Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
A bumper Sunday crowd at Sepang sought shelter and shade from sunny 35-degree temperatures at the site south of Kuala Lumpur. Tire preservation for the full duration of the 20-lap race distance was critical for all the riders. Pedro Acosta made his usual lively start and was into the podium places immediately and dueled for P2. Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini had to mix a strong pace from the outset to regain ground while also saving rubber, Binder in particular snared six places on the first lap. Pol Espargaro was swiftly on the edge of the top ten from his grid slot of 12th but tumbled out of the race on the fifth lap.
By mid-race distance Bastianini had worked his way up to the wheels of Binder in P11 as the pair tussled in the third group. Their smooth and smart approach paid dividends as they found further overtaking spots and arrived to P7 and P9 respectively. Acosta meanwhile pursued P2 with relish and made the break with three laps to go. Pedro was just over 2.5 seconds from the win and uncorked his fourth Prosecco bottle of the season. Acosta remains steady with 5th place in the championship standings.
The championship will enter its last respite before the final back-to-back dates. The Algarve International Circuit hosts the Grand Prix of Portugal from November 7-9 followed by the Valencian round at the Circuito de Ricardo Tormo a week later.
Pedro Acosta, 2nd and 5th in the championship standings: “It was a tough race but we put the power back into my hands and to let me manage it. It was hard to ride there in P3 but when the pace dropped a bit I could go ahead. I wanted to be at the front from the beginning. I was waiting for my moment and not making mistakes. It worked and I’m happy! Together with the team we are doing a good job and we just have to keep going.”
Enea Bastianini, 7th and 14th in the championship standings: “Starting from Friday I was missing confidence but we solved problems in the Sprint race and then again this morning to make the top ten. Coming back from 19th is so difficult but I gave 100%. I took many positions but the temperature of the tires was going up and up. Anyway, I’m happy with the work we did with the team and what we could do finally in the race.”
Brad Binder, 9th and 12th in the championship standings: “It was a bit of a challenge starting in 18th place and it was a decent-enough come back but I would have preferred better. I knew it was a race where we really had to manage the tires and I got the rear to the end OK. After the drama of the Sprint I had a normal bike again today and everything felt good. I was a bit nervy but didn’t end up in the same situation as Saturday which was good. In general, we just need to find a bit of extra speed to qualify better and then race better.”
Pol Espargaro, DNF: “Physically OK but emotionally it’s hard to crash so early in the race. We need to take the positives we had another top ten in our hands and I think we had good speed today. The bike was working well, just a small mistake of 2 degrees can change things and it did on Sunday. After Saturday and qualifying and the contact in the Sprint and the crash today; sometimes it’s not your weekend! But we had top ten speed and that’s what matters in the end. We had worked a lot to be smooth and easy on the throttle. When I was with Brad I was perhaps ‘chilling’ a bit too much. Then in that corner I was maybe not in the right position. But…we all did a good job, especially Pedro.”
Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Today was a great day for us in Sepang even if the weekend had begun as a challenge. Managing the tires was the key and the way our riders and all of our technicians handled the situation means Pedro’s second position really feels like a win. How he managed the race today was something beautiful and to have three riders in the top ten was also very positive: Enea also a great race as Brad improved a lot compared to yesterday. Unfortunately, Pol had a crash but we have to thank him for replacing Maverick again and he did a great job. It is time once more to thank everyone who is working on this project: all those at the track, all those at the factory and, of course, our partners. We have had some tough days this year but moments like today make the tough ones important. We will keep working and we will never give up.”
Honda HRC Castrol
Finishing what he started on Saturday, Joan Mir sealed his second podium finish of the flyaway races in fine fashion as he charged through the field. Luca Marini bounced back to secure another top ten finish and gain vital championship points.
Repeating his start to Saturday’s Sprint race, Joan Mir immediately moved himself into contention as he latched onto the back of Fabio Quartararo and spent several laps working to get past the French rider. As the race entered its second half, Mir’s superior pace saw him breeze past and break away to a comfortable fourth. Rapidly closing in on a fading Francesco Bagnaia, Mir had the pace to catch and pass the Ducati rider as he matched the podium trio’s speed, but a technical problem would promote Mir onto the podium.
