Enea Bastianini and Pol Espargaro both delivered solid sprint performances on Super Saturday at the Malaysian Grand Prix, under the hot and humid heat of Sepang. If Bastianini failed to qualify well, with a P19-start, he did once again a solid job in the afternoon's sprint, as he recovered 10 positions to see the checkered flag in 9th, and score a sprint point, something he had not reproduced since his 5th place in Catalonia's sprint. Meanwhile, Pol Espargaro took the 11th place of the Tissot Sprint, after he had qualified in 12th.
Grand Prix of Malaysia
QUALIFYING
As qualifying followed the classic FP2 opening Super Saturday, Enea Bastianini was the first of the Red Bull KTM Tech3 squad to hit the track as he joined a busy Q1 session, alongside the 3 latest race winners, and in-form Marco Bezzecchi. Enea’s first lap was a 1’58.402 while Fermin Aldeguer set the tone with a 1’57.698, before Bastianini found a way to gain a few hundredths to clock a 1'58.189 on lap 3, before his pit stop. He was in a provisional 7th place with Luca Marini and Fermin Aldeguer both provisionally qualified. For run 2, Bastianini could not put it all together to do a good enough lap to make some improvements, and his earlier lap remained his best. He finished in 9th, therefore qualifying in 19th on the grid. Francesco Bagnaia and Fermin Aldeguer were the two riders to go through Q2, joining our own Pol Espargaro, in the fight for the 20th pole position of the season. Espargaro’s first lap was a 1’58.174 while Pedro Acosta was the first to take the top of the timesheets with a 1’57.363. The number 44 was in a provisional 9th place as he rejoined the track for run 2, just behind teammate Acosta. Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo was in pole with a 1’57.195. Unfortunately for Pol, Acosta crashed in front, and he did not make further improvements. Espargaro is set to start the Malaysian Grand Prix from 12th on the grid, while Francesco Bagnaia meant business as he grabbed his 3rd pole of 2025, followed by Alex Marquez and Franco Morbidelli closing the front row.
TISSOT SPRINT
Under the scorching sun of Malaysia, it was all lights out at 3pm local time for 10 laps of sprint madness, and it was pole sitter Francesco Bagnaia who took the holeshot straight away. From his 12th position, Pol Espargaro took a rocket start himself as 3 positions were gained in the first 3 turns to 8th, but Johann Zarco was quick to answer back as he pushed through Pol, so Espargaro found himself in 9th after one lap. Meanwhile, another one to also take a solid start was Enea Bastianini, who gained 5 positions in one lap to enter lap 2 in P14 behind Marco Bezzecchi. The Italian showed solid early pace with his fastest sprint lap clocked on lap 2 with a 1'59.318, one that saw him close the gap ahead, to then overtake Alex Rins on lap 3 and progress to 13th. Meanwhile, Espargaro was still in 9th, while Bagnaia had already made a 1.1 second-gap on rivals Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta. The number 44 produced some solid early pace, which allowed him to apply more and more pressure on Zarco ahead, and Joan Mir making a mistake ahead on lap 5 gave Pol his opportunity to move past the LCR rider, and gain two positions to sit in P7 halfway through the 10 lap-shootout. The crashes ahead of both Mir and Oliveira had Bastianini sit in 11th after 6 laps, with now Zarco just 0.2 seconds ahead. Four laps to try making it out to the points! Just a bit further ahead, Pol Espargaro was losing a bit of rhythm as he was overtaken by Bezzecchi, and soon, Luca Marini arrived from behind. Unfortunately, a contact was made between Espargaro and Marini with the HRC rider trying to overtake Pol on the inside. Marini crashed while Pol managed to avoid the worst, but he was back to 12th. In a last effort, he caught back on Raul Fernandez ahead to cross the finish line in 11th. This contact between Espargaro and Marini gifted the two spots Bastianini needed to make it to the points, and that was a P9 for Enea! 10 places gained in 10 laps, an encouraging achievement for the ‘Bestia’ heading to the long distance on Sunday! Don’t miss the final showdown of the Malaysian Grand Prix, with the main race starting at 15:00 local time (UTC+8), for 20 laps!
ENEA BASTIANINI: "As the weekends go by, we improve, day after day, so for sure we improved a bit from yesterday, and we got closer to the others. To be honest, I am not really happy, because the problem remains the same. Every time we jump on the bike at the start of the weekend, we are lacking confidence, and then qualifyings are all the same, I struggle to turn the bike where and when I want, I don't have a lot of traction especially on the dry. Then during the races, we usually manage to do a good pace. P9 is good, but we must solve our issues."
POL ESPARGARO: "I am very pleased with the work done today! In the continuity of Australia, everything comes together when I push, so it is a great feeling. After the first lap time, it started to rain, and I was begging for more rain, because my lap time was already fast, and I did not know if I could go faster! Then, we all went for it again, and I could improve by half a second, which is so fast, but still 0.5 seconds slower than Pedro (Acosta), but it is amazing for us anyway. The weekend is starting well, with two KTMs inside the top 10, so let’s try to keep the work going, and hopefully we can qualify well for both sprint and race."I am happy more or less! We had a good pace from the start of the sprint, I could stay with the top guys while managing the rear drop of the tire, which killed us in Australia. I was about to take P8-P9, but then I had a small contact with Luca Marini, nothing bad, but I lost positions, even if I managed to get back one to finish 11th. It is good for us, but we are looking for more tomorrow!I am happy more or less! We had a good pace from the start of the sprint, I could stay with the top guys while managing the rear drop of the tire, which killed us in Australia. I was about to take P8-P9, but then I had a small contact with Luca Marini, nothing bad, but I lost positions, even if I managed to get back one to finish 11th. It is good for us, but we are looking for more tomorrow!
NICOLAS GOYON, Team Manager: "Today was a good day at the office for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team, despite the little frustration still going on on Enea Bastianini's side, as weekends keep looking alike. Our main target was clearly to try improving the one-lap performance, but we failed again, as he qualified in P19, which makes everything complicated. The frustration is obviously higher when you see him finishing in P9 of the sprint after recovering 10 positions. Our goal remains the same, and we won't stop until we have improved this weak point. Pol Espargaro had another strong day, although he struggled a bit in Q2 with the 12th place, but he rode a solid pace in the sprint, and he was fighting for P8 when contact was made with Luca Marini. He dropped to 11th, but he has done a really good job so far, and I think that we can realistically target top 10 finishes for both our riders on Sunday."
QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 1'57.001
2. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, +0.016
3. Franco Morbidelli (ITA), VR46 Racing Team, +0.158
12. Pol Espargaro (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.173
19. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.041 (Q1)
TISSOT SPRINT RESULTS
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 19'53.725
2. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, +2.559
3. Fermin Aldeguer (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, +3.138
9. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +12.974
11. Pol Espargaro (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +14.924
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - F. Bagnaia (ITA) - 1'56.337 - 171.5 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2023 - A. Marquez (SPA) - 1'58.979 - 167.7 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
