Ducati Lenovo's Italian rider Francesco Bagnaia takes a corner during the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix motorcycle race at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang on Sunday. Picture: MOHD RASFAN / AFP
Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia won the Malaysian MotoGP on Sunday to extend his world championship lead over title-holder Fabio Quartararo to 23 points with one race to go.
Bagnaia held off fellow Ducati Italian Enea Bastianini by 0.270 seconds in Sepang with Frenchman Quartararo in third, which means the title fight will go to the final race in Valencia in two weeks’ time.
With a maximum of 25 points available, Quartararo will have to win in Spain and hope Bagnaia finishes no higher than 15th.
Bagnaia is trying to become the first Italian since the legendary Valentino Rossi to become the premier class champion. The last of Rossi’s seven premier class title came in 2009.
Brad Binder, who started from 13th on the grid, eighth place finish was not enough to keep the Red Bull KTM rider in sixth place in the world championship. He earned eighth points in Sepang in move up to 168 points, trailing Jack Miller (189), who finished sixth to earn 10 points, by 21 points.
Miller, who joins Binder at KTM in MotoGP next season, fell out of the points places altogether after a horror start to fight his way back up the field.
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Bagnaia started 12th on the grid in Sepang and made a blistering start to see him move up to second on the first lap behind pole sitter Jorge Martin.
The dynamics of the race changed on the seventh lap when Martin crashed out, allowing the Ducati rider to charge into first with Bastianini hot on his tail. His countryman did overtake him briefly on lap 10, only for Bagnaia to regain the lead shortly thereafter.
It was Bagnaia’s seventh win of the season and his 11th overall in MotoGP. The 2018 Moto2 world champion has 21 wins across all classes.
Brad Binder’s younger brother Darryn Binder, retired on lap 11. The Yamaha rider made a great start to the race after starting from 24th on the grid and was lying in 11th place in one stage before losing a few places and eventually crashing out.
– Additional reporting by AFP
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