Acosta wins chaotic Sepang MotoGP sprint
Pedro Acosta claimed victory in a bizarre Sepang MotoGP sprint that was threatened by rain late on.
Acosta came out on top of a four-way battle for the race win, prevailing by 0.578s over Marc Marquez, who increased his championship chances with second place.
Marquez is now 19 points up on the absent Jorge Martin, and 52 points clear of Marco Bezzecchi.
His brother Alex Marquez had got the start from pole position and led uncontested for four laps until he slid out of the race lead at Turn 14.
The lead was then inherited by Ai Ogura, who had moved up to second place after an aggressive opening corner tussle with Marc.
Spots of rain meant the white flag came out on lap two, allowing riders to swap bikes - with Jack Miller immediately prepared to take the gamble, but his Pramac Yamaha team not ready with his second bike, which frustrated him to no end.
Iker Lecuona, Joan Mir and Franco Morbidelli were the first group to come in and successfully switch on lap five, but were setting times almost 10 seconds off the leaders’ pace, with Maverick Vinales the only other rider electing to change towards the end of the race.
In the tricky conditions the top four bunched up, Ogura managing to hold off the challenges until Acosta attacked with three laps to spare.
Although Ogura responded to the initial overtake from Acosta, he eventually ceded the position and slumped to fourth as his wet-weather demons made him no match for Marquez and Bezzecchi. He did, however, have a huge amount of breathing room to fifth-placed Fabio Di Giannantonio.
Pecco Bagnaia overcame Brad Binder in their battle for sixth, while Diogo Moreira and Enea Bastianini picked up the final sprint points in eighth and ninth.
Race results
1 Pedro Acosta (KTM) 2:00.357s
2 Marc Marquez (Ducati) +0.578s
3 Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) +1.310s
4 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) +1.793s
5 Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) +5.053s
6 Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) +8.330s
7 Brad Binder (KTM) +8.484s
8 Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) +9.001s
9 Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM) +9.101s
10 Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) +9.545s
11 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) +10.076s
12 Alex Rins (Yamaha) +12.250s
13 Luca Marini (Honda) +12.715s
14 Augusto Fernandez (Pramac Yamaha) +14.878s
15 Maverick Vinales (Tech3 KTM) +1m42.843s
16 Joan Mir (Honda) +1m43.826s
17 Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati) +1m45.065s
18 Iker Lecuona (Gresini Ducati) +1m56.425s
DNF Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati)
DNF Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha)
