Sepang:Spain’s Pedro Acosta clinched victory in the Sprint race at the Malaysian Grand Prix, the 19th round of the MotoGP World Championship, held at the Sepang International Circuit. The event is set to conclude on Sunday.

According to Qatar News Agency, Acosta completed the race in 20 minutes and 4.098 seconds, finishing 0.578 seconds ahead of his fellow Spaniard Marc Marquez, who secured second place. Italy’s Marco Bezzecchi rounded out the podium in third place, trailing Acosta by 1.310 seconds.

Marquez strengthened his lead in the championship standings, benefitting from the withdrawal of his closest competitor, Jorge Martín. With this result, Marquez’s points total rose to 374, giving him a 19-point lead over Martín, who remains in second place with 355 points. Bezzecchi holds the third position with 322 points.