More from a press release issued by BK8 Gresini Team:
Alex Marquez delivers to Gresini the independent team tittle with a win in Sepang.
Raceday – MalaysianGP
- 1st – ALEX MARQUEZ #73
- NC – FERMIN ALDEGUER #54
World Championship Standings
- 2nd – ALEX MARQUEZ #73 (413 points)
Runner Up MotoGP 2025 - 8th – FERMIN ALDEGUER #54 (186 points)
Rookie of the Year 2025
Alex Marquez: “Today I changed my approach at the start of the race, as yesterday I got it wrong, as I attaked and did what I aimed to do. We had a great race and achieved the goal of becoming the best independent team from the top of the podium; now we’ll enjoy these last two races.”
Fermin Aldeguer: “It wasn’t the best way to wrap up a weekend where we were really strong and where we felt very competitive. We achieved a goal and in today’s race we learned a lot. I hit hard during the crash, but we’re going back home to recuperate.”
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More from a press release issued by Honda HRC Castrol:
Mir masters Malaysian GP for second Honda podium.
Finishing what he started on Saturday, Joan Mir sealed his second podium finish of the flyaway races in fine fashion as he charged through the field. Luca Marini bounced back to secure another top ten finish and gain vital championship points.
Repeating his start to Saturday’s Sprint race, Joan Mir immediately moved himself into contention as he latched onto the back of Fabio Quartararo and spent several laps working to get past the French rider. As the race entered its second half, Mir’s superior pace saw him breeze past and break away to a comfortable fourth. Rapidly closing in on a fading Francesco Bagnaia, Mir had the pace to catch and pass the Ducati rider as he matched the podium trio’s speed, but a technical problem would promote Mir onto the podium.
Third at the line, an emotional Mir entered Parc Fermé for the second time in 2025 as his and Honda HRC’s effort were once again rewarded. The result moves the #36 to 93 points, more than doubling his total points haul from his previous two seasons with Honda. Two races offer two more chances of further success for the double World Champion.
Close to his teammate off the line, Luca Marini made another fantastic start to the Malaysian GP. Unfortunately, a small mistake dropped him back into the chasing group and he became entangled in an almost race long battle with Johann Zarco. Eventually getting the better of him, Marini would easily escape up the road with clean air to end the race in eighth and in turn securing a good haul of points after his first crash of the year. Besting Zarco once more, just six points now split the pair in their battle for top Honda honours.
A week of rest and recovery now awaits before the final pair of back-to-back races rounds out an incredible 2025 MotoGP World Championship. The Portuguese Grand Prix will take place on November 07 – 09 at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve.
Joan Mir: “It was a great race but one of the toughest of my life, the temperature, managing the tyres, controlling the bike – you had to be perfect everywhere and we managed to do it. I am so happy to end these races like this, to show what we could really do after yesterday. We took the maximum out of our package, and this shows the great work that we have done as a team. When you are confident you can do this. I realised that today we could do something, and I just went for it, right on that narrow line between being fast and crashing. I was very careful at Turn 9 today! The progress Honda has made in 12 months is fantastic, I knew what was possible with this project and that’s why I signed for another two years. Thank you to my team and all of Honda’s engineers.”
Luca Marini: “A good end to the weekend where again I think we had a lot of pace. The bike is continuing to improve and the top five is always there. I made a really good start and I was up with Mir and Zarco but I made a mistake and dropped back. After that I was in a big group fighting with many riders and it took a lot of laps to pass Zarco. With the medium front I was able to brake really hard but we were missing something in the turning. Maximising our results in Qualifying is the area that we need to improve, both with myself and the bike. Congratulations to Mir on another good podium.”
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More from a press release issued by Monster Energy Yamaha:
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Duo Take P5 and P13 in Sepang Race.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins pushed in sweltering conditions in today’s Grand Prix of Malaysia Race and both scored points. The duo completed the 20-lap contest in the tropical heat in 5th and 13th place respectively.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins had to strike a balance between pushing and tyre management in the 20-lap Grand Prix of Malaysia Race. They negotiated the Sepang International Circuit in 35°C, engaged in various battles, and ultimately took 5th and 13th place respectively.
