There are not many races to go, but there are many moments left. So we must be super confident.”Saturday’s sprint winner, Pedro Acosta of KTM, finished second while Gresini’s Alex Marquez was third.After losing the lead ⁠to his brother, Alex Marquez was drawn into a duel with Acosta, ⁠who stuck to the wheel of the Gresini rider for several laps before expertly overtaking him at the midway point of the race.By then, however, the distance to the leader had already grown too large to overcome.Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi, ⁠an outside contender for the title, finished in sixth place after being overtaken late by both Trackhouse rider Ai Ogura and Tech3’s Enea Bastianini.Marc Marquez’s main title rival, Martin, had initially looked set to return ⁠in Malaysia and briefly tried to compete in Saturday morning’s practice session.However, the Aprilia rider was visibly struggling and eventually did not take part in qualifying, ending his weekend early to continue his recovery from the fracture he sustained in a crash ‌at Phillip Island, Australia, last week.The Spaniard, who won the title in 2024, conceded that his MotoGP title challenge was essentially over after his withdrawal.The MotoGP season next moves to the Lusail International ‌Circuit ‌for the Qatar Grand Prix, which is set to go ahead next weekend despite pushback from riders concerned about going there during the United States-Israel war on Iran.Ducati’s Spanish rider Marc Marquez holds a Spanish flag as he finishes first at the Malaysian Grand Prix [Mohd Rasfan/AFP]