Sepang (Malaysia), Oct 26 (NationPress) Following his impressive second-place finish in the MotoGP World Championship on Saturday, Alex Marquez delivered a stunning performance to secure victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The rider from Spain, representing BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, outpaced the remarkable Pedro Acosta from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing by 2.6 seconds, while a late mechanical snag for Francesco Bagnaia of the Ducati Lenovo Team positioned Joan Mir and Honda HRC Castrol in a commendable third place at Sepang.

Bagnaia, who had an excellent start similar to his performance in the Sprint, took the hole-shot as Acosta quickly maneuvered into second place. However, Marquez overtook his fellow countryman at Turn 4, and shortly after, he made a spectacular move to push Bagnaia back to second place. For the first time during the weekend, Bagnaia was not leading.

On Lap 3, Acosta attempted to pass Bagnaia but the latter retaliated at Turn 5, maintaining his position. Acosta made another effort at Turn 9, but this attempt also fell short. This fierce battle between Bagnaia and Acosta enabled Marquez to extend his lead to 0.8 seconds, with Fabio Quartararo from Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP trailing another 0.8 seconds behind in fourth, closely followed by Mir.

As laps progressed, the situation at the front remained stable. Marquez held a lead around the one-second mark, while Acosta stayed glued to Bagnaia's rear. Finally, on Lap 13, Acosta made a successful move, bringing the gap between Marquez and himself to 1.8 seconds, which eventually increased to two seconds. Bagnaia might be regretting his choice of front medium compound tire at this point.

On Lap 14, Marquez clocked a time of 2:00.546, a full second quicker than Bagnaia and over half a second faster than Acosta in second place. Mir, also in the 2:00s, still had a shot at a podium, along with Morbidelli in fifth.

Over the next two laps, Bagnaia managed to regain some pace, keeping Mir at bay with a 1.9-second gap. Acosta was 2.5 seconds behind Marquez, who appeared poised for victory unless he made a mistake late in the race.

As Marquez looked set for his win, Aldeguer crashed at the final corner, and Bagnaia faced a sudden issue with his Ducati. He sensed something was amiss as he entered Turn 1, glancing down at the rear of his bike.

While the exact problem with his bike remained unclear, it resulted in Mir advancing to third place, leaving Bagnaia without any points. This was a disappointing conclusion to what had been a strong weekend for Bagnaia but a remarkable opportunity for Mir and Honda after their Sprint DNF on Saturday.

In the final lap, Marquez was 2.8 seconds ahead of Acosta, who enjoyed a comfortable margin back to Mir, with a gap of 1.4 seconds to fourth place.

After securing second overall on Saturday, Marquez capped off a fantastic weekend with his first win outside Spain.

Acosta delivered another stellar performance to finish on the podium at Sepang, 13 seconds ahead of the next best KTM rider, while Mir celebrated his second podium of the season. This was a solid start and conclusion for the 2020 World Champion and HRC during the flyaway series.