REIGNING world champion Francesco Bagnaia paid the price for a front-tyre problem midway through the sprint race at the 2023 Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) in Sepang, today.

The Ducati Lenovo Team rider was admittedly unhappy with the situation, which saw him finish the race in third place after starting from pole position at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC).

“I think it was the fifth or sixth lap, I started to struggle a lot with the front and I was having a lot of movements. I did not expect that,” he told reporters.

Gresini Racing MotoGP rider Alex Marquez emerged as the first sprint race champion of the 2023 Malaysian GP after clocking 19 minutes and 58.713 seconds (s), with Jorge Martin of Prima Pramac Racing coming in second (+1.589s behind).

Although he failed to come out tops in today’s sprint race, Bagnaia is relieved to be back in pole position for tomorrow’s race after the Italian last achieved it at the Barcelona GP in September.

Earlier in the second qualifying session, the 26-year-old created a sensation when he smashed the Sepang lap record by clocking 1:57.491s to erase the previous mark of 1:57.790s set by Martin last year.

Meanwhile, Martin said he was still happy despite coming out second best in the sprint race.

“It was an amazing race. The pace was outstanding. I think all the riders were on the limit,” the Spaniard said.

Martin will start the full race tomorrow in second spot on the grid after clocking 1:57.549s while Bagnaia’s teammate, Enea Bastianini completes the front row with 1:57.59s.

Today’s sprint race result has made the title battle more intense between Bagnaia and Martin.

This is because Martin has managed to reduce the gap to 11 points after collecting 385 points to be in second place behind Bagnaia (396 points).

The sprint race was introduced in the premier class this season. It lasts half of the normal race distance (14 laps) and the top nine finishers will score world championship points. – Bernama, November 11, 2023.