Quartararo started from P4 and skilfully defended his position from Fermín Aldeguer on the opening lap. As a gap started to form to the top 3, the Frenchman focused solely on keeping chasing rivals at bay. On lap 6, Joan Mir launched an attack but ran wide. El Diablo anticipated as much and cut back on the inside, reclaiming fourth. A second attempt came on lap 10. This time El Diablo had a small moment and thus had to concede fourth place. Franco Morbidelli roughly pushed past Quartararo on lap 11. The number-20 couldn’t respond as he had started to experience rear tyre drop. But it wasn’t long before Quartararo was back in fifth when Francesco Bagnaia, after experiencing a problem, retired from the race with three laps to go. With sizable gaps to fourth and sixth over the final two laps, the Yamaha man took the chequered flag in P5, 11.556s from first.
Rins commenced from P10 and, after an opening battle with Brad Binder, wrapped up the first lap in 12th place. The Spaniard was keen to preserve his tyres. On lap 5, Pol Espargaró crashed out, but Rins was overtaken by three rivals and circulating in 16th place by lap 9. For the remainder of the race, the number-42 kept trying to find a balance between pushing and nursing his tyres. With Raúl Fernández and Aldeguer crashing out on lap 12 and 17 respectively and Bagnaia suffering an issue on lap 18, Rins moved up to 13th again. Riding a lonely race at that time, he held the position to the finish line, crossing it 23.509s from first.
After today’s results, Quartararo stays in 9th place in the overall standings with 182 points, and Rins holds 19th position with 63 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are 6th in the team championship with 245 points, and Yamaha remain in 5th position in the constructor championship with 221 points.
MotoGP will be back in action next in two weeks’ time for the Grand Prix of Portugal, held at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve from 7-9 November.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI – Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha
“Let’s start by giving credit to Fabio, who did extremely well again. He gave it his all in the opening stages once more and then really took care of the soft tyres whilst still riding defensively. Ultimately, this allowed him to take another positive fifth place, which is especially a good result considering the challenging Friday. Álex also had to find a balance between riding at the limit and managing the tyres, but in the mid-pack in these high temperatures this is quite complicated. In the end, he crossed the line in 13th place. We now fly back to Europe. A week off is well deserved for the riders and the team before we start the final two rounds of the season.”
Fabio Quartararo: “It was quite a good race. Every time we start before Moto2, I can be aggressive on the first laps, and today I could push. But, like everyone, I had to save the tyres and try to avoid going over the limit. It’s tricky on the softs, but I think we did a great job. I tried to keep the pace. With Joan, I was riding defensively. I tried to close everything and be as fast as possible. At one moment, Franky overtook me quite aggressively in the last corner – it’s racing, so it’s normal – but after that I had to slow down. Finishing 5th-7th was the goal for today, so I’m quite happy.”
Alex Rins: “We have been struggling since FP1 this weekend, and it looks like when grip levels are low and temperatures are high, it affects us more than the others. So, we were expecting a really tough Race. In the beginning, I could have gone faster than I did. The problem was that I was thinking about the end of the Race. Maybe this smooth riding on the first seven laps, losing positions, allowed me to stay in P13 in the last laps. So, it was a tough weekend, but we need to keep going.”
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More from a press release issued by Red Bull KTM Tech3:
And the overseas tour is a wrap for 2025, as the Grand Prix of Malaysian was our final stop in Asia before the championship heads back to Europe for the two final rounds of the season in Portugal and Valencia. Enea Bastianini delivered another stunning performance in the main race, as he fought his way to the 7th position after starting from P19, another stunning remontada from the Italian. Unfortunately, Pol Espargaro will leave Sepang with a bittersweet feeling, after the Spaniard crashed in lap 5 despite showing solid early pace.
