MotoGP Results – 2023 MotoGP World Championship round 18

*Rookie.

Official Sepang MotoGP records
Best lap: Jorge Martin 1m 57.790s (2022)
Fastest race lap: Jorge Martin 1m 59.634s (2022)

A delighted Francesco Bagnaia beats title rival Jorge Martin to pole position for the 2023 Malaysian MotoGP with a new lap record at Sepang.

Martin crashed while trying to improve on his provisional pole time on the final lap, with Bagnaia then snatching P1 away from the Pramac rider by just 0.058s.

The world championship rivals will thus start side-by-side in this afternoon’s Sprint and Sunday’s main grand prix.

Bagnaia’s factory Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini, whose 2024 seat is under pressure from Martin, completes a front row covered by just 0.099s after a sudden step in form.

Alex Marquez, Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi rounded out an all-Ducati top six in qualifying, with Brad Binder (KTM) and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) best of the rest.

Fabio di Giannantonio, fastest in Qualifying 1, fell at the final corner during Q2. Luca Marini then tumbled at Turn 9, bringing out more yellow flags, before Martin lost the front at Turn 4.

Aleix Espargaro, Franco Morbidelli and Marc Marquez failed to advance past Qualifying 1. Morbidelli, second to team-mate Quartararo in final practice, and Marquez tussled over a tow for much of Q1, as the Repsol Honda rider twice followed the Yamaha out of the pits.

It cost them both.

Morbidelli dropped out of a transfer place as he repeatedly backed off and braked early to try and force Marquez to pass. After finally passing Morbidelli, Marquez then fell while trying to overtake Augusto Fernandez on his last lap and will start 20th.

Just 13 points separate reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia from title rival Jorge Martin heading into the final triple header of the MotoGP season, starting at Sepang this weekend.

While Bagnaia holds a narrow points advantage, momentum is back with Martin after taking a perfect double of Sprint and GP victories last time out in Thailand.

However, Martin was also among several riders to receive an official warning for low tyre pressure in the Buriram GP. Another infringement in the remaining rounds will result in the Pramac rider receiving a 3s post-race time penalty.

With tyre pressure tricky to predict, varying massively depending on if a rider is leading or following, the best way Martin can now be sure of keeping future race victories is to win on track by a margin of at least 3s… The same applies to any other finishing position he achieves.

Aside from the title fight, the big news this weekend is a wild-card entry for reigning World Superbike champion Alvaro Bautista. The Spaniard, making his first MotoGP start since 2018, is riding a factory spec Ducati GP23 in Aruba.It colours.

Bautista is not the only WorldSBK rider on the grid with Alex Rins, who missed Thailand after undergoing further leg surgery, replaced by Iker Lecuona for both Sepang and next weekend’s Qatar round.

Sepang was the venue for the opening pre-season test of the year, in February, when Luca Marini (fastest), Francesco Bagnaia, Maverick Vinales, Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin were all covered by 0.315s at the top of the timesheets.

Weather forecasts warn of a risk of afternoon rain on Saturday and Sunday.