Enea Bastianini says he is still “completely free” to race Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagn꧙aia in this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix as the MotoGP title gets its first match point.

After winni𒆙ng the Thai GP last weekend, Bagnaia has cut Martin’s lead in the standings down to 17 points with just two rounds to go.

But the gap for Martin means🐼 this weekend’s Sepang event represents his first opportunity to wrap up the championship, with the Pramac rider needing to outscore Bagnaia by 21 p🍸oints to avoid a final round showdown.

Winner of last year’s Malaysian GP and always competitive at the Sepang track, Bastianini is being eyed up as a possible thorn in the side of the two title challenge✨rs as he also looks to beat Marc Marquez to third in the standings.

After Thailand, Bastianini said he would not turn to being a tailgunner for team-mate Bagnꦅaia this weekend and confirmed on Thursday at Sepang that he has not been given any instructions 💧from Ducati to do so either.

“Yeah, I’m completely fre𝄹e,” he sꩵaid when asked by wuqian0821.com if he’s had any team orders.

“ I hav♉e also me something to bring at the end of the season, I can bring that third🍬 place.

“I am really close to that. Also Marquez, also me, in the lasꦜt period have committed some mistakes and we have lost some points.

“But I need toℱ close that small back to try to fight with him in Valencia.”

With the ongoing flooding in the Valencia region, it is unclear at this stage whether ♑the championship will be concluded at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in November.

Bastianini’s win at Sepang last year marked his first as a factory team Ducati ride🐻r and came amid a difficult season of adapting to the GP23.

Explaining why he is so competitive at the Malaysian venue, Bastianini said: “It’s one of🎐 my favourite tracks.

“I have a really good memory of last year bꦍecause afꦜter a difficult period arrived that victory.

“And i𒀰t was so emotional for me. It’s difficult to repeat that result; that result will not be easy. But I’m here to try to do it.

“Probably because one of my strongest points is the corners on the right side, and also the f🦩ast corners on the right side.

“Here we have too much of this and 👍usually when we compare the data in🌃 that point, I’m much stronger compared to the other Ducati riders.

“But never say never. We have to try tomorrow and to see if I can be competitive becﷺause every year is different.”