Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin hav🅠e given their opinions on their fight for the lead at the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix, with the latter calling it “an amazing battle for history”.

The pair s𝓡tarted alongside each other on the grid, with Bagnaia on pole and taking the holeshot into Turn 1 off the line in the 19-lap grand prix at Sepang.

Over the first three laps, there was 11 overtakes between the pair for the lead w🧜ith the championship on the line.

Bagnaia ultimately came out on top and went on to win his 10th grand 🅷prix of the season by 3.1s, cutting Martin’s championship lead down to 24 points to force a final round showdown.

Martin’s opinio🧸n in the battle was: “It was a great race. I enjoyed it a lot.

“Thanks to Pecco, because even if we were so aggressive between both of us, t🍬here is always this respect.

“We don’t want🧜 to race to🌊 destroy the other’s race. We want to win, both of us. So, I think it was a nice show for the fans.”

Bagnaia felt the fight was “very on the limit” but saw no issues with 🐓it.

“He was stronger in corner five, he was gaining a lo🙈t there,” Bagnaia𓂃 said.

“But I was very strong in all the entries to the corner𒊎s. And I think to overtake me, to attack me,✱ he had to go over the limit.

“I saw 🍃twiꩵce that he was losing the front again and the fight was very, very on the limit.

“But I was very good on braking and at the last corner I was always attacking at the maximum, and it was the🤪 good strategy.”

Bagnaia said๊ after the race that he had no intentions of backing Martin into the chasing pack as that would not have been “fair” in their fight for the championship.

🃏The hard battle between the pair🔜 at Sepang and subsequently positive reaction to it characterises the respect that has remained between the pair throughout their 2024 title battle. 

“Fo🐎r me, it’s very easy because I’m not the type of guy that wants to be rude outside of the traꦗck, and need to be rude on the track and aggressive, pushing out, being the one who doesn’t respect my rivals,” Bagnaia said when asked how he maintains his cordial relationship with Martin.

“I’ve never been like this and will never be like this. In the case Jorge starts to do it, I will cha🐓nge, but Jorge is more or less the same a𝄹s me.

“So, surely respect is the main thing and i꧟t will always be from my point o🌄f view. So, I don’t understand why we need to be enemies outside of the track or not speaking to each other or being rude.”

Martin🍃 adds that this respect between the pair stems from their time as ♊team-mates in Moto3 10 years ago.

“I think we know each other a lot since 20𝕴15,” the Pramac rider not✃ed.

“We were really ꧅good fri🌟ends in the past. Now we no more have that relationship, but we are good to each other. We can fight.

“You saw today: it was a🌜n amazing battle for history. Maybe not the last laps, but was amazing.

“And then we can speak about it, I think we both enjoyed it. If it’s like this in the future, for me 𒀰it will be perfect, and I hope it will be like this always.”