Third at the line, an emotional Mir entered Parc Ferme for the second time in 2025 as his and Honda HRC’s effort were once again rewarded. The result moves the #36 to 93 points, more than doubling his total points haul from his previous two seasons with Honda. Two races offer two more chances of further success for the double World Champion.
Close to his teammate off the line, Luca Marini made another fantastic start to the Malaysian GP. Unfortunately, a small mistake dropped him back into the chasing group and he became entangled in an almost race long battle with Johann Zarco. Eventually getting the better of him, Marini would easily escape up the road with clean air to end the race in eighth and in turn securing a good haul of points after his first crash of the year. Besting Zarco once more, just six points now split the pair in their battle for top Honda honours.
A week of rest and recovery now awaits before the final pair of back-to-back races rounds out an incredible 2025 MotoGP World Championship. The Portuguese Grand Prix will take place on November 07 – 09 at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve.
Joan Mir
THIRD
“It was a great race but one of the toughest of my life, the temperature, managing the tyres, controlling the bike – you had to be perfect everywhere and we managed to do it. I am so happy to end these races like this, to show what we could really do after yesterday. We took the maximum out of our package, and this shows the great work that we have done as a team. When you are confident you can do this. I realised that today we could do something, and I just went for it, right on that narrow line between being fast and crashing. I was very careful at Turn 9 today! The progress Honda has made in 12 months is fantastic, I knew what was possible with this project and that’s why I signed for another two years. Thank you to my team and all of Honda’s engineers.”
Luca Marini
Eighth
“A good end to the weekend where again I think we had a lot of pace. The bike is continuing to improve and the top five is always there. I made a really good start and I was up with Mir and Zarco but I made a mistake and dropped back. After that I was in a big group fighting with many riders and it took a lot of laps to pass Zarco. With the medium front I was able to brake really hard but we were missing something in the turning. Maximising our results in Qualifying is the area that we need to improve, both with myself and the bike. Congratulations to Mir on another good podium.”
Gresini Racing
ALEX MARQUEZ #73
“Today I changed my approach at the start of the race, as yesterday I got it wrong, as I attaked and did what I aimed to do. We had a great race and achieved the goal of becoming the best independent team from the top of the podium; now we’ll enjoy these last two races.”
FERMIN ALDEGUER #54
“It wasn’t the best way to wrap up a weekend where we were really strong and where we felt very competitive. We achieved a goal and in today’s race we learned a lot. I hit hard during the crash, but we’re going back home to recuperate.”
Sprint – MalaysianGP
1st – ALEX MARQUEZ #73
NC – FERMIN ALDEGUER #54
World Championship Standings
2nd – ALEX MARQUEZ #73 (413 points)
Runner Up MotoGP 2025
8th – FERMIN ALDEGUER #54 (186 points)
Rookie of the Year 2025
Ducati Lenovo
The Ducati Lenovo Team wrapped up the twentieth Grand Prix of the 2025 MotoGP season at the Sepang International Circuit. Francesco Bagnaia was forced to retire with three laps to go while running in third place, and Michele Pirro finished seventeenth.
Bagnaia lost the lead on lap two but kept Alex Márquez in close range for more than half the race distance. After defending second place well from Pedro Acosta’s attacks, he dropped to third and began to lose ground. With three laps remaining, Pecco returned to the pits and retired due to a flat rear tyre. Michele Pirro completed the weekend with a seventeenth-place finish.
As the twentieth Grand Prix draws to a close, with Marc Márquez already crowned World Champion, Francesco Bagnaia sits fourth in the standings, five points behind third place. The Triple Crown is completed by the Teams’ title secured by the Ducati Lenovo Team and the Constructors’ title clinched by Ducati.
The Ducati Lenovo Team will return to Europe to tackle the penultimate event of the season at Portimão’s Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, from November 7th to 9th.
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – DNF
“First of all, my thoughts go to Rueda and Dettwiler for what happened to them in the Moto3 race, and I keep my fingers crossed for them. When such things happen, everything else becomes less important. Today we were unlucky, as we had a flat rear tyre. This happened on lap twelve and then, little by little, the pressure kept dropping. I thought I had managed the tyre wear the wrong way, but after analysing the data, the issue was clearly there. Unfortunately, these things can happen. Overall though, it was a positive weekend despite how it ended.”
