Much like the previous two days, conditions at the Sepang International Circuit for the 19th round of the 2026 MotoGP™ Championship were among the most challenging of the season. Track temperatures had climbed to 55 degrees come the start time of the race at 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), while the humidity stood at 47%.

The 20-lap race also threw up other challenges. The soaring temperatures meant tyre wear was high and needed careful attention, while the track surface was also far from ideal.

Aware he was let down by his start in Saturday’s Sprint, Bastianini worked with his crew ahead of Sunday morning to get a better launch in front of a record-breaking crowd. The hard work paid off as the Italian jumped from seventh to fourth at the first corner before a mistake at Turn 6 dropped him to sixth.

From there, ‘La Bestia’ was unable to run the pace of the lead group of five. But as the laps passed, he gradually gained on Marco Bezzecchi ahead. When his compatriot ran off track at Turn 14 on the final lap, Bastianini was on hand to claim fifth, his second-best Grand Prix result of the season. A successful points-scoring weekend now moves the Italian into the Top 10 of the Riders’ Championship standings.

Starting from a season’s best qualifying of twelfth, Viñales had a tricky start and dropped back to P20 on lap one. But ‘Top Gun’ was determined to make the finish, despite feeling a lack of grip in the hot conditions. The Spaniard continued gaining positions as the race wore on and scored two points from P14 as the chequered flag fell.

There’s little rest for Tech3 after a successful Malaysian Grand Prix. The third round in as many weeks kicks off in just five days’ time with the Grand Prix of Qatar at the Lusail International Circuit running from 6 – 8 November. 

Enea Bastianini: “We worked during the night to try something different, and this morning my start was already better in the Warm Up, and we demonstrated it during the race. It was a bit risky to brake on the kerb at Turn 1, but it was the only solution to be close to the top at the end of Turn 1. I was in fourth position at Turn 6, but I braked late and went wide, and from there I lost some positions. I tried to stay with them, but it was complicated. I suffered like yesterday with the front, but I fought a lot during this race, I saved the bike probably 20 times. Anyway, we can be satisfied. It’s been great work, because yesterday I wasn’t confident of doing a great race like that. Turn 14 on the last lap was a bit like Christmas, a small gift. P6 to P5 doesn’t change a lot, but anyway, it’s better. Now we have Qatar, so I’m looking ahead to that.”

Maverick Viñales: “We managed to finish the race today and get some points, so that's a positive. The race was not so bad but overall, I found it hard to get a good feeling on the bike. We just keep trying to analyse, learn and improve with the team. I still haven’t figured out how to ride the bike quite right, because I feel very low grip and it’s so difficult to make a correct line. Over 20 laps it was tough for sure. After a few laps I started to brake a little bit differently, but the shoulder needs load, so it’s what we expected coming into today. I hope I can recover between these two races. Qatar will feel totally different, but maybe it can be a place where I can start to learn a little bit more."

Nicolas Goyon, Team Manager: “Well, a pretty good result here in Sepang, with a strong P5 in the main race. We knew yesterday, after the disappointing Sprint, that Enea was able to do much better than this, and the work through the night has paid off. Congratulations to Enea, he delivered a solid race with a really great start, where he was already P4 at the first corner, and he fought all through the race with some decent lap times. In the end, it's P5 and Enea is now inside the Top 10 in the championship, which is ultimately his target. So, good job from Enea's side.

"On the other half of the garage, I know it's been a tricky weekend for Maverick. Yesterday he struggled to finish the Sprint, but I'd like to thank him for his effort today. I know he wants more, but at the moment that's all he can get, and in the end it is P14 and we take these two good points for the championship. We hope that Maverick can fight for higher positions in the near future. Now it's time for everyone to pack, and we're going to head to Doha for the next race next week in Qatar."