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.
