Francesco Bagnaia never considered “not fair” race tactic against Jorge Martin

Francesco Bagnaia says he never considered backing Jorge Martin into the pack in the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix as that tactic is “not fair”.

Bagnaia led Martin home by 3.1 seconds in the 19-lap grand prix at Sepang on Sunday, after prevailing against the championship leader in a thrilling early battle.

The 10th grand prix win of his season, Bagnaia’s victory in Malaysia has ensured the championship rolls onto the final round with a gap of 24 points splitting the pair.

Bagnaia said he hoped Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini could get in on the action at Sepang to take more points away from Martin, but says he never considered intentionally slowing the pace to bring the chasing pack into play.

“I’m not this type of guy and I wanted to just enjoy the race,” he said when asked if he considered slowing the pace to bring other riders into the battle.

“I enjoyed it. In any case, if I was doing it I would not be happy because it’s something that is out of my mind. I think it’s not fair and we have to win it in a fair way.”

He added: “Was fantastic, because we fought hard, was quite aggressive but clean because we never touched.

“And I knew that after three, four laps if I was in front and pushing I could open this gap - not just for the pace, but also for the temperature of the tyres.

“So, I was able to set my pace, opening the gap. And after that I was just hoping that Enea and Marc were closing the gap to Jorge.

“But we know right now in the championship we [Martin and myself] are making the difference and it’s giving us the potential to open the gap.

“Even if he slowed down a bit, he still finished the same seven seconds to the third.”

For the third year in a row, the title battle will go down to the final round of the season, which is due to be at Barcelona - though this is yet to be confirmed.

Bagnaia, who won at Barcelona this year, says he “really needs some help” from other riders to have a hope of beating Martin.

“We still have a chance,” he said.

“We really need some help from others, because in case of a win he will finish second because we are in another level.

“But I will try to help everybody during the weekend to give my slipstream, so someone will follow.

“I know that in Barcelona also Aleix Espargaro will be strong and will help Jorge all weekend. I just need someone who will go in between me and him.”