonzalez led Gresini teammate Arenas over the line in 11th and 12th respectively. 

Alonso Lopez finished a lowly 13th for SpeedUp ahead of Sergio Garcia in 14th.

Filip Salac was promoted to the final points position in 15th on the final lap following Jeremy Alcoba’s crash out of the race.

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Aspar’s David Alonso took a closely-fought win in the Malaysian Moto3 race to record his sixth straight win in the class. 

Alonso’s victory means that he has won 13 races in the 2024 Moto3 season and he continues to set records in the lightweight class.

Ivan Ortola made the most of a poor start from polesitter Adrian Fernandez to take the lead down into the first corner. 

David Almansa also had a stunning start, moving from ninth to second in the first corner before overtaking Ortola to head the pack.

World champion David Alonso and Dani Holgado were continuing to pressure the leading duo going onto the second lap, but remained stuck in position behind Almansa and Ortola. 

Holgado nearly made contact with Ortola when pushing for second and highsided out of the race to put his second place in the riders’ standings in jeopardy. 

The incident involving Holgado and Ortola forced Alonso to take avoiding action as the champion dropped down to 12th.

Polesitter Fernandez was then forced to retire whilst still in the leading group due to an engine failure. 

Joel Kelso moved to the front of the pack after overtaking Almansa, and was soon followed through by Taiyo Furusato who was making progress from 16th on the grid. 

Angel Piqueras joined teammate Fernandez in retiring from the race due to a technical problem, ending a miserable Sunday in Sepang for the Leopard team.

The engine woes continued for the Honda-supplied machines as Scott Ogden also pitted with an issue. 

Furusato, who was the sole Honda runner in the lead group, took the lead from Kelso with eight laps to go, but the Australian rider was able to recover his position on the main straight.

Kelso ran wide at Turn 4 which allowed both Furusato and Alonso through, though he was still able to rejoin in third. 

The leading pair were able to pull a slight gap on the duelling Ortola and Kelso, but Furusato still had firm control of the race with five laps to go. 

A moment for Furusato in the penultimate corner allowed Alonso to take the lead with three laps to go as the Colombian looked to extend his winning run. 

It appeared to be a seven-rider shootout with two laps remaining, as Ortola and Collin Veijer jostled for the final podium position. 

The fastest rider on circuit in the closing stages was Jose Antonio Rueda, as the KTM Ajo rider was able to breeze past Ortola and Veijer to seemingly steal the final podium place. 

There was immense pressure from Furusato which forced Alonso on the grass, but the battle for the lead would go right to the line.

The Colombian took the chequered flag to win his sixth race in a row in an emotional win for the Valencia-based Aspar team. 

Furusato crossed the line second, just 0.088s behind race winner Alonso. 

Rueda won out in the battle for third as he rounded out the podium behind the leading pair.

Ortola crossed the line in fourth, just under a tenth clear of Veijer in fifth, as one-time race leader Kelso took sixth ahead of Ryusei Yamanaka in seventh.

Stefano Nepa was eighth as he fended off a late charge from Matteo Bertelle in ninth, while Luca Lunetta rounded out the top ten. 

Almansa would cross the line in 11th, six seconds clear of Jacob Roulstone in 12th.

Filippo Farioli took the flag in 13th ahead of Xabi Zurutuza in 14th, while Tatchakorn Buasri rounded out the points finishers in 15th.

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Francesco Bagnaia says he “will go full send” to try and overcome Jorge Martin’s 29-point lead after his MotoGP Sprint race crash in Malaysia.

The double reigning champion is on the verge of relinquishing his throne to Martin after the Spaniard picked up the Sprint race victory.

If his rival wins the race on Sunday, Bagnaia must finish second to ensure the title goes to the season finale.

The Italian knows that it’s a challenging task but hopes that Ducati riders Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini can be competitive to help take points off Martin.

“I will go like always, full send,” he said to Crash.net.

“I will try to win. We know perfectly that the only negatives that I have is on the sprint races, because all the mistakes I did, all the lost points, are on Saturdays.

“This is a shame from my point of view, but Jorge was just better on the Saturdays this season and we have to say that he did a very good job there.

