Acosta triumphs in wet sprint, Alex Márquez takes pole at Sepang
Saturday in Malaysia delivered two different heroes: Alex Márquez was the fastest in qualifying, while Pedro Acosta read the changing conditions best in the sprint.
Okretaji · 31 October 2026 · Editorial report
Pedro Acosta won Saturday's sprint race at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang. The KTM rider took the lead in the closing stages of the ten-lap race to claim his second sprint victory of the season. Marc Márquez finished second, 0.578 seconds behind the winner, while Marco Bezzecchi took third place.
The biggest turning point happened as early as the third lap. Alex Márquez, who started from pole position, crashed while leading. Ai Ogura capitalised on the incident, leading for a long time, but was overtaken in the closing stages by Acosta, Marc Márquez and Bezzecchi.
Alex ahead of his brother in qualifying
Earlier in the day, Alex Márquez claimed pole position with a time of 1:56.493. Marc was second, just 0.070 seconds slower, and Acosta completed the front row. For Alex, this is his third MotoGP pole position and his first of the season.
| Sprint | Driver | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Pedro Acosta | 20:04.098 |
| 2. | Marc Márquez | +0,578 s |
| 3. | Marco Bezzecchi | +1,310 s |
Martín pulls out, Marc extends his lead
Jorge Martín withdrew from the rest of the weekend due to an injured wrist issue. With a sprint podium finish, Marc Márquez extended his championship lead over Martín to 19 points. This gave Sunday's race extra significance, though the title is not yet mathematically decided.
Sources
- Red Bull KTM – official report and sprint results
- MotoGP – official sprint classification
- Reuters – qualifying and Jorge Martín's withdrawal
The photograph is from the archive and shows Alex Márquez at the 2025 Malaysian GP, not today's sprint. It was published under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with author attribution.