Francesco Bagnaia declared he could relax at last after winning a dramatic Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix on Sunday to put him on the brink of a first MotoGP world championship.

The Italian’s champagne remains on ice, however, after rival Fabio Quartararo finished third to take the battle to the season’s final race at Spain’s Valencia in two weeks.

Bagnaia would have clinched the title had Quartararo finished outside the podium places at Sepang, but the Ducati rider instead extended his lead to 23 points. 

Bagnaia took the chequered flag in 40min 14:332sec, 0.270sec ahead of fellow Ducati rider Enea Bastianini. Quartararo completed the podium 2.7sec adrift.

“Now I can relax!” said a jubilant Bagnaia, who now just needs to finish higher than 15th in Spain to be crowned world champion for the first time.

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