Red Bull Motorsports
MotoGP
Here's what went down at the Malaysian Grand Prix
Valentino Rossi throws away victory and Marc Márquez wins in Malaysia ahead of Álex Rins and Johann Zarco.
MotoGP action in Malaysia kicked off two hours earlier than scheduled at the 5.54km (3.44 miles) Sepang Circuit in order to avoid heavy rain forecast for later in the day.
Zarco managed to hang onto Rossi as the first lap ended with drama as Suzuki’s Iannone slid off at the final hairpin before completing a lap, seemingly distracted by a twitchy Márquez.
Márquez, meanwhile, had recovered from his grid penalty to challenge Zarco and pass the Frenchman for second place with 16 laps remaining and the recently re-crowned champion set about catching Rossi’s leading works Yamaha.
Rossi looked smooth, treating his tyres well in the scorching heat and with to laps remaining his lead amounted to 1.3 seconds. Despite increasing pressure from Márquez the Italian looked certain to win his first race of 2018.
Honda takes Constructors Championship
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With four laps remaining the pressure paid off for Honda and Márquez as Rossi pushed too hard and slid off the circuit with handing a ninth win of the year to Márquez, a fourth podium finish for Álex Rins, who made his way up to second on the final lap, and a third podium of 2018 for Zarco.
Rossi hands victory to Márquez
With a handful of laps it looked as though Valentino Rossi would be taking his first MotoGP victory since the 2017 Dutch TT.
It wasn’t to be…
With four laps remaining Marc Márquez had hauled in the Italian and was looking to challenge for the lead until, half way around turn one, Rossi’s Yamaha swapped ends and the seven-time MotoGP champion retired and handed Márquez win number nine of 2018.
Rossi had crashed out before Márquez had even had a chance to send one up the inside, meaning the packed grandstands were robbed of a titanic battle, and the champion was gifted the win.
Battle for second in the championship in still on... just
After taking a battling third place at the previous race in Australia, Andrea Dovizioso experienced one of the most anonymous races of his season onboard the lone works Ducati, coming home in sixth .
Luckily for the Italian, his main rival for second place in the championship is his countryman Rossi, and the Yamaha rider's failure to score points in Malaysia is a massive help to Dovizioso's runner-up aspirations.
Nobody can catch Márquez, but, with one race remaining, the reprieve handed to Dovizioso by Rossi means the Ducati rider retains second place in the standings by 15 points with one race remaining.
Álex Rins scores a superb second for Suzuki
Conversely, his Suzuki teammate Andrea Iannone went from hero to zero. The Italian scored a superb second place in Australia, but was involved in a strange opening lap crash taking unnecessary avoiding action from a twitchy Márquez at the end of lap one.
Zarco chalks up a much needed podium finish
Johann Zarco
© Motogp.com
After 12 races without a podium, Tech 3 Yamaha’s Johann Zarco tasted the champagne once again in Malaysia after a solid race that will boost the Frenchman’s confidence heading towards the winter break.
Zarco has good form at Sepang Circuit: he won in Moto2 in 2015 and 2016, finished third here last year in his debut MotoGP season and, despite losing out to Álex Rins’s Suzuki on the final lap, third place was a good return.
Pedrosa helps Honda win the team’s title
Dani Pedrosa
© GEPA/Red Bull Content Pool
In his final Malaysian Grand Prix Dani Pedrosa looked quick, running strongly in fourth before fading in the second half of the race and being passed by an impressive Rins and a recovering Maverick Viñales.
Impressive and emotional home race for Syahrin
Even before the green light in Malaysia there were emotional scenes for Hafizh Syahrin, who was racing at his home MotoGP event.
The Tech 3 Yamaha rider may have qualified last on the grid, but, after an emotionally charged pre-race, he powered to an impressive top 10 finish and engaged in some memorable celebrations with his adoring public and continued his solid season.
Jorge Martin, Moto3 World Champion
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