And the overseas tour is a wrap for 2025, as the Grand Prix of Malaysian was our final stop in Asia before the championship heads back to Europe for the two final rounds of the season in Portugal and Valencia. Enea Bastianini delivered another stunning performance in the main race, as he fought his way to the 7th position after starting from P19, another stunning remontada from the Italian. Unfortunately, Pol Espargaro will leave Sepang with a bittersweet feeling, after the Spaniard crashed in lap 5 despite showing solid early pace.

Grand Prix of Malaysia

Some of the toughest race conditions of the calendar awaited the MotoGP™ grid with 35° in the air and 55° on the ground, as lights were out at 3pm local time for 20 laps. It was not the ideal start for Pol Espargaro who dropped two positions within the first corners, and he sat in 14th after one lap of racing, but he charged through Alex Rins ahead in the next lap to go up to 13th, right behind teammate Brad Binder who had taken a solid launch from 18th. The number 44 had set himself into a solid early pace, with lap 2 already in 1’59.970, as he could close the gap on Binder. On his side, Enea Bastianini had gained 3 positions within the first two laps to 16th, and lap 3 was all about the battle for 15th against Jack Miller, a battle he eventually won to settle in the point-scoring positions after 3 laps. Meanwhile, the front trio of Alex Marquez, Francesco Bagnaia and Pedro Acosta was producing amazing battles for the lead. Unfortunately, while waiting for his moment to overtake Binder, Espargaro crashed at lap 5 from 12th, a great shame for the Spaniard who had much more today. Sooo, Red Bull KTM Tech3’s hopes were now all on Enea Bastianini, who was producing an encouraging pace with a 2’00.106 on lap 4. Espargaro crashing out meant P14 after 5 laps for the 'Bestia', and next he was through Alex Rins to 13th, behind Marco Bezzecchi. At the front, Alex Marquez had come out on top with a 0.8 seconds gap on Bagnaia-Acosta, with next in 4th Fabio Quartararo 1.6 seconds behind. Halfway through the race, Bastianini was still in 13th, but with the gap now completely closed on Bezzecchi, and his better rhythm saw him eventually go through the Aprilia on lap 12. Binder was the next target, and we were up to 11th now. Luca Marini and Johann Zarco were the next victims of Enea’s remontada, as Enea was now up to 9th with just 4 laps remaining. Fermin Aldeguer’s late crash and Francesco Bagnaia’s technical issue meant two more positions were gained, as we saw Enea Bastianini crossed the finish line in 7th! It is another amazing race performance from Bastianini, as he wraps up a tricky weekend in Malaysia on a sweet note.

Coming up next, the Grand Prix of Portugal, on November 7-8-9!

ENEA BASTIANINI: "My life is complicated! Starting on Friday, I was nervous because I had no confidence with the bike. On Saturday, we resolved some problems in the sprint, and we arrived on Sunday prepared, ready to fight for the top 10. Starting from far is tough, I gave it my all, but it is difficult to recover positions on that track, as the front tire is getting hotter and hotter, but anyway, I am happy with the job done today. We are still missing a bit of consistency, especially on time attacks, because every time we put on new tires, all KTM riders improve, and not me, so it is something that we need to understand, and I'm sure we can get better. Last year, I had the same issue, and we resolved it, so I am confident that we will find a way to solve it too with the KTM."

POL ESPARGARO: "It is painful to crash so early in the race, of course, so there is not much to say. However, we need to take the positives, because I think that we had in our hands another top 10. Our speed was decent in the first laps, but it is racing, and a small mistake can change your Sunday. I think that everyone at KTM did a decent job at trying to keep the tires alive, we were working a lot yesterday to prepare for the main race. When I was behind Brad (Binder), I think that I was chilling a little bit too much, as I did not want to make a mistake, so maybe I waited a little bit too long, and I was probably not in the right position in the turn I crashed. It is a pity that I could not finish, but I am really happy that we have 3 KTMs in the top 10 today!"

NICOLAS GOYON, Team Manager: "It was a good Sunday for Enea Bastianini in Sepang, as he gained 12 positions in the race to finish in P7, which is a great performance. However, it gives us the same bittersweet feeling as usual, because he would probably have been fighting for the top 5 if he had qualified better. When you see the final position of Pedro Acosta, you really believe it would have been possible. We still have two races left to try improving our main weakness, so let's work towards that goal, we will give it our all until the end. Pol Espargaro had a really positive weekend once again, qualified directly in Q2, and a finish close to the top 10 in the sprint. Unfortunately, he had a small crash while fighting for the top 10 positions today. Anyway, he delivered another great weekend for us, he has shown that our package can be competitive, and we want to thank him again for these two rounds in Australia and Malaysia. It is time to pack, and head back to Europe to finish the season, but before that, we will all have a well deserved week of rest! See you all in Portugal!"

RACE RESULTS

1. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, 40'09.249
2. Pedro Acosta (SPA), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, +2.676
3. Joan Mir (SPA), Honda HRC, +8.048
7. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +15.299
DNF. Pol Espargaro (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 16 Laps

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING

1. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 545pts
2. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, 413pts
3. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA), Aprilia Racing, 291pts
14. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 106pts
17. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 72pts
22. Pol Espargaro (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 23pts

TRACK RECORDS

All Time Record: 2024 - F. Bagnaia (ITA) - 1'56.337 - 171.5 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2025 - A. Marquez  (SPA) - 1'58.873 - 167.8 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - F. Bagnaia (ITA) - 1'56.337 - 171.5 km/h
Top Speed: 2025 - P. Acosta (SPA) - 341.7 km/h