“But tomorrow I will go full send. I really hope Marc and Enea will find something to be close to us, because I think in the worst situation right now, Jorge will finish second, because we don’t have any rivals.

“But giving my maximum, winning the race will not be enough. So, we will need something more.”

Francesco Bagnaia explains his Sprint race crash

Bagnaia crashed out of proceedings on lap 3 at Turn 9 as his title rival Martin comfortably cruised to victory.

His crash was his fifth retirement of the season in the Sprint race format throughout the season.

Bagnaia shared his version of events which caused his inevitable retirement from the race.

“Honestly, I just – like already happened this season – told myself ‘Ok, I will brake a bit after to don’t risk’ and I crashed.

“This is not the first time it has happened. I entered that corner a bit slower, but I touched the bump in the apex of the corner and I lost the front.

“I did, I don’t know how many laps this weekend and over the years, and I touched it many, many, many times and never crashed.

“So, there is always a first time and it was not the right moment. But it’s something that, honestly, can happen.”

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Jorge Martin earned a commanding MotoGP Sprint victory in Malaysia to put one hand on the world title, as rival Francesco Bagnaia crashed out.

Martin’s pressure out front saw the double reigning world champion crash out of the Sprint in Sepang, which allowed the Pramac rider to extend his championship lead to 29 points. 

Martin’s Sprint victory means he can win the championship on Sunday’s main race should he outscore Bagnaia by nine points. 

Light rain started falling ahead of the race start, further increasing the tension before the Sprint had even begun. 

Martin got the jump off the line and was able to fend off polesitter Bagnaia into the first corner to take the lead of the Sprint.

Bagnaia had an out of the seat moment going into Turn 9 which allowed Marquez to close in on second place. 

Marquez looked the fastest of the leading trio, however the GP24 had the pace to pull away from the Gresini on the straight.

Bagnaia continued to push on in an attempt to break away from Marquez, setting the fastest lap going onto the third tour of the circuit. 

The Ducati rider pushed on, and a costly mistake from Bagnaia at Turn 9 saw him slide and crash out of the race, an incident that potentially sealed the fate of this year’s world championship. 

Pramac notified Martin that his nearest challenger had fallen out of contention, and the Spaniard dropped the hammer and pulled clear of Marquez in second. 

The closest battle on track was between the KTMs, with Jack Miller and Pedro Acosta resuming their battle for the final points positions in eighth and ninth. 

Acosta pursued Miller despite his GasGas machine smoking when hitting the curbs, but the rookie was still unable to pass the Australian for eighth. 

Martin continued to control the race and cruised to the line to take the victory and earn a championship point going into the main race on Sunday.

Marquez took the flag in second place, 0.913s behind Martin, after being unable to get on terms with his compatriot. 

Enea Bastianini rounded out the podium to provide some relief to the downbeat factory Ducati team.

Gresini’s Alex Marquez was fourth, finishing four seconds behind the podium finishers, while Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo took a welcome fifth. 

Franco Morbidelli was sixth ahead of a trio of KTMs led by Brad Binder in seventh, as Jack Miller was able to hold off Acosta for eighth place.

Marco Bezzecchi completed the top ten as Alex Rins trailed behind in 11th. 

Aleix Espargaro was 12th for Aprilia, ahead of Augusto Fernandez in 13th and teammate Maverick Vinales in 14th. 

Luca Marini led the Repsol Honda pair over the line in 15th, as team-mate Joan Mir took 16th. 

Takaaki Nakagami was 17th as he finished ahead of the Trackhouse of Raul Fernandez in 18th.

Andrea Iannone’s Grand Prix return saw him claim 19th in his first MotoGP sprint, while Lorenzo Savadori closed out the finishers in the 20th.

Johann Zarco retired from the race with a technical problem with three laps to go, while Bagnaia crashed out of second and did not finish the Sprint.

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Francesco Bagnaia produced a history-making MotoGP pole position lap around the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.

The double reigning MotoGP champion set the fastest-ever lap on two wheels around the Sepang streets and will start at the front for the upcoming Sprint and Grand Prix.

Jorge Martin produced a sensational 1.56.553s lap time after his first two runs to top the session. However, when the pressure was at its absolute highest, the Torinese rider responded by configuring a mesmerising 1.56.337s time attack.

