Pedro Acosta won the Malaysian MotoGP sprint at Sepang on October 31, finishing 0.578 seconds ahead of championship leader Marc Márquez after a race complicated by intermittent rain.
The official classification recorded a winning time of 20 minutes, 4.098 seconds over 10 laps. Marco Bezzecchi completed the podium, 1.310 seconds behind Acosta, while Ai Ogura finished fourth after leading much of the race.
The result gave Acosta his second sprint victory of the season. Márquez’s second place increased his championship advantage over the absent Jorge Martín to 19 points, MotoGP reported. Bezzecchi stood 52 points behind the leader after finishing third.
Pole sitter Álex Márquez initially led but crashed at Turn 14 on the third lap. Ogura inherited the lead before Acosta made his decisive move with three laps remaining, according to Crash.net’s race account.
Rain created an additional tactical decision. Riders were permitted to change bikes, and several switched to machines prepared for wet conditions. The leading group stayed out on dry tires, a choice that held up as the track remained sufficiently manageable through the finish.
Fabio Di Giannantonio finished fifth, followed by Francesco Bagnaia and Brad Binder. Diogo Moreira took eighth, one-tenth of a second ahead of Enea Bastianini in ninth, the final points-paying position.
The sprint was Saturday’s shorter race, rather than the weekend’s main Grand Prix. The full Malaysian Grand Prix remains scheduled for Sunday, November 1, at Sepang. The championship figures reflect the completed sprint and do not include any points from that forthcoming race.
Sources MotoGP — Official Malaysian Sprint Report: https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2026/10/31/acosta-denies-marc-marquez-and-bezzecchi-in-tense-sprint-showdown-at-sepang/1181622 MotoGP — October 31 Sprint Classification: https://stats.motogp.com/en/gp-results Crash.net — October 31 Sepang Sprint Results: https://www.crash.net/motogp/results/1108662/1/2026-malaysian-motogp-sepang-sprint-results