Bagnaia beats Martin, Miller emerges from horror crash

Australia’s Jack Miller has avoided injury from a horrific crash at the start of the 2024 Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix that was critically won by Francesco Bagnaia.

After Miller’s horrific first-lap crash brought out the red flag, championship rivals Bagnaia and Jorge Martin sent fans into delirium as they produced a battle for the ages.

The pair exchanged the lead an incredible 16 times across the first four laps amid some breathtaking bar-to-bar action with Bagnaia ultimately emerging victorious to keep the championship alive by cutting Martin’s lead at 24 points with one round to go.

But the main focus was on Miller, who had a shocking fall after contact with Fabio Quartararo and Brad Binder.

Replays showed the Australian’s head hitting the rear wheel of Quartararo’s Yamaha.

With Miller being reported as conscious, but needing trackside assistance, the reds were waved.

“That was a big scare. We’re happy to report that both Binder and Miller are OK and back in the box,” a KTM statement read.

“Both, obviously, will not be participating in the Malaysian MotoGP race as we prioritise and focus on their recovery.”

Before the crash, Bagnaia knew he had to beat Martin to keep his hat-trick dream realistically alive and gave it everything off the line.

The pair went side by side into turn 1 at the front of the field and they even touched on approach.

Martin had the inside, but ran wide, which allowed Bagnaia to take the lead and Morbidelli to think about snatching second.

However, as they shot out of the chicane, Bagnaia held the lead ahead of Martin, who fought back to second, while Bastianini even snared third from Morbidelli.

But none of this mattered as the red flag was required for a shocking crash at Turn 2.

Miller had contact with Quartararo and Binder as they approached the narrow left hander.

All riders were reported as conscious, but sadly Miller was being treated by doctors on the track as Binder and Quartararo walked away.

When the rematch took place Bagnaia had a rocket start from pole and leaped into the lead ahead of Martin as Marc Marquez and Morbedelli fought for third with the Gresini rider winning the battle.

All riders thankfully got through the first two corners safely and by the Turn 5 sweeper Martin was all over the back wheel of Bagnaia, sparking an all-time fight for victory.

The Pramac rider launched a surprise move at Turn 6, but could not make it stick.

When Martin took another dive at the penultimate corner he completed the job, only to throw it away by running wide at the final hairpin.

The #89 savagely snatched back track position on corner exit, but again Bagnaia responded at the end of the main straight.

At Turn 4 Martin had another go with an aggressive lunge and it was also unsuccessful as the factory Ducati performed the criss cross.

The end of Lap 2 was an instant replay of the first as Martin made a move at 14, but again ran wide at the final turn.

The championship rivals almost touched as they charged down the pit straight and Martin appeared to win the battle, only to run wide at the opening corner.

Another dive down the inside at 4 was not fruitful, but this only presented an opportunity for Martin to nail a sensational slide down the inside of Bagnaia at the fast Turn 6 sweeper.

Fans and commentators alike were in awe as Bagnaia responded down the back straight.

The pair again flew past the start-finish line side by side and Bagnaia was the winner of the ballsy late-braking contest into Turn 1.

Incredibly this proved to be the decisive move as Bagnaia fired in the fastest lap of the race to ensure Martin could not fire another response for the remainder of the lap.

As everyone finally took a breath, keeping a close eye on the titanic duel was Marc Marquez in third, who was 1.6s clear of Morbidelli and Bastianini.

Within two laps Bagnaia’s pace shook off Martin with the #1 opening up a second in fresh air.

Joan Mir was the first to retire post the red flag, crashing at Turn 9.

Moments after Morbedelli lost fourth to Bastianini, the Pramac rider lost the front and crashed at the same left hander.

Desperate to keep up with the leading pair, Marc Marquez was pushing the limits and went over them.

With the #93 crashed out at the final corner on Lap 7, Martin’s biggest threat was gone with the top two around 5s clear of Bastianini.

With the leaders spread out, it became a game of maintaining tyre life and rider fitness in the hot conditions.

Bagnaia cruised to a 10th win of the 2024, ending up 3s clear of Martin.

They were a comfortable 7s ahead of Bastianini, while Alex Marquez held off Pedro Acosta for fourth as the Tech3 rookie made up an impressive 13 places.

The first non Ducati was Quartararo, who completed a dramatic day in a strong sixth for Yamaha.

The finale is believed to have been moved from Valencia to Barcelona on November 17.

Image: Gold and Goose

2024 Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix results

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