MotoGP

Pedrosa Wins In Malaysia As Marquez Closes On Title

1 Mins read

Dani Pedrosa romped to his first victory in five months at Sepang this afternoon but Marc Marquez’s second place moved him to within touching distance of the MotoGP world title. Marquez saw off Jorge Lorenzo to finish second behind his teammate and should he outscore Lorenzo by eight points in Australia next weekend, he will become the first premier class rookie since 1978 to win the title.

Lorenzo made his now-customary lightning start from the second row to take the lead at turn one but unlike at Misano, the Yamaha didn’t have the legs to pull away from the Repsol Hondas who swarmed all over the back of him. At the end of lap five, Jorge gave in to the inevitable as Pedrosa breezed past him on the back straight and on the other side of the final hairpin, Marquez would do likewise.

Mindful that he couldn’t let the Hