Ducati Lenovo
The Ducati Lenovo Team enjoyed a dominant Saturday at the Sepang International Circuit courtesy of Francesco Bagnaia, who came out victorious in the Sprint from pole position. Michele Pirro completed the encounter in twentieth place.
Bagnaia, who took pole after progressing through Q1, had an excellent start to the race and gradually pulled away from his opponents lap after lap up to the chequered flag. This is Pecco’s second win of the season in a Saturday race. Michele Pirro, twenty-second on the grid, finished twentieth at the flag.
The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action tomorrow morning at 9:40 local time (GMT +8) for the warm-up, followed by the Grand Prix of Malaysia, which will be contested over a 20-lap distance from 15:00.
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“This win is for the team, who work tirelessly. This season we’ve been alternating between excellent performances and very complicated moments, and all together we’re trying to find the reason behind these ups and downs. After yesterday’s difficulties in the time attack, we made some adjustments that helped me quite a bit, both in qualifying and in the Sprint. We had a small issue that limited me a little under braking, but I still managed to be incisive – and the feeling was good.”
Michele Pirro (#51 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 20th
“It was a tough and hot race, but if I look at the overall gap I had in the Australian Sprint, we made significant steps forward. The level of this MotoGP is extremely high and my role is different from the other riders’, so I focused on keeping a consistent pace and managing the tyre wear. I’m super happy about Pecco’s result; it was great to see him competitive again.”
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
MotoGP jetted from the cool and unpredictable climate of Phillip Island to the tropical setting of the Sepang International Circuit for round 20. The 5.5km layout with two long straights and a mix of 15 quick and slow corners is familiar ground for the teams and riders due to its status as the opening test venue of the season. Mileage and knowledge of the Malaysian asphalt is not an issue so lap-times were already being battered from Free Practice.
The weather proved to be a hitch with rain on Friday causing complications, but Pedro Acosta was able to find the limits and a chrono ‘attack’ to head Practice with P1. Pol Espargaro was again up to pace and drifted into Q2 directly as well. Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini went into Q1 for a dry and warm Saturday and emerged with P18 and P19 on the grid respectively. Acosta vied for Pole Position after the first flyers of the 15-minute Q2 but a fall in the final minutes scrubbed his chances of P1. He will sit in the center of the second row after the 5th best lap. Espargaro was 12th.
The Sprint lasted for 10 laps and Acosta made a tremendous start. The Spaniard lunged into the fight for the podium positions and then managed the tire drop to run a clear 4th and his eighth top five Sprint classification of the year. Pedro was then elevated to 3rd after a sanction for another rider. Espargaro headed the second group and the spat for the top seven. Pol was relegated to P11 after contact with a rival almost ended in a crash as two racing lines came together. Bastianini rode brightly to carve his way past ten opponents and reach P9 for the final Sprint point and Binder reached the flag in P16.
The Grand Prix will begin at 15.00 local time and will run for 20 laps.
Pedro Acosta, 5th in qualification, 3rd in the Sprint: “OK, so finally a podium. I maintained the pace quite OK in the Sprint until the drop that we’ve been suffering since Japan. I knew it was going to be a long race! I made everything I could with what I had in my hands. Another race where we are consuming a lot of the tire. Qualifying was quite slow but the Sprint pace was quite fast. We’ll have to see for tomorrow.”
Enea Bastianini, 19th in qualification, 9th in the Sprint: “Like always, a bit better every day. We’ll arrive to Sunday faster compared to the other two days and always in the top ten. The problem is the same and I miss a bit of confidence, and this is true for qualifying. I’m missing the jump and the extra grip for the fast lap but in the race I can do my pace and today it was not so bad. Same story.”
Pol Espargaro, 12th in qualification, 11th in the Sprint: “More or less happy. I think our pace was good from the beginning and I could stay with the top guys and try to deal with the drop of the rear tire. I was about to be P8-9 but I had that small impact and lost some positions. I got two back, and reached P11, which was good but I’ll be looking for more tomorrow.”
Brad Binder, 18th in qualification, 16th in the Sprint: “Well, not much to say. Quali was not great and the race was worse. I started spinning from the first lap and just didn’t go anywhere. I had nothing for corner entry or exit. It was a mess. We have to figure out what happened and tomorrow can only be better.”
Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “The weekend has been very positive in terms of the work done. Of course, Friday was very challenging because of the unstable weather but, in any case, it was OK in the afternoon and that was the first consistent phase of work for Saturday and Sunday. We were happy with the information. One of the main topics for us was the tire life, and the real test for that will come tomorrow but we gained positive data from the Sprint. We still have a lot to do to make the right decisions and maximize the tire in these conditions. Pedro’s position was a little bittersweet because we could not keep our pace until the end due to the tire drop. Anyway, we are working on it. We’re thankful to have Pol here again -and we hope Maverick will be with us again soon – and he also brings useful information during the weekend. His performance was great. For Brad and Enea the starting positions were frustrating but Enea did really well, especially with used tires in the second part of the race. Brad had a challenging Sprint but, like Enea, we hope the longer distance will open some more possibilities.”