Michele Pirro (#51 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 17th
“We completed this hot weekend at Sepang with good feedback. In the race, while I was tailing another rider, I could feel changes in the bike’s behaviour – something I had never experienced before, as during testing I always ride on my own. The lap times improved as the race progressed, and I further narrowed the gap to the frontrunners. We tried new parts for next year and tested several set-up adjustments, working ahead of time for the future.”
Aprilia Racing
The full-distance race at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit proved challenging for Aprilia Racing. Starting back in 14th, Marco Bezzecchi struggled to make up ground in a difficult race. He had to settle for eleventh, but the points were enough to keep him third in the Riders’ standings on 291 points.
Lorenzo Savadori continued his vital development work on the RS-GP25 throughout the race, finishing sixteenth, just outside the points zone.
Rookie Ai Ogura from the Trackhouse MotoGP Team also delivered a strong performance, finishing tenth and helping to bring two Aprilia RS-GP25s into the points.
MARCO BEZZECCHI
“It certainly wasn’t a good day, beginning this morning with the terrible Moto3 accident involving Rueda and Dettwiler. As for my performance, sadly, I struggled. It was quite a tough race, and I couldn’t really overtake anyone. I couldn’t have done any better today, and I’m disappointed, but at least we scored a few points. Now we’ll work even harder for the last two races of the season”.
LORENZO SAVADORI
“It’s a pity because I lost some time at the start, battling with Chantra – my pace early on was good enough to stay with the group. Then, running in the slipstream, the temperatures rose and the tyre started to drop off. We’ll keep trying new things, and we already have some ideas we’ll test at Jerez in two days during private testing”.
MASSIMO RIVOLA
“It was a tough weekend; we knew we were heading to a track that doesn’t particularly suit us. Unfortunately, as has happened before this season with the RS-GP25 —much more competitive than previous bikes— the performance came a bit too late, and missing direct access to Q2 put us on the back foot. The sprint was excellent, with Marco always strong in overtaking, while in the race the choice of the front tyre affected his performance, but that’s easy to say now. We now look ahead to the final two GP’s with our goals clearly in mind and the determination to give our best straight away in Portimão”.
Monster Energy Yamaha
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins had to strike a balance between pushing and tyre management in the 20-lap Grand Prix of Malaysia Race. They negotiated the Sepang International Circuit in 35°C, engaged in various battles, and ultimately took 5th and 13th place respectively.
Quartararo started from P4 and skilfully defended his position from Fermín Aldeguer on the opening lap. As a gap started to form to the top 3, the Frenchman focused solely on keeping chasing rivals at bay. On lap 6, Joan Mir launched an attack but ran wide. El Diablo anticipated as much and cut back on the inside, reclaiming fourth. A second attempt came on lap 10. This time El Diablo had a small moment and thus had to concede fourth place. Franco Morbidelli roughly pushed past Quartararo on lap 11. The number-20 couldn’t respond as he had started to experience rear tyre drop. But it wasn’t long before Quartararo was back in fifth when Francesco Bagnaia, after experiencing a problem, retired from the race with three laps to go. With sizable gaps to fourth and sixth over the final two laps, the Yamaha man took the chequered flag in P5, 11.556s from first.
Rins commenced from P10 and, after an opening battle with Brad Binder, wrapped up the first lap in 12th place. The Spaniard was keen to preserve his tyres. On lap 5, Pol Espargaró crashed out, but Rins was overtaken by three rivals and circulating in 16th place by lap 9. For the remainder of the race, the number-42 kept trying to find a balance between pushing and nursing his tyres. With Raúl Fernández and Aldeguer crashing out on lap 12 and 17 respectively and Bagnaia suffering an issue on lap 18, Rins moved up to 13th again. Riding a lonely race at that time, he held the position to the finish line, crossing it 23.509s from first.
After today’s results, Quartararo stays in 9th place in the overall standings with 182 points, and Rins holds 19th position with 63 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are 6th in the team championship with 245 points, and Yamaha remain in 5th position in the constructor championship with 221 points.
