This weekend, MotoGP riders were in Malaysia for a special event. With high temperatures and intense rains on a very fast track, it was difficult to know who would be at the forefront.
Before the start of this new MotoGP weekend, only three events remained. While positions in the championship matter little in this 2025-2026 season for Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo, what’s important is to prepare for the future. On the Sepang circuit, it’s never easy with the monsoons and suffocating heat. Nonetheless, this track, alternating between fast and slow turns, is a good way to test the limits of the different machines. In this little game, the Maralpins riders have made their mark. Fabio Quartararo once again showed his talent in qualifying by placing 4th, and Johann Zarco 9th. Two very promising starting positions to aim for big points and join the race for the podium.
The start of the sprint race for the Maralpins was good. Fabio Quartararo was battling with Franco Morbidelli in an attempt to retain 4th place, but ultimately lost out after a fierce fight. “El Diablo” eventually let go and found himself just ahead of his compatriot Johann Zarco, who had a good first lap. The rider from Cannes had a strong start to the race and managed to stay in contact with the leading group.
Another positive point: the Yamaha’s pace seems better than in recent races. But in challenging tire conditions, the Azuréens gradually let go. While Fabio Quartararo finally managed to maintain the pace in the final laps, Johann Zarco needed several race incidents to hold onto his eighth place.
At the finish, the rider from Cannes was generally satisfied: “Happy to take those two points. Clearly, I benefited from others’ crashes,” he acknowledged. “Happy with the start, best start of the year, so we’re still making progress there. I had a very good attack, a very good rhythm set on the first lap. But it’s a shame not to stick with the others. I wasn’t comfortable on my bike this afternoon. I’m a little disappointed with that, not having made any progress between yesterday and this afternoon. Even in qualifying, I repeated my time, but three tenths faster, it was something achievable.”
On Fabio Quartararo’s side, the feeling was a bit more mixed: “I did my best. I think our pace was good, but insufficient […] It’s been a long time since I had this much fun in a fight. I believe my pace wasn’t so bad given how it was yesterday. I expected to be a bit faster, especially with a bit less degradation, but overall I felt quite similar to the guys ahead, namely Acosta and Morbidelli. Over ten laps, you don’t really save the tires.”
In the end, the Niçoise rider benefited from the penalty received by Fermín Aldeguer to gain an additional position and finished 5th.
The difficult heat management
Like the previous day, the temperature was very high, and the Azuréens riders had another good start. Fabio Quartararo managed to hold onto his fourth place, while Johann Zarco gained one to rank 8th among the two official Hondas. Taking advantage of the battle ahead of him, Fabio Quartararo held onto the leading riders fighting for the podium. Unlike Johann Zarco, whose pace gradually decreased. Known for his ability to manage tire wear, he ultimately missed the mark: “I was in a good position and was able to control my pace for a while, as I wasn’t far from the group ahead. But as the laps went by, I couldn’t manage the tire drop, and that’s when other riders passed me.”
At the finish, the rider from Cannes with the Honda LCR team concluded his weekend in Malaysia in 12th place. “I tried to finish the race the best I could, and overall, after many difficulties, we had a solid weekend. We need to keep improving.”
As for Fabio Quartararo, it should be noted that before mid-race, the Niçoise managed to match the leaders’ pace. Just two seconds off the podium, hopes were still high, proving that Yamaha made progress in terms of setup this weekend in these conditions. In managing his tire strategy, he ended up being caught by the riders behind him. Taking advantage of several competitors’ issues, “El Diablo” finished in a commendable and encouraging 5th place: “The tires were challenging to manage, but we did the job this weekend,” the Niçoise said at the finish. “We had to manage the tires while defending our position, and we succeeded, so it was a good race. I feel good on the bike at the moment.”
With two Grand Prix left in the season, the Maralpins riders showed some great potential this weekend and can be hopeful for the Portugal race in two weeks.