Aprilia Racing
The sprint at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit concluded with a strong performance from Aprilia Racing. Starting from 14th on the grid after narrowly missing out on Q2, Marco Bezzecchi pulled off an excellent comeback. The Italian rider managed the sprint with composure amid the early-lap battles, steadily climbing through the field to finish sixth.
Focusing on the development of the RS-GP25, Lorenzo Savadori continued fine-tuning new components under race conditions, crossing the finish line in 18th place.
MARCO BEZZECCHI
“The start wasn’t bad, and I managed to recover, pulling off a few nice overtakes. My race pace throughout the weekend hasn’t been bad, but unfortunately, I missed the flying lap on Friday and in qualifying. Clearly, things aren’t going quite as well as in the last few races, but we expected to struggle a bit more here. However, it’s proving useful because we’re working on lots of things that can help us in the future.”
LORENZO SAVADORI
“My race pace was good, and I was close to the pack. Unfortunately, I had some front-end drop-off and had to back off a bit. I also ran wide at the final corner on the last lap. In general, we tried some new things during the race that still need a bit of fine-tuning and improvement. On Sunday, we’ll aim to take another step forward.”
FABIANO STERLACCHINI
“It was definitely a rather challenging day. The layout, temperature and rear grip levels, an issue for all riders, made things a bit tricky for us. There are also a couple of stop-and-go sections we’re still working on. We’ve made good progress over the season, but clearly it’s not enough yet. As we did from Friday to Saturday, we’ll work to identify some solutions to apply in the full race.”
Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing
The Sprint Race of the Malaysian Grand Prix sees the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team secure a Top5 finish with Franco Morbidelli, who crossed the line in fifth place. A more complicated Saturday for Fabio Di Giannantonio, who closes the Top10.
Morbidelli had an excellent qualifying session, taking a front-row start (1:57.159) for the second time this season. Starting from third on the grid, Franco was in the battle for the podium in the early laps before finishing fifth. The #21 rider is seventh in the World Standings with 213 points.
Di Giannantonio had a tougher race: Fabio qualified eighth and started from the fourth row. Despite the challenges, the rider from Rome fought for a Top10 position and crossed the line in tenth place. The #49 rider is currently sixth in the World Standings with 216 points.
The Malaysian Grand Prix will end tomorrow with the main race, which will start at 3:00 p.m. (local time, +7 CET due to the time change in Europe).
Fabio Di Giannantonio – 49
“I was expecting something more: we made some changes for the race that allowed us to improve a lot, especially with the rear of the bike. But we’re analyzing the front, which was behaving a bit strangely and I had a lot of front lock. I almost crashed five times, saving it with my elbow. But the pace was good, in the group I was in, I felt faster, and every time I was losing ground, I could recover right away. The level is incredibly high, so it’s normal that even the smallest differences make a big impact on the result. For tomorrow, the goal is to recover as many positions as possible while continuing in this direction.”
Franco Morbidelli – 21
“I had fun in this Sprint and with these battles. I didn’t get a great start because the grid position was a bit dirty, and I found myself fighting with other riders. It wasn’t an easy battle, but it was a good one. Then one rider crashed, and I managed to create some space between me and the rider behind. Unfortunately, I was too far from the Top3 and couldn’t do much more. Overall, I’m satisfied, and I hope to do even better tomorrow! Some riders were fast today with the medium tyre, so we’ll see how we’ll handle it.”
Honda HRC Castrol
A double DNF for Honda HRC Castrol, a tough pill to swallow after Joan Mir chased the podium and Luca Marini was in the midst of another impressive recovery.
The rains held off for the entirety of Saturday at the Sepang International Circuit, allowing for another busy day of work. With ample track time, the gaps between riders only continued to tighten and both Honda HRC Castrol riders looked primed to continue their top five performances with Marini leading the morning session and Mir close behind in fourth with mid 1’58s.
Having clinched the top ten on Friday, Joan Mir converted his Q2 speed into seventh on the grid and set about making his presence known in the Sprint. Attempting to ride around the outside of Fabio Quartararo into Turn 1, the #36 was on the move as he chased the leading trio. Lapping half a second faster than Acosta, the distance evaporated rapidly as Mir gave chase. Losing the front just as he reached the podium battle, Mir was unharmed in the fall, but his Sprint would end prematurely. Despite the crash, Mir and Honda HRC were able to take a number of positives away from the day and will return stronger on Sunday.
Missing Q2 just a few tenths, Luca Marini launched from 13th and put together one of his most aggressive races of the season. With Bezzecchi hot on his heels, Marini muscled his way through and into the top eight to enter the fight for the points. Resuming his intense battle with Pol Espargaro from Phillip Island, Marini attempted to pass the former Honda rider but contact between the two would see Marini fall and Espargaro pushed wide. This is Marini’s first crash of the 2025 MotoGP World Championship season.
The Honda HRC Castrol team have taken valuable lessons from Saturday and will return stronger for the 20-lap Malaysian GP on Sunday. Scheduled for 15:00, the Honda RC213V clearly has more to show around the 5.5 kilometres of the Sepang International Circuit.
