After a titanic battle with Jorge Martin, Francesco Bagnaia claimed his 10th Grand Prix victory of the season.
Francesco Bagnaia managed to keep his MotoGP title aspirations alive at the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Italian rider crashed out of the Sprint Race on Saturday, but on Sunday he put on a show in Sepang.
In the early stages of the race, Bagnaia was engaged in a tense battle with title rival, Jorge Martin. However, after several overtaking moves, Bagnaia broke the Spaniard and opened up a gap that Martin could not close.
After winning the Malaysian Grand Prix Bagnaia is 24 points behind Martin in the standings with one race weekend remaining. However, Bagnaia knows he needs to do more in the Sprint Race to have any chance of beating Martin.
"I think we gave the people at home and here a good show," Bagnaia said after the Malaysian Grand Prix. "Jorge (Martin) was super aggressive but we had a very clean battle, we never touched. I was just waiting for my moment to attack, I knew that my pace was good enough to open a gap. As soon as I did I was just hoping to see Enea (Bastianini) or Marc (Marquez) gaining on him (Martin) or taking some points away.
"Today we showed that we are doing a different job, this is incredible, the performance we are showing is incredible. We have to say thanks to the bike, but we are doing something speechless. The race was super good, and it was what I was expecting from yesterday. But we were unlucky, I need to understand what to do better because I am missing something. Every time in the Sprint Race I can't attack like I am doing in the Sprint Race so we will try to understand it and improve it for next year."
'We still have a chance, but we really need some help from others.'
Throughout the weekend Bagnaia had time to study his rival around the Sepang International Circuit. During the weekend the 27-year-old realised that there was only one corner on the track where Martin was better than him. Otherwise, Bagnaia knew he had an advantage over Martin in the braking zones.
"He was stronger in corner five, he was gaining a lot there," Bagnaia admitted. "But I was very strong in the entrance to every corner and I think to attack and overtake me he had to go over the limit. I saw twice that he was losing the front and I was very near the limit on the front.
"I was also very good at braking, at the last corner I was always attacking at the maximum. It was a good strategy but I only gained five points so it is very difficult for Valencia (Barcelona), but we will try."
With the final round most likely taking place in Barcelona Bagnaia was asked if he would back Martin up into the pack to allow other riders to take points off of him. However, Bagnaia does not believe that this is a 'fair' way to beat Martin.
"I am not this type of guy," Bagnaia said. "I wanted to just enjoy the race and I did enjoy it. In any case, if I was doing it I would've been unhappy as it was out of my mind. I think it is not fair and we have to win in a fair way."
Bagnaia knows that he needs help in Barcelona from his fellow Ducati riders if he has any chance of winning. In Malaysia, Bagnaia had no help as no other riders could match his pace, but he hopes the battle will be closer in two weeks.
"We still have a chance, but we really need some help from others," stated Bagnaia. "Because if I win he will finish second because we are on another level. I always try to help others during the weekend and lend my slipstream if someone is following. I know in Barcelona Aleix Espargaro will be strong and will help Jorge (Martin) all weekend. I just need someone to go in between me and him."
