The factory Ducati rider defeated Pramac’s Jorge Martin to bring the points deficit down to 24 points with one round remaining.

A maximum of 37 points are on offer for the season finale, which is expected to take place at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

“Managing the heat was the easiest part today,” said Bagnaia.

“Jorge was very aggressive and he knew he had to let me behind, but our pace was too good. Like always in the race on Sunday I can attack, I can be more and more aggressive.

“We just need to understand why on Saturdays [in the Sprint races] I’m struggling to do the same. It’s the 10th victory of the season and we are doing an incredible job. I just have to improve a bit on Saturdays.”

Bagnaia got the holeshot into Turn 1 at Sepang International Circuit before the race was red-flagged for a terrifying Turn 2 crash involving Australia’s Jack Miller.

After a lengthy delay, the race resumed at a reduced 19-lap distance. Again, Bagnaia led into the first turn before engaging in one of the greatest exchanges of the season.

Lap after lap, the pair traded the lead before Bagnaia eventually sealed the lead and skipped away.

The Italian kept Martin at arm’s length but the Spaniard began to reel Bagnaia back in as the chequered flag approached.

They’re throwing it all on the line ⚔️

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With the gap under two seconds, the race-defining mistake at Turn 9 on Lap 16 blew the lead back out. All told, Martin finished three seconds back.

“Thanks to Pecco [Bagnaia], because he’s making this challenge more and more difficult,” Martin said.

“I wanted to win and I wanted to be on the lead, but for sure Pecco had another strategy. He was quite aggressive, I was also, and we were making a good show for the first few laps.

“But then as soon as he overtook me, it was impossible to fight. I tried to put some more pressure, but I almost crashed.”

So fast was the pace of the front pair that third place finisher Enea Bastianini was 10 seconds in arrears at the chequered flag.

Gresini’s Marc Marquez was on course to finish third but crashed at the final turn. He remounted his bike and recovered to 12th.

On his MotoGP return with the VR46  Racing Team, Andrea Iannone wound up 17th.

Marc Marquez crashes out of 3rd- Rider OK ✅

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There were two retirements after the race restarted. LCR Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami retired to the pits while factory Honda rider Joan Mir crashed.

Results: MotoGP Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix, Sepang International Circuit