Alex Marquez’s Sepang Sprint ended from the front on the second of 10 laps, when he crashed at Turn 13 after starting from pole position. The Gresini Racing rider had led Ai Ogura through the opening stages and was in position to fight for victory before the mistake brought his race to an abrupt stop.

Rain appeared at some point during almost the entire Sprint, but Marquez did not identify it as the cause. He described the crash as the result of a very small mistake made in intense heat and with little grip, conditions that left almost no room for error. He also acknowledged that the confidence gained from pole position may have made him too optimistic, and that he rode more on instinct than judgment.

The problem area at Sepang

Marquez pointed to Turns 13 and 14 as the circuit’s most difficult section when it comes to track conditions. The surface is breaking up in several places, while the corner where he fell is also where riders are pushing closest to the limit. His approach for Sunday is to manage that section more effectively rather than let the same small margin decide the outcome again.

The high-speed fall did not further damage Marquez’s right shoulder, which was injured in his collision with Pedro Acosta at Catalunya. He said he was physically fine and that the shoulder was not behind the crash. He is nevertheless considering surgery next week; if he has the operation, he would miss the Qatar Grand Prix. Marquez won at Sepang in 2025.