Francesco Bagnaia, 2024 Malaysian MotoGP
Francesco Bagnaia, 2024 Malaysian MotoGP

2024 Malaysian MotoGP: Sprint as it happened

Recap Saturday’s sprint at the 2024 Malaysian MotoGP.

Two riders, two rounds and 17-points.

That’s the MotoGP title situation with reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia reducing Jorge Martin’s advantage heading into this weekend’s Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang.

Beaten to third in the Buriram Sprint, Bagnaia responded in style to claim his ninth grand prix victory of the season in last Sunday’s soaking Thai MotoGP.

The Italian now arrives at one of his favourite circuits eager to take another bite out of Martin’s lead ahead of the Valencia finale.

Bagnaia, winner of the 2022 Malaysian GP and third behind team-mate Enea Bastianini and Gresini’s Alex Marquez last season, was fastest in February’s Sepang pre-season test.

However, Martin, fourth at Sepang last season, was just 0.172s behind.

Bagnaia starts from pole ahead of Martin after a titanic battle in qualifying on Saturday at Sepang.

Wet weather could again add to the title drama with rain forecast to make an appearance throughout the weekend.

This weekend will also see the MotoGP return of Andrea Iannone, who joins VR46 in place of the injured Fabio di Giannantonio.

Iannone, who won a race in his debut WorldSBK campaign this season, will be riding at the same track where his failed anti-doping test in 2019 eventually led to a four-year ban.

FP3 starts at 10:10 local time, followed by Qualifying from 10:50am. The 10-lap Sprint race begins at 3pm.

02 Nov 2024
07:51

That's all for our live coverage today. 

Keep your eyes fixed on Crash.net across the rest of Saturday for all the latest from the Sepang paddock. 

Join us again on Sunday from 7am GMT for the 20-lap Malaysian GP.

07:23

chequered flag - Martin wins

Jorge Martin wins the Malaysian GP sprint as Bagnaia crashes out. The championship lead is now 29 points and Martin edges closer to the title!

Marc Marquez is second and Enea Bastianini completes the podium. 

07:20

final lap 

Just one lap stands between Martin and the biggest win of his career.

07:20

Miller has been given a track limits warning. 

07:19

Acosta has made some movement forward in this race from 13th on the grid. He's right behind Miller in a tight battle for eighth. 

07:19

lap 9/10

Two laps to go for Martin. 

07:18

incident 

Zarco's Honda has gone pop and he is out of this race. 

07:17

lap 8/10

Martin starts the eighth lap. His lead over Marquez is 0.767s, but he's keeping the Gresini rider at bay. Bastianini is still third. 

07:16

The garage doors at the factory Ducati team have come down now too. A lot of soul searching will be going on right now.

07:15

lap 7/10

Martin continues to lead, Bagnaia has made his way back to his garage. 

07:13

lap 6/10

Mid-distance. No change at the front. 

07:11

lap 5/10

Martin is 0.892s ahea of Marquez to start lap five. Bastianini is now third from Alex Marquez, Quartararo, Morbidelli, Binder, Miller, Acosta.

07:09

lap 4/10

Martin is almost a second in the lead now. 

07:09

Martin has been told by his team that Bagnaia is out.

07:08

incident

Bagnaia has crashed!

That is major for the championship. Is that game over?

07:08

lap 3/10

Martin holds the lead to start lap three from Bagnaia, fastest laps for the top two - Bagnaia slightly quicker at 1m58.812s. 

Top three all in the 1m58.8s.

07:06

Behind the top three, Bastianini is fourth ahead of A.Marquez, Quartararo, Binder, Miller and Morbidelli. 

07:05

lap 2/10

Onto lap two and Martin leads by 0.236s from Bagnaia and Marquez, with the top three breaking away from the rest of the group. 

07:04

Bagnaia has a moment on the gas out of Turn 9. That's put Marquez all over him!

07:04

Dream start for Martin, but Bagnaia is hounding him already through sector two!

07:03

sprint start - lap 1/10

Martin leads into Turn 1 from Bagnaia and Marc Marquez. 

07:01

Because of the rain on the grid, the white flag is being shown which means riders are allowed to swap bikes. 

It's dry... for now.

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