Brad Binder, Fabio Quartararo, and Jack Miller all weathered the second-corner incident at Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix without suffering any significant injuries.
Following the multi-rider collision, the race was red-flagged. Miller was given special care on the course when he fell from his factory KTM and it looked like his head struck the rear of Quartararo’s Yamaha. During the event, Honda’s Joan Mir also ran over the Australian’s leg.
Although Miller’s condition raised concerns in the paddock, he was able to walk back to his garage minutes later—even before the race was restarted—after being transported to the medical center.
However, following such a serious crash, Miller was not expected to ride again on Sunday.
Binder, a teammate of Miller’s, tried to go back to the track despite experiencing some left shoulder soreness, but the South African brought his bike back to the pits when the pain became unbearable as he was traveling to the grid.
Despite being on his second Yamaha, Quartararo managed to take the restart after escaping the mishap with only a limp. He placed sixth at the end of the race.
The Frenchman was the only one of the three riders to speak to the media on Sunday.
“I didn’t even see what happened,” said Quartararo. “It just felt like somebody hit me on the inside. It felt like a lot, and it was Jack’s head.
“I didn’t know how he was but I saw him in the paddock just before the restart so I was really happy that he was fine. Because [the crash] was a really scary one.”
Following the race, KTM team manager Francesco Guidotti provided a summary of his team’s brief Sunday.
“It was very bad to see but luckily nobody is injured,” said Guidotti. “Everything is fine.
“Jack went to the medical centre to have his foot checked but he is fine. He has no pain anywhere.
“Brad tried to take the second start but the pain in his left shoulder didn’t allow it. It wasn’t safe for him and for the others.
“If the pain is still there tomorrow, maybe Brad will go to have the shoulder checked.
“We have to be happy that both of them are fine and now look toward the last race.”
While noting that the incident had been triggered by contact between Binder and Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati), the stewards announced after the race that there would be no further action.
The ‘second’ race was reduced to 19 laps and got off to a spectacular start as Martin repeatedly attempted to make a move on Bagnaia stick during the first four laps. Thanks to Martin’s scant regard for the idea of following Bagnaia home and banking 20 points, their gripping battle was the longest protracted spell of wheel-to-wheel racing between the championship protagonists this season.
Francesco Bagnaia overcame Jorge Martin’s early challenge to win the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, making a light dent in Martin’s championship lead as the Spaniard came home second.
The pair duelled in spectacular fashion after factory Ducati rider Bagnaia converted his pole to a first-corner lead at the restart. However, Martin ultimately had to settle for second place and 20 points aboard his Pramac Ducati.
The result means Bagnaia has cut the gap at the top of the points table to 24, giving him a chance of retaining his world championship crown at the finale – now set to take place in Barcelona – in two weeks.
Martin’s slight mistake towards the end of lap four allowed Bagnaia a little breathing space to ride normal lines. He responded with fastest lap on lap five, which finally broke Martin’s challenge for victory.
Bagnaia was able to control the rest of the race to win by just over three seconds from Martin, whose choice to go against the grain and run the medium front tyre did not appear to have a meaningful impact on the outcome.
Enea Bastianini finished a lonely and distant third on the second factory Ducati. The Italian initially ran behind Marc Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and Franco Morbidelli (Pramac Ducati), but both fell on lap seven.
Alex Marquez, aboard the second Gresini Ducati, ran one spot behind Bastianini throughout the race. He briefly came under threat from Pedro Acosta, who made up several places from 13th on the grid, before the Tech3 KTM’s challenge faded in the final three laps.
Quartararo took an encouraging sixth place for Yamaha, with Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) and Alex Rins (Yamaha) completing the top eight.
Marco Bezzecchi won a tight battle for ninth place, the VR46 Ducati man holding off Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez by just over a tenth of a second at the flag.
Johann Zarco led the Hondas with his 11th place, while Marc Marquez recovered from his fall to finish 12th ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.
Morbidelli also remounted to score points, picking up two for his 14th place. Last of the scorers was Luca Marini on the factory Honda.
