Marc Márquez sweeps the Malaysian GP and puts his eighth MotoGP title within reach

Marc Márquez is already pursuing his eighth MotoGP crown, the tenth in all categories of the Motorcycle World Championship. With an unappealable victory in the Malaysian GP, ​​leading from the first corner to the checkered flag, the Ducati rider took advantage of the injured Jorge Martín, his great rival for the title, to open a very significant gap with three weekends of competition remaining. The Catalan's management was so masterful, scratching tenths lap after lap without making any mistakes, that in the end he gained more than four seconds at the finish line over his companions on the podium, Pedro Acosta and Alex Márquez.

On the last lap, the 93 looked back and left an image that illustrates its true dimension within the MotoGP paddock. When he scans his surroundings, no one is close to his level yet. Neither in Sepang nor in a battle for the championship that they lost in the initial stretch of the championship, more than 100 points behind the Aprilia leaders, who have not known how to impose their technical dominance after making several human errors.

Márquez, titanic but not infallible, as demonstrated by the 14 surgical operations on his body, the last in May of this year, is now 44 points behind Martín with 111 points remaining at stake. That means that in the next grand prize you will have match ball. If the Qatar GP can be held next week, with the conflict in the Middle East once again at the boiling point, the leader will need to get another 30 points from the Spaniard, who was unable to compete in Malaysia after breaking his radius last week, and eight from the Italian Marco Bezzecchi to be proclaimed world champion again.

"Today was the day, we had to take risks and we achieved a perfect race. There aren't many races left, but there are many moments, so it's time to stay focused. I don't want to fall into the trap that it's already done," he said as soon as he got off his Desmosedici GP. "Jorge arrived damaged, and I didn't want to give Bezzecchi any wings. I looked for the limits in training to be able to manage them in the best way during the race," he analyzed. Said and done: it is his third victory on the track, number 80 in MotoGP, nine away from Valentino Rossi's absolute record.

Although that right arm with nine operations since 2019 will never return to normal, Márquez assured that the possibility of achieving another laurel allows him to continue rolling without thinking about the handicaps. “Fighting for a championship is what makes me go fast,” he stated. From the Ducati garage, they were once again exultant with the skill and know-how of the Cervera rider. "It is his umpteenth perfect race. A champion like this has never existed in any era. His physical limits do not pose any problems thanks to his head, he has an incomparable mentality," praised his team leader, Davide Tardozzi, on the way to parc ferme, in statements to Dazn.

During his lap of honor, Márquez wore a Spanish flag with black crepe in memory of the victims of the train accident in Urda (Toledo), and the three Spanish drivers who took the podium in Sepang also did not uncork the prosecco at the podium ceremony. The race, without much history in the lead after Marc overtook Alex in the first corner, kept the best battle in the fight to be the best of the rest. Acosta, future teammate and designated heir of the seven-time champion, took the lead by shining the KTM in his last races with the Austrian factory.

“Wasn't the fight against you?” the Murcian asked the Catalan, mischievous when he saw how the Japanese Ai Ogura and Bezzecchi had it out, touching each other without consequences, in the last laps of the race. The third-place finisher in the World Championship could only be sixth after making a mistake in the penultimate corner of the race and also being overtaken by Enea Bastianini's KTM. Now he is 67 points behind the leader. Many in the paddock wonder how Aprilia allowed itself to overturn a title that seemed on track in the first third of the championship. Everyone knows the answer: Márquez has won seven grand prix and seven sprints out of a possible 13 since he had surgery and skipped two races to repair his shoulder in May.

His brother Alex, precisely, will also undergo surgery for some discomfort in his collarbone and right shoulder and will not be able to compete in the test in Qatar despite having completed the podium and having started from pole this Sunday, acting as a stopper for the Aprilias for much of the test. The youngest of the Márquez family has suffered from bursitis since his serious accident and subsequent emergency operation in Montmeló, a setback that took him away from defending the runners-up position achieved last year in what will be his last year with Gresini Ducati.

With Malaysia in the rearview mirror, the spotlight now turns to the controversial visit to Qatar. The doubt is whether Lusail will be competed despite the fact that the organization has threatened with harsh sanctions (economic and sporting) to pilots who decide not to attend the event. 19 of the 22 that make up the grid have threatened the plant, and the majority of paddock workers would prefer not to travel to the region. The official Yamaha team has already announced that it will not travel to the Arabian country due to the company policy that prohibits all its employees from traveling to conflict zones.

MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group and its American parent company, Liberty Media, insist that competing in the grand prix is ​​safe today and appreciate the commitment of the rest of the teams and manufacturers on the grid, who have apparently already approved the trip to Qatar.