MARQUEZ LEADS AT SEPANG AND VOWS TO KEEP ATTACKING AS MARTIN WITHDRAWS

MotoGP heads to Sepang for the Malaysian Grand Prix, with Marc Marquez arriving at the weekend leading Jorge Martin by 10 points. Martin’s crash in the Australian sprint turned a two-point advantage before Phillip Island into a 10-point deficit. Marquez strengthened his position with sprint victory, while Martin fractured his right wrist in a fall during their battle and missed Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. The race was cancelled because poor visibility prevented the medical helicopter from operating, so Martin lost no further points. Malaysia and Qatar now follow in consecutive weeks.

Martin was cleared to ride by MotoGP medical director Angel Charte on Thursday, then completed 12 laps in Friday’s opening practice before Aprilia confirmed he would continue for the rest of the weekend. The fracture was not displaced, but team manager Paolo Bonora warned: “He has not to crash on it another time.” He advised Martin to “not take any risk” and ride only if he felt able to finish safely. Martin’s FP1 time left him 1.8 seconds behind Marquez in 20th.

The Spaniard’s struggle was also apparent to TNT Sports pundit Neil Hodgson, who watched his body language change during the session. As Martin slumped into his chair in the Aprilia garage, Hodgson remarked: “All that work; all that effort, his body language is changing, isn’t it?” Presenter Suzi Perry agreed that he looked “a bit more resigned to the pain and the issue he’s got and the reality of it.” Hodgson said he had the impression that continuing might be “impossible,” calling the situation a shame given how closely contested the championship had been.

Martin’s participation proved brief in Friday afternoon’s hour-long Practice. He completed three laps and had a scare at Turn 12 on his fourth, abandoning the lap and returning to the pits. Aprilia stressed that the incident did not prompt the withdrawal: Bonora said the decision was based objectively on Martin’s medical condition. After consulting Charte, the team and rider agreed he should stop for the day and reassess on Saturday morning.

“Together with the doctors, we decided altogether to don’t continue and wait tonight and see tomorrow morning,” Bonora told the MotoGP world feed. He said Martin was finding it “difficult for him to manage the force” on the bike, particularly when trying to produce a time-attack lap. “So, it’s better to take no risk absolutely,” he added. Martin had taken painkillers and anti-inflammatories, but pushing for a fast time remained difficult. “At the moment, this is not the time to take any risks,” Bonora said. “We will try to do FP2 and Q1, and then we will see, step by step, session by session.”

Bonora said Aprilia had not pressured Martin to race, telling him after the Phillip Island crash: “We know that there is not enough time, so take it easy. We know your potential; we will await you.” Martin plans to try again in Saturday morning’s FP2; if he continues, he will have to go through Q1. He ended Practice 21st, 2.670 seconds off the pace.

Marquez also played down comparisons between Martin’s attempt to race with an injured arm and his own ill-fated comeback at Jerez in 2020. Martin broke the radius in his right arm less than a week before Sepang; Marquez said the situations should not be equated.

Marquez topped both sessions. Despite a relatively modest record at Sepang, the Ducati rider said he felt at one with his GP26 from his first outing on Friday and vowed to keep attacking. He said Sepang can be unpredictable for him, but this time “from the first lap I had a good feeling.” He described taking more risks in the afternoon and having “the little slide in Turn 15,” adding: “The rest was perfect.” The crash cost him no time: his 1:57.000 held to the flag. He said he had decided before Indonesia to “put everything on the table,” explaining that he felt physically better after earlier crashes in Austin, Jerez and Le Mans had forced him to be more cautious. “I have the championship in my hands and I will try to take as many points as possible from the 37 in Sepang,” he said, while cautioning that “a lot can change during a weekend.”

Asked about Martin, Marquez said he did not know the precise injury and did not want to judge it. “If the doctors say that he is fit, then I believe that,” he said, adding that Martin was in pain and “the risk must be acceptable.” He also called for Sepang’s surface to be replaced, as riders had already said last year, though he felt it was “not worse than during the winter tests.”

Marquez later made clear that Martin’s condition was not driving his approach: “Yes, I don’t care,” he said, explaining that the championship was “in my own hands” and he was focused on getting as close as possible to the 37 points available. He noted Ducati was working well at Sepang, with Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio also strong, but urged calm: “It’s only Friday” and, as weekends had shifted at Assen and Mandalika, “the weekend can change.”

Alex Marquez was second, 0.109 seconds back, with Trackhouse’s Ai Ogura third. Pedro Acosta and Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the top five. Enea Bastianini, Johann Zarco and Francesco Bagnaia also crashed late in Practice; Bastianini recovered to seventh and secured direct passage to Q2, while Zarco and Bagnaia finished 11th and 12th and must contest Q1. Raul Fernandez was ruled unfit after pain from his fractured right-hand fingers made braking difficult, and will return to Spain for physiotherapy, aiming to be ready for Qatar.