{"id":12927,"date":"2026-11-01T09:58:57","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T09:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=12927"},"modified":"2026-11-01T09:58:57","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T09:58:57","slug":"marquez-wins-malaysian-grand-prix-to-close-in-on-retaining-championship-motorsports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=12927","title":{"rendered":"Marquez wins Malaysian Grand Prix to close in on retaining championship | Motorsports"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Marc Marquez takes 44-point lead over Jorge Martin and can seal the MotoGP title in Qatar next weekend.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Published On 1 Nov 2026<\/span>1 Nov 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Reigning \u200cMotoGP champion Marc Marquez has won the Malaysian Grand Prix to \u2060take a 44-point lead over absent title rival Jorge Martin in the championship and inch closer to retaining his title.<\/p>\n

The Ducati rider shot out of the blocks and beat his brother Alex, the pole-sitter, into the \u2060opening turn on Sunday in Sepang.<\/p>\n

Alex Marquez was able to quickly regain the lead but ran wide a turn later to hand it back, and his brother made no mistakes from that point on to claim \u2060the chequered flag for the first \u2060time since 2018.<\/p>\n

Victory moved seven-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez up to 399 points in the championship standings, 44 ahead of Martin, who did not compete after suffering a wrist fracture.<\/p>\n

If Marc Marquez is able to extend his lead to 74 points at next week\u2019s Qatar Grand Prix, he could seal an eighth championship title \u200cwith two rounds remaining in the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did a perfect race, so I\u2019m super, super happy,\u201d said the winner, who won the race by more than four seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut my mentality still cannot change. I have to keep focus, keep pushing. There are not many races to go, but there are many moments left. So we must be super confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s sprint winner, Pedro Acosta of KTM, finished second while Gresini\u2019s Alex Marquez was third.<\/p>\n

After losing the lead \u2060to his brother, Alex Marquez was drawn into a duel with Acosta, \u2060who stuck to the wheel of the Gresini rider for several laps before expertly overtaking him at the midway point of the race.<\/p>\n

By then, however, the distance to the leader had already grown too large to overcome.<\/p>\n

Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi, \u2060an outside contender for the title, finished in sixth place after being overtaken late by both Trackhouse rider Ai Ogura and Tech3\u2019s Enea Bastianini.<\/p>\n

Marc Marquez\u2019s main title rival, Martin, had initially looked set to return \u2060in Malaysia and briefly tried to compete in Saturday morning\u2019s practice session.<\/p>\n

However, the Aprilia rider was visibly struggling and eventually did not take part in qualifying, ending his weekend early to continue his recovery from the fracture he sustained in a crash \u200cat Phillip Island, Australia, last week.<\/p>\n

The Spaniard, who won the title in 2024, conceded that his MotoGP title challenge was essentially over after his withdrawal.<\/p>\n

The MotoGP season next moves to the Lusail International \u200cCircuit \u200cfor the Qatar Grand Prix, which is set to go ahead next weekend despite pushback from riders concerned about going there during the United States-Israel war on Iran.<\/p>\n

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Ducati\u2019s Spanish rider Marc Marquez holds a Spanish flag as he finishes first at the Malaysian Grand Prix [Mohd Rasfan\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Marc Marquez takes 44-point lead over Jorge Martin and can seal the MotoGP title in Qatar next weekend. Published On 1 Nov 20261 Nov 2026 Reigning \u200cMotoGP champion Marc Marquez has won the Malaysian Grand Prix to \u2060take a 44-point lead over absent title rival Jorge Martin in the championship and inch closer to retaining…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t