Some of the toughest race conditions of the calendar awaited the MotoGP™ grid with 35° in the air and 55° on the ground, as lights were out at 3pm local time for 20 laps. It was not the ideal start for Pol Espargaro who dropped two positions within the first corners, and he sat in 14th after one lap of racing, but he charged through Alex Rins ahead in the next lap to go up to 13th, right behind teammate Brad Binder who had taken a solid launch from 18th. The number 44 had set himself into a solid early pace, with lap 2 already in 1’59.970, as he could close the gap on Binder. On his side, Enea Bastianini had gained 3 positions within the first two laps to 16th, and lap 3 was all about the battle for 15th against Jack Miller, a battle he eventually won to settle in the point-scoring positions after 3 laps. Meanwhile, the front trio of Alex Marquez, Francesco Bagnaia and Pedro Acosta was producing amazing battles for the lead. Unfortunately, while waiting for his moment to overtake Binder, Espargaro crashed at lap 5 from 12th, a great shame for the Spaniard who had much more today. Sooo, Red Bull KTM Tech3’s hopes were now all on Enea Bastianini, who was producing an encouraging pace with a 2’00.106 on lap 4. Espargaro crashing out meant P14 after 5 laps for the ‘Bestia’, and next he was through Alex Rins to 13th, behind Marco Bezzecchi. At the front, Alex Marquez had come out on top with a 0.8 seconds gap on Bagnaia-Acosta, with next in 4th Fabio Quartararo 1.6 seconds behind. Halfway through the race, Bastianini was still in 13th, but with the gap now completely closed on Bezzecchi, and his better rhythm saw him eventually go through the Aprilia on lap 12. Binder was the next target, and we were up to 11th now. Luca Marini and Johann Zarco were the next victims of Enea’s remontada, as Enea was now up to 9th with just 4 laps remaining. Fermin Aldeguer’s late crash and Francesco Bagnaia’s technical issue meant two more positions were gained, as we saw Enea Bastianini crossed the finish line in 7th! It is another amazing race performance from Bastianini, as he wraps up a tricky weekend in Malaysia on a sweet note.
Coming up next, the Grand Prix of Portugal, on November 7-8-9!
Enea Bastianini: “My life is complicated! Starting on Friday, I was nervous because I had no confidence with the bike. On Saturday, we resolved some problems in the sprint, and we arrived on Sunday prepared, ready to fight for the top 10. Starting from far is tough, I gave it my all, but it is difficult to recover positions on that track, as the front tire is getting hotter and hotter, but anyway, I am happy with the job done today. We are still missing a bit of consistency, especially on time attacks, because every time we put on new tires, all KTM riders improve, and not me, so it is something that we need to understand, and I’m sure we can get better. Last year, I had the same issue, and we resolved it, so I am confident that we will find a way to solve it too with the KTM.”
Pol Espargaro: “It is painful to crash so early in the race, of course, so there is not much to say. However, we need to take the positives, because I think that we had in our hands another top 10. Our speed was decent in the first laps, but it is racing, and a small mistake can change your Sunday. I think that everyone at KTM did a decent job at trying to keep the tires alive, we were working a lot yesterday to prepare for the main race. When I was behind Brad (Binder), I think that I was chilling a little bit too much, as I did not want to make a mistake, so maybe I waited a little bit too long, and I was probably not in the right position in the turn I crashed. It is a pity that I could not finish, but I am really happy that we have 3 KTMs in the top 10 today!”
Nicolas Goyon, Team Manager: “It was a good Sunday for Enea Bastianini in Sepang, as he gained 12 positions in the race to finish in P7, which is a great performance. However, it gives us the same bittersweet feeling as usual, because he would probably have been fighting for the top 5 if he had qualified better. When you see the final position of Pedro Acosta, you really believe it would have been possible. We still have two races left to try improving our main weakness, so let’s work towards that goal, we will give it our all until the end. Pol Espargaro had a really positive weekend once again, qualified directly in Q2, and a finish close to the top 10 in the sprint. Unfortunately, he had a small crash while fighting for the top 10 positions today. Anyway, he delivered another great weekend for us, he has shown that our package can be competitive, and we want to thank him again for these two rounds in Australia and Malaysia. It is time to pack, and head back to Europe to finish the season, but before that, we will all have a well deserved week of rest! See you all in Portugal!”
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More from a press release issued by Aprilia Racing:
Challenging race for Aprilia Racing at Sepang.
The full-distance race at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit proved challenging for Aprilia Racing. Starting back in 14th, Marco Bezzecchi struggled to make up ground in a difficult race. He had to settle for eleventh, but the points were enough to keep him third in the Riders’ standings on 291 points.
Lorenzo Savadori continued his vital development work on the RS-GP25 throughout the race, finishing sixteenth, just outside the points zone.
Rookie Ai Ogura from the Trackhouse MotoGP Team also delivered a strong performance, finishing tenth and helping to bring two Aprilia RS-GP25s into the points.
