Malaysian Grand Prix: Alex Marquez dominates and takes his third win of the season

Spaniard Alex Marquez achieved his third victory this season by winning the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The 29-year-old Gresini rider finished second in Saturday’s sprint to secure second place in the MotoGP World Championship behind champion brother Marc Marquez.

He went even better on Sunday, finishing the race 2.676 seconds behind his Spanish compatriot Pedro Acosta.

This is the first time that Alex Marquez has won outside Spain this year, after his success in the Spanish and Catalan Grand Prix.

Marquez opened up a good lead early in the 20-lap race, passing Acosta before overtaking Italian Francesco Bagnaia.

Pole-place Bagnaia, who won Saturday’s sprint race, looked on course for third place before a bike problem forced him to retire on lap 18.

Honda driver Joan Mir took advantage of the opportunity and secured the final podium place in the hot and humid Sepang Circuit.

World champion Marc Marquez, who won his seventh MotoGP World Championship title in Japan last month, missed the race with a season-ending collarbone injury.

Earlier, the Moto 3 race was postponed and shortened after a collision between newly crowned world champion Jose Antonio Rueda and 20-year-old Noah Detwiler.

Both riders were airlifted to hospital but were conscious, according to the race’s medical director.

“My prayers and thoughts are with the Moto3 team,” Marquez said. “I still have some raw feelings in my stomach, so we’ll have to accept it.”