Joan Mir
DNF
“Not how we wanted to end today, that’s for sure! Our pace was really good even after a disappointing Qualifying, because our partials were better than our overall lap. In the Sprint, my start was positive, and I am riding with a lot of confidence – I think you can see that on TV as well! We need to try and find a bit more grip, I am making a lot up under braking and it’s easier to make a mistake which is what happened. It was my mistake; we checked the data – one of those crashes where you open the throttle a bit earlier than normal. Our speed is there, this is the positive point and it gives the engineers another example of what and where we need to work.”
Luca Marini
DNF
“I saw Pol going wide, so I went for the gap but I entered a bit too slowly so he didn’t see me and he came back into the corner. It was my mistake and we touched, I fell. It’s something that can happen and I am OK, a little knock to my finger but nothing serious. A pity because our pace is looking really good and we have the potential to show ourselves. Let’s see what tomorrow can bring, the bike is improving but we need to focus on our one lap speed to make the step that the other riders are able to make. I am confident Honda HRC can do this because the time we have found in just a year is incredible.”
Monster Energy Yamaha
The Grand Prix of Malaysia Sprint was a challenging outing for the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team. Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins were pushing in the 10-lap contest but were unable to make strides. They went on to ride to a P6 and P15 result respectively. Following a post-Sprint 8-second penalty for Fermín Aldeguer, Quartararo moved up to 5th in the revised classifications.
Starting from P4 on the grid, Quartararo initially held his position but soon got in a scrap with Franco Morbidelli, and Joan Mir grabbed the opportunity to slip through. While Quartararo kept battling with Morbidelli, also Aldeguer snuck past, so the number-20 rider settled in seventh. On lap 5, Mir crashed, allowing El Diablo back into the top 6. The Yamaha man eventually lost touch with Morbidelli and instead focused on making sure that Marco Bezzecchi wouldn’t catch up. Quartararo finished in sixth place, 8.468s from first.
Rins commenced the 10-lap dash from P10 but fell back to twelfth on the first lap. In the two following laps he engaged in a brief battle with a charging Bezzecchi and Enea Bastianini and was relegated to P14. The number-42 rider briefly gained a position when Mir crashed on lap 5, but over the course of lap 3-6 he dropped to P16 as he was unable to ride defensively like he wanted to. A crash by Luca Marini on lap 8, had the Spaniard holding 15th position when he arrived at the chequered flag, which he took 17.721s from the winner.
After today’s results, Quartararo stays in 9th place in the overall standings with 171 points, and Rins holds 19th position with 60 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are 6th in the team championship with 231 points, and Yamaha remain in 5th position in the constructor championship with 210 points.
The team will be back in action tomorrow* for Warm Up, held from 10:40-10:50 GMT +8, and the 20-lap Race, which starts at 15:00.
*On Sunday, October 26th, daylight saving time will start in Europe. The clocks in Malaysia do not change, increasing the time difference between Malaysia and Europe by one hour for the Sunday.
Massimo Meregalli
Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
“Today we didn’t quite obtain the outcome we were aiming for. While having both riders qualify inside the top 10 is a good result, Fabio had set his sights on the front row, but he ultimately had to settle for P4. In the Sprint, Fabio managed the tyres pretty well and achieved a positive sixth place, which later became P5. Álex struggled to find the right feeling to defend his position and concluded the race in P15. We’ll analyse today’s data thoroughly to identify areas for improvement ahead of tomorrow’s Race, which promises to be long and demanding for both riders.”
Fabio Quartararo
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
“I did my best. At the beginning, various rivals around me had a really good pace, and I lost a lot of time battling with Franky. But I have to say, I haven’t enjoyed a battle that much in a long time. I think my pace was not so bad too, considering where we were yesterday. I gave it my 100%. I expected to be faster at the end of the race, with a bit less tyre drop, but it was similar to the guys in front.”
Álex Rins
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
“It was really tough, but we already knew from FP2. We can be competitive on one lap, but not over a whole race distance. The tyre drop after some laps is really big for us. We need to analyse it and see what we can do.”
Gresini Racing
ALEX MARQUEZ #73
“It was a great season, we deserved it and I had never thought I would have done better than Marc or Enea this season. We did it and we’re happy. I wasn’t honestly happy with the Sprint, I didn’t ride as I could have, I was stiff. Let’s see if tomorrow we can do something to improve and be more competitive.”
FERMIN ALDEGUER #54
“We could have become rookie of the year in Australia, but honestly speaking it’s much better to have done it here. It was one of the goals for the year, along with winning a race and we achieved both things. Now we’ll aim at continuing our growth, making it into Q2 and wrap up this championship the best way possible.”
Sprint – MalaysianGP
2nd – ALEX MARQUEZ #73
3rd – FERMIN ALDEGUER #54 (7th after penalty)
World Championship Standings
2nd – ALEX MARQUEZ #73 (388 points)
Runner Up MotoGP 2025
8th – FERMIN ALDEGUER #54 (186 points)
Rookie of the Year 2025