Bagnaia decimated his lap time from 12 months ago by a mind-blowing 1.154s and gained 0.7s from his first run earlier in the session.

Gresini’s Alex Marquez will join the two title contenders on the front row after a late crash from the factory Ducati rider of Enea Bastianini.

Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli finished the session in fourth and splits the Marquez brothers with the older brother Marc Marquez behind in fifth.

Bastianini ended his session in sixth, while the third row of the grid will consist of KTM’s Jack Miller and the two Yamaha riders Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins.

Q1 graduates Brad Binder and Johann Zarco produced laps to put both riders in tenth and 11th spots with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales closing out the fourth row of the grid.

KTM veteran Binder and rookie Pedro Acosta battled once more in the first qualifying instalments for their heated battle to claim fifth place in the championship as the lead non-Ducati rider. This time, the South African edged out the Spaniard to progress through.

Acosta dropped to 13th in the closing seconds, and his final qualification place piled on the pressure after a difficult spell of form in the recent flyaway races. The rookie will have to work his way up the grid once more.

Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez secured 14th and 15th, respectively, but the latter’s more surprising feat was gaining a considerable advantage from his free practice times to start behind the GP23 Ducati rider.

Visible confusion ensued in the Aprilia garage when Aleix Espargaro arrived with four minutes to go. He opted to head back out on his spare bike but could not pull off a Q2 qualification spot, and therefore, will start the upcoming races in 16th.

Andrea Iannone came within touching distance of reaching the top two to secure a Q2 place, but a marginal last-corner slip-up cost the Italian dearly and will start in 17th place.

As Zarco became the sole Honda rider to reach Q2, his team-mate Takaaki Nakagami and the Repsol Honda duo of Luca Marini and Joan Mir will start 18th-20th on the grid.

The final two riders in the final classification were Augusto Fernandez and Lorenzo Savadori.

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Francesco Bagnaia maintained his strong showing from Friday’s practice to finish at the top of the charts once again in the final MotoGP Malaysia practice session.

The double reigning MotoGP champion continued to dominate proceedings at the Malaysian Grand Prix as the Italian posted the fastest lap time of 1.58.658s.

The closing stages of the session saw Bagnaia and the incumbent championship leader Jorge Martin playing consistent mind games with each other.

Though the Pramac rider rounded off the session in second place and finished as Bagnaia’s closest challenger, a multiple-lap stint saw both riders bin off their best lap times to ensure neither rider gained an advantage heading into the qualifying session.

Martin’s last three runs, in particular, saw the Spaniard lapping faster than Bagnaia’s best lap but chose to abort in case Bagnaia discovered ways to gain any advantage with the data presented to him.

The two 2024 title contenders dominated the session’s screen time, but Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo rounded off a place in the top three to continue the Japanese marque’s strong showings this weekend.

Rookie Pedro Acosta produced a late lap to snatch fourth spot, ahead of Maverick Vinales and Jack Miller.

Marc Marquez placed his year-old Gresini bike in seventh, with the second Yamaha rider of Alex Rins not far off the pace the Ducati rider.

The GP24 Ducati duo of Enea Bastianini and Franco Morbidelli closed out the top ten positions before, with neither rider no match to their respective team-mates.

Marco Bezzecchi established 11th spot ahead of the younger brother Alex Marquez in 12th, while Augusto Fernandez recorded 13th place for GasGas amid a late crash at Turn 9.

Aleix Espargaro finished in 14th as the second leading Aprilia rider, ten places below his team-mate Vinales.

Takaaki Nakagami and Raul Fernandez followed close to the Aprilia rider to claim 15th and 16th spots.

Johann Zarco finished in 17th for LCR Honda, ahead of factory KTM rider Brad Binder and Repsol Honda rider Joan Mir.

Luca Marini closed out 20th spot and finished as the final full-time rider on the final classification as the Italian outpaced fellow countryman Andrea Iannone and Lorenzo Savadori.

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It has been reported that Dorna will reconsider its original plans to race in Valencia for the 2024 MotoGP season finale, as the promoter will look at alternative racetracks.

Discussions are taking place at Sepang on the Friday of the Malaysian Grand Prix to formulate a conclusion for the 2024 championship.

