Sepang (Malaysia) (AFP) – Spaniard Marc Marquez on the handlebars of his Ducati came significantly closer to an eighth MotoGP world title on Sunday after his clear victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix, taking advantage of the absence of his rival Jorge Martin (Aprilia) with a fractured wrist.

Published on: 01/11/2026 - 10:51 Modified on: 01/11/2026 - 13:33

Marc Marquez thus won his seventh Grand Prix of the year, far ahead of Pedro Acosta (KTM) and his younger brother Alex Marquez (Ducati-Gresini), who partly protected his elder from the danger represented by the Italian Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), third in the general classification and 6th at the finish.

Marquez now has 399 points, while Madrilenian Martin, who was withdrawn after breaking the radius of his right wrist in Australia last weekend, scored no points and remains stuck at 355 points.

The leader could in theory be crowned at the next GP in Qatar next weekend.

But will it take place? This depends on the evolution of the military and security situation in the Middle East, against a backdrop of mutual threats from American President Donald Trump and Iran.

Yamaha boycotts Qatar

Without delay, the Yamaha factory team and its Pramac satellite team will boycott this 20th round, a decision announced with a bang by the Japanese group and confirmed by Pramac's Australian rider, Jack Miller: "I don't want to go. Like everyone else. There are 19 of us (out of 22) who don't want to go there," he told the press.

It thus brought to light the very strong tensions between the paddock and the organizing and regulatory authorities of international motorcycling, taking into account the financial and insurance issues.

MotoGP said it was “disappointed” by Yamaha’s decision.

There will be two final meetings at the end of November in Portugal and Valencia (Spain).

Each weekend there are 37 points to be gleaned in the event of victory in the sprint on Saturday (12 pts) and in the Sunday GP (25 points).

Marc Marquez needs to collect 30 more points than Martin next weekend to be crowned an eighth time in the premier category, and a tenth time in all categories combined.

In Malaysia, the Catalan driver was delighted with “a perfect race”.

“Stay focused”

“But we have to remain hyper-focused,” he tempered upon his arrival at the parc ferme, exhausted like the other drivers due to the heat and humidity in this South-East Asian country, where the Sepang circuit reopened in October to Formula 1 to host the Bahrain GP.

“There are not many races left, but a lot of moments,” noted Marc Marquez, without knowing if the Qatar GP will take place and if Jorge Martin, world champion in 2024, will be reinstated.

In Sepang, the Marquez brothers started on the front row, Alex on pole, for the 20 laps of a 5,543 km circuit that Marc completed in 40 minutes 14 seconds and 236 thousandths, ahead of Acosta by more than four seconds.

At 33 years old, with top speeds of 360 km/h, he led from start to finish and flew over the race.

Japanese Ai Ogura on an Aprilia from the private Trackhouse team finished fourth after a final battle with Bezzecchi on the factory Aprilia.

The tempestuous Italian, third in the standings with 332 points, left fifth place in the race to his compatriot Enea Bastianini (KTM-Tech3) by making a driving error at the sight of the checkered flag.

The Frenchman Johann Zarco (Honda-LCR) retired and his compatriot Fabio Quartararo finished 11th, scoring five small points, almost 26 seconds behind the winner. Quartararo, MotoGP world champion in 2021, will leave Yamaha at the end of the season to join Honda.

© 2026 AFP

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