Marc Márquez takes second in the Sepang Sprint with the Ducati Lenovo Team. Francesco Bagnaia finishes sixth

Marc Márquez and the Ducati Lenovo Team secured second place in the nineteenth Sprint of the season, held at the Sepang International Circuit. Francesco Bagnaia, tenth in qualifying, finished the encounter in sixth position.

Márquez, second on the grid, lost two places in the heat of the battle through the first few corners. Marc then expertly managed the track conditions, which became tricky and unpredictable with the arrival of rain, and worked his way up to second position in the closing stages after an intense battle with Ogura. Bagnaia, after gaining four positions at the start, successfully defended sixth place in the final stages of the Sprint.

The Ducati Lenovo Team will return to action tomorrow at 10:40 local time (GMT+8) for warm-up. The Grand Prix of Malaysia will be contested over 20 laps from 15:00.

Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd
“This was a very complex Sprint, one where it was easy to make a mistake. We knew these conditions were a possibility and, for this reason, our strategy was to avoid leading the race, with the goal of finishing behind the winner. We achieved that, and I'm very happy with it. It wasn't easy to handle the situation in the best possible way: track conditions were constantly evolving, and it wasn't easy to understand where the limit was, especially in sector two, where it was raining much more heavily. I stayed calm and collected and dealt with the situation to the best of my abilities.”

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 6th
“Sixth is certainly a good result, especially considering how the recent races have gone. We made a good start and braked well into Turn 1, which helped me get past several riders. I tried to stay with the frontrunners, but I didn't have the pace to do so. The raindrops helped us in a way, because from the third lap onwards I was already struggling with rear grip. The goal for tomorrow is to get the best possible start and try to limit rear-tyre wear, which is our biggest problem at the moment.”