Dorna and the FIM are set to perform a U-turn on its initial idea of still planning to host the season finale at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

Reportedly, at least 158 people are known to have died, and over 1,000 troops have been deployed to assist with the rescue operation.

Francesco Bagnaia stated earlier in the day that he wouldn’t be “prepared to race in Valencia” after the deadly floods had a devastating impact on the Valencia region.

The double-reigning champion stated: “It depends on where it is held, because I don’t think it is fair in any case for it to be held in Valencia,” he told the Italian media after the second practice session.

“I sincerely hope that they will take into consideration the fact that, on an ethical level and given what is happening, it is not the right thing to do.

“Even at the cost of losing my ultimate goal, which is to win the title, I am not prepared to race in Valencia.”

Autosport reports that MotoGP is looking at four alternative tracks as a requisite replacement: Qatar, Jerez, Barcelona, and Portimao are all in consideration.

Qatar has a scheduled slot with Formula 1 from 29th November to 1st December, meaning a European host is more likely the week before, from 24th to 26th November, one week after the original season finale slot.

MotoGP’s current title battle between Jorge Martin and Bagnaia could go to the season’s final race as the Spaniard holds a 17-point advantage at the top of the standings.

MotoGP released the statement below:

“MotoGP stands with the Community of Valencia following the devastating floods that have affected the area. Our hearts are with all those who have been lost and those who have lost so much.

“We have been in constant contact with the local authorities and the circuit to best assess how we can help and how we should proceed. We have a responsibility to every region where we race that goes far beyond the sport and the events.

“After carefully weighing up the potential positive impact of MotoGP racing in Valencia on delayed dates versus ensuring no single resource is diverted from the recovery efforts by the presence of MotoGP, the championship and local authorities have been obliged to cancel the 2024 Valencia GP.

“In lieu of racing in Valencia, MotoGP will instead race for Valencia. The championship will put our collective efforts behind backing the relief funds already in place to ensure our positive impact can connect with the area in the way it best serves the people and communities we have been part of for so long.

“Our efforts will begin during the Malaysian GP and continue at the final round of 2024, with a new venue and dates to be announced as soon as confirmed.

“Fans around the world, our athletes, and paddock deserve a sporting finale to the 2024 season, and one that can make a key contribution to supporting the communities we race in.

“Any further information regarding the season finale will be confirmed as soon as possible.”

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Double reigning MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia has revealed he isn’t “prepared” to race at Valencia for the season finale if it goes ahead as scheduled.

Deadly floods have affected the city of Valencia and its surrounding areas, impacting the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

The 2024 MotoGP season is set to conclude in Valencia on 15th-17th November. However, this date appears to be in doubt due to the damage caused to the city and the track’s infrastructure.

Autosport and Sky Italy report that MotoGP still plans to hold the Grand Prix in Valencia, though it could be delayed by a week.

Bagnaia released a strong statement in his debrief on Friday regarding his views on the matter.

“It depends on where it is held, because I don’t think it is fair in any case for it to be held in Valencia,” he told the Italian media.

“I sincerely hope that they will take into consideration the fact that, on an ethical level and given what is happening, it is not the right thing to do.

“Even at the cost of losing my ultimate goal, which is to win the title, I am not prepared to race in Valencia.

“I very much hope that they will take into consideration the fact that on an ethical level and with what is happening it is not the right thing to do.” 

Both Dorna and the FIM are expected to make statements later on Friday.

Francesco Bagnaia’s mentality remains the same

The factory Ducati rider has clarified that he would not race in Valencia if it goes as planned. Still, his mentality has not changed, considering the precarious situation in which the championship now finds itself.

The Torinese rider is 17 points behind Jorge Martin in the standings and has had a positive Friday so far, topping the timesheets in both practice sessions in Sepang.

“Honestly no,” he said. “I know that the important thing is to win, I have to win in any case, so for me the objective is that one, and I wanted to start well, I wanted to work well, and try to be constant and competitive in every situation.

“It’s from Assen that I was not leading both [Friday] sessions, and it’s the second time in my career, so this is great but we have to be focused on this race weekend and try to do the maximum.”

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