Pedro Acosta struck late to win a tense MotoGP sprint race in Malaysia on Saturday, the KTM rider victorious in a sprint for the second time as Ducati’s world championship leader Marc Marquez extended his series lead after Aprilia title rival Jorge Martin withdrew with injury.

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From third on the grid, Acosta – who won the season-opening sprint in Thailand in February – crossed the line 0.578secs ahead of Marquez, who extended his series lead to 19 points after Aprilia’s Martin, who was attempting to compete at Sepang six days after breaking his right wrist in a sprint race crash in Australia, pulled out of the event after Saturday morning practice.

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Martin’s teammate Marco Bezzecchi came through from fifth to third, 1.310secs behind Acosta, in a sprint that started in dry conditions but threatened heavy rain for the 10-lap duration, the rain finally tumbling down as riders were on their in-lap back to the pits.

“Normally in mixed conditions I don’t make such a good job, but today was the day to try because I was playing for nothing (in the championship), knowing that Marc (Marquez) was behind fighting for the championship,” Acosta said.

“It was my opportunity to try to make something different. So happy we have the second (sprint win) … it was a good one.”

Aprilia’s Ai Ogura made an aggressive start from fourth on the grid to swerve towards Acosta on the run to the first corner, snare second from Marquez at the second turn, and take off after pole-sitter Alex Marquez (Ducati), assuming the lead when Marquez crashed at Turn 14 on the third lap.

With the marshals waving the white rain flag, which permits riders to pit to change to bikes with wet set-ups and rain tyres, Australia’s Jack Miller pitted from 18th place on lap two but was enraged when his Pramac Yamaha team didn’t have his second bike ready, retiring from the race.

Several other riders outside of the top nine points-paying positions – Honda’s Joan Mir, Ducati pair Franco Morbidelli and Iker Lecuona and KTM’s Maverick Vinales – also pitted for wet bikes, but the rain never intensified to make their gambles work, Ogura leading the majority of the race before Acosta passed the Japanese rider at Turn 9 with three laps left.

Marquez made it past Ogura four corners into the penultimate lap, but Acosta had enough of a gap to hold off his future Ducati teammate as Bezzecchi demoted Ogura off the podium with two laps left, his deficit to Marquez atop the standings swelling to 52 points with 136 remaining this season, Marquez’s margin over Martin now up to 19 points.

Earlier, Martin spoke to the press before leaving the circuit, indicating his goal was to race in Qatar next weekend.

“I will go there and I will try,” he said.

“If my feeling is the same, then I will have to stop.

“I tried my best, I tried to ride, but the process of healing is still early. I felt that I could ride with almost no pain, but for maybe one lap. After that I started to have a lot of pain, I couldn’t be constant.

“The effort I was doing was too much to continue and (there was) nothing to gain. It was just going to be very difficult even to score one point.”

The 20-lap Malaysian Grand Prix, round 19 of MotoGP’s 22-round 2026 season, will take place at 6pm (AEDT) on Sunday.



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