Marco Bezzecchi: “It certainly wasn’t a good day, beginning this morning with the terrible Moto3 accident involving Rueda and Dettwiler. As for my performance, sadly, I struggled. It was quite a tough race, and I couldn’t really overtake anyone. I couldn’t have done any better today, and I’m disappointed, but at least we scored a few points. Now we’ll work even harder for the last two races of the season.”
Lorenzo Savadori: “It’s a pity because I lost some time at the start, battling with Chantra – my pace early on was good enough to stay with the group. Then, running in the slipstream, the temperatures rose and the tyre started to drop off. We’ll keep trying new things, and we already have some ideas we’ll test at Jerez in two days during private testing.”
Massimo Rivola – CEO Aprilia Racing: “It was a tough weekend; we knew we were heading to a track that doesn’t particularly suit us. Unfortunately, as has happened before this season with the RS-GP25 —much more competitive than previous bikes— the performance came a bit too late, and missing direct access to Q2 put us on the back foot. The sprint was excellent, with Marco always strong in overtaking, while in the race the choice of the front tyre affected his performance, but that’s easy to say now. We now look ahead to the final two GP’s with our goals clearly in mind and the determination to give our best straight away in Portimão.”
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More from a press release issued by CASTROL Honda LCR:
CASTROL Honda LCR rider Johann Zarco finishes 12th at the Sepang International Circuit.
- From 9th on the grid, and after feeling some improvements during Saturday’s Sprint, Johann Zarco was determined to push again for a good result in Sunday’s race.
- The French rider made a strong start and was fighting for the top seven positions in the early stages.
- However, in the closing laps, extreme tyre consumption caused by the high temperatures prevented him from maintaining the pace of the top 10. Zarco eventually crossed the line in 12th place, securing valuable championship points.
- Despite the tough conditions, Zarco showed solid progress throughout the weekend, regaining confidence and demonstrating positive signs as the team heads into the final races of the season.
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More from a press release issued by Prima Pramac Yamaha:
Tough Malaysian GP for Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP: Miller 14th, Oliveira 19th.
It was a bitter Malaysian GP for the Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP team, which wrapped up the 20th round of the Championship with Jack Miller finishing 14th, while Miguel Oliveira, after remounting following a crash on lap 10, crossed the line in 19th place. The next stop will be in two weeks‘ time at the Portuguese GP in Portimão.
A difficult Sunday closed out an already complicated weekend for the Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP team. At the Sepang International Circuit, the team managed to bring home just a handful of points, two from Jack Miller, who completed the 20-lap race in 14th position. A crash on lap 10 ended Miguel Oliveira‘s hopes early, though the Portuguese rider was able to rejoin the race and finish 19th.
With the two points earned today, Miller‘s season total rises to 68, putting him 18th in the overall standings. Oliveira remains at 36 points in 20th place, while the Prima Pramac Yamaha team sits 11th in the Teams‘ Championship with 107 points.
With the 20th round behind them — closing out the four-race non-European stretch — Prima Pramac Yamaha will return to the track in two weeks‘ time in Portimão, Portugal, for the 21st and penultimate round of the 2025 World Championship.
GINO BORSOI – Team Director, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP
“It was a complicated weekend. The race was very difficult, especially for Miller, who couldn‘t find enough grip to perform well on corner exits, and on the straights, as always when you‘re in a group, we were missing a bit of top speed. In the end, he ran a race that was in line with the targets we had set. As for Oliveira, it‘s a shame. We were struggling from the start of the weekend, and although we managed to improve a few things, recovering from the back is never easy. Now we head to Portimão, and I hope his home race gives him the boost he needs to achieve a good result, because he really deserves it.”
Jack Miller: “I tried to manage the tires as best as I could, being very gentle at the beginning of the race to make sure I could get to the end and hopefully have something left in my pocket. But I had the same issues as the guys around me. Rins was in the same boat as me, nursing most of the race, even though it seemed like he had a little bit more on the corner exits. In the end, I focused on bringing it home rather than ending up in the gravel. I hope we can be more competitive in Portimão.”
Miguel Oliveira: “The same thing as Saturday happened — a small front-end crash with no warning. I thought that today, with the medium front tire, things would be better, but it was hard to manage the grip. I was riding comfortably despite the difficulties we were facing, but there wasn‘t much we could do. The ambitions could have been higher, but today the best we could have managed was to finish alongside the two other Yamahas.”
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More from a press release issued by Ducati Lenovo Team:
Francesco Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo Team forced to retire at Sepang due to an unexpected setback while battling for the podium. Michele Pirro finishes seventeenth.