MotoGP will be back in action next in two weeks’ time for the Grand Prix of Portugal, held at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve from 7-9 November.
Massimo Meregalli
Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
“Let’s start by giving credit to Fabio, who did extremely well again. He gave it his all in the opening stages once more and then really took care of the soft tyres whilst still riding defensively. Ultimately, this allowed him to take another positive fifth place, which is especially a good result considering the challenging Friday. Álex also had to find a balance between riding at the limit and managing the tyres, but in the mid-pack in these high temperatures this is quite complicated. In the end, he crossed the line in 13th place. We now fly back to Europe. A week off is well deserved for the riders and the team before we start the final two rounds of the season.”
Fabio Quartararo
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
“It was quite a good race. Every time we start before Moto2, I can be aggressive on the first laps, and today I could push. But, like everyone, I had to save the tyres and try to avoid going over the limit. It’s tricky on the softs, but I think we did a great job. I tried to keep the pace. With Joan, I was riding defensively. I tried to close everything and be as fast as possible. At one moment, Franky overtook me quite aggressively in the last corner – it’s racing, so it’s normal – but after that I had to slow down. Finishing 5th-7th was the goal for today, so I’m quite happy.”
Álex Rins
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
“We have been struggling since FP1 this weekend, and it looks like when grip levels are low and temperatures are high, it affects us more than the others. So, we were expecting a really tough Race. In the beginning, I could have gone faster than I did. The problem was that I was thinking about the end of the Race. Maybe this smooth riding on the first seven laps, losing positions, allowed me to stay in P13 in the last laps. So, it was a tough weekend, but we need to keep going.”
Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing
The Malaysian Grand Prix marks the end of the Overseas and the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team returns to Europe with Franco Morbidelli finishing fourth and Fabio Di Giannantonio taking sixth place in Sunday’s race. The team wants to send a message of support and best wishes to José Antonio Rueda and Noah Dettwiler after the serious accident that occurred before the start of the Moto3 race.
Starting from the front row, Morbidelli had a difficult beginning but quickly recovered to fight for a Top5 position. Franco came very close to the podium in the final stages, finishing fourth, just half a second behind. With today’s result, the #21 moves back up to sixth in the World Standing with 227 points.
Di Giannantonio had a Sunday of progress: he started from the third row and began making up ground right from the start. Fabio showed strong pace, managing to reach sixth place at the checkered flag. The #49 now sits seventh in the championship with 226 points.
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team will be back on track in two weeks’ time when MotoGP returns to Europe for the Portuguese Grand Prix, taking place at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve from November 7th to 9th.
Fabio Di Giannantonio – 49
“I am happy because, because we turned around things really well this weekend, even though we struggled a lot. We did a huge change on the bike for the race. Usually, you don’t take such a big risk on Sundays, but it worked, because the bike was really good, I had a good pace. I was faster and I was feeling better than yesterday. We were able to find our rhythm and catch up to the riders in front. I am happy with the result, even if I can’t be fully satisfied because of what happened to the Moto3 riders. I hope they are both ok. It’s always hard for the motorsport when things like this happen, I wish them all the best.”
Franco Morbidelli – 21
“It was a positive weekend, where we turned around the negative feelings from Australia and were fast right from Friday. We secured a front-row start and two fourth-place finishes, battling with several riders. I’m really happy with the progress we made and the level we reached. For the end of the championship, our goal is to keep improving, even though the last two weekends will be quite challenging. But after the accident that happened in Moto3, my main thought was to find out how the two riders were doing. I hope for the best and wish them a full recovery.”
Pablo Nieto – Team Manager
“It was a very difficult weekend, with these high temperatures, everything becomes much more complicated. But we have to be satisfied with the work we’ve done: with Franco, we secured a front-row start and two fourth-place finishes, while with Diggia we were consistently in the Top10, achieving a great result in today’s race. When you’re so close to the podium, you always want more and feel disappointed not to get there, but we must thank the whole team and the riders for the work they did throughout the weekend. On this Sunday, we want to send all our support to the families and teams of the Moto3 riders involved in today’s serious crash. We hope both of them are doing well.”
