The next masterpiece from the 19-year-old KTM young star

SEPANG. It remains a battle on a knife edge. Ducati rider Enea Bastianini won the MotoGP Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia yesterday ahead of sprint winner Alex Marquez.

Behind him, Francesco Bagnaia kept his last remaining opponent Jorge Martin, who finished fourth, at a distance in the fight for the world title, but the lead over the last two race weekends is still only 14 points.

In the premier class, KTM had little to smile about after Brad Binder’s crash and Jack Miller’s eighth place. Another person got the people of Innviertel in Malaysia in a party mood:

The young Spanish star Pedro Acosta was crowned the youngest world champion in Moto2 since Dani Pedrosa in 2004 in the quarter-liter class at the age of 19 years and 171 days. Second place behind compatriot Fermin Aldeguer in Sepang was enough for him to become champion early to stand firm. His reward had already been determined before that. Acosta will move up to MotoGP next year and will be able to drive a KTM RC16 alongside Augusto Fernandez in the GasGas team. “I just want to say thank you to the entire team for the last two years. I don’t want to cry now, but I can’t say anything more,” said the Spaniard, visibly moved. Last year he was slowed down by a number of injuries and setbacks.

In 2021, Acosta was the first rider since Loris Capirossi in 1990 to win the title in Moto3, the former 125cc category, in his rookie season. Even back then he was celebrated by the Spanish media as the new Marc Marquez.

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Advance laurels, which KTM Motorsport Director Pit Beirer also underlines: “It says a lot that we believe that Pedro can switch to the MotoGP class at the age of 19. He could become a star of his generation. His second Moto2 “This season has been very impressive and it’s incredible that he has already grown from the class. It’s really exciting to see what he can achieve in the coming years.”

Ducati dominated once again

In MotoGP, however, things once again went less well for all non-Ducati riders. Former world champion Fabio Quartararo finished fifth on a different make with his Yamaha. The sprint on Saturday degenerated into a Desmosedici one-make cup when Alex Marquez triumphed ahead of Martin and Bagnaia. “The facts are on the table. We delivered a halfway decent race, but arrived 19 seconds late. So it’s clear that we have to do homework,” said KTM rider Miller, while his teammate Binder argued: “I am Never really got into driving this weekend.”

Next weekend the World Championship race will take place in Doha, and a week later the season finale will take place in Valencia.