The Ducati Lenovo Team wrapped up the twentieth Grand Prix of the 2025 MotoGP season at the Sepang International Circuit. Francesco Bagnaia was forced to retire with three laps to go while running in third place, and Michele Pirro finished seventeenth.
Bagnaia lost the lead on lap two but kept Alex Márquez in close range for more than half the race distance. After defending second place well from Pedro Acosta’s attacks, he dropped to third and began to lose ground. With three laps remaining, Pecco returned to the pits and retired due to a flat rear tyre. Michele Pirro completed the weekend with a seventeenth-place finish.
As the twentieth Grand Prix draws to a close, with Marc Márquez already crowned World Champion, Francesco Bagnaia sits fourth in the standings, five points behind third place. The Triple Crown is completed by the Teams’ title secured by the Ducati Lenovo Team and the Constructors’ title clinched by Ducati.
The Ducati Lenovo Team will return to Europe to tackle the penultimate event of the season at Portimão’s Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, from November 7th to 9th.
Francesco Bagnaia: “First of all, my thoughts go to Rueda and Dettwiler for what happened to them in the Moto3 race, and I keep my fingers crossed for them. When such things happen, everything else becomes less important. Today we were unlucky, as we had a flat rear tyre. This happened on lap twelve and then, little by little, the pressure kept dropping. I thought I had managed the tyre wear the wrong way, but after analysing the data, the issue was clearly there. Unfortunately, these things can happen. Overall though, it was a positive weekend despite how it ended.”
Michele Pirro: “We completed this hot weekend at Sepang with good feedback. In the race, while I was tailing another rider, I could feel changes in the bike’s behaviour – something I had never experienced before, as during testing I always ride on my own. The lap times improved as the race progressed, and I further narrowed the gap to the frontrunners. We tried new parts for next year and tested several set-up adjustments, working ahead of time for the future.”
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More from a press release issued by IDEMITSU Honda LCR:
IDEMITSU Honda LCR rider Somkiat Chantra finished 15th in Sunday’s race at the Sepang International Circuit.
- Facing once again a comeback race and determined to fight for his goals, Chantra made a solid start from 20th on the grid.
- The extreme heat and tyre consumption were the main challenges to manage, but Somkiat rode consistently and avoided mistakes throughout the 20 laps.
- In the end, he crossed the line in 15th position, scoring points once again and demonstrating resilience and hard work.
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More from a press release issued by Yamaha Factory Racing:
Yamaha V4-Powered Prototype Successfully Completes Second Full-Length MotoGP Race.
The Yamaha Factory Racing Team used the Grand Prix of Malaysia Sunday to collect more valuable dry-track data at the Sepang International Circuit. Wild-card entry Augusto Fernández stuck to his plan of using the 20-lap MotoGP Race to push the V4-Powered Prototype in a full-length MotoGP Race setting and rode it to an 18th place across the finish line.
The Yamaha Factory Racing Team completed their testing programme in today’s MotoGP Race at the Grand Prix of Malaysia. Wild-card entry Augusto Fernández wrapped up the 20-lap contest in 18th place in the Yamaha V4-Powered Prototype’s second full-length MotoGP Race.
Augusto Fernández started from P23 and gained a position early on by overtaking Michele Pirro. The Yamaha test rider had made his plans clear for the Sunday: he was determined to complete all 20 laps and gather dry-track data while pushing in the race. Though he wasn’t able to stay with a rider group, he put his head down. With a competitor taking a fall on lap 5, the number-7 rode steadily in 21st position. Two more riders crashing out and Miguel Oliveira dropping to the back of the pack had Augusto Fernández climb as high as 19th before he started to battle with a charging Pirro with 7 laps to go. Augusto Fernández was pushed down to 20th, but as another two riders failed to make it to the chequered flag, he ultimately crossed the finish line in 18th place, 47.060s from first.
After today’s results, Augusto Fernández still holds joint-24th place in the championship standings with 8 points, and Yamaha is in 5th position in the constructor championship with 221 points.
Augusto Fernandez: “It was a busy weekend, and we have settled on a clear direction to take for the next test and wild-card race weekend in Valencia to improve further. We have been working on the balance of the bike, and we need to keep working on it and set a base. The process will take a bit of time, so we need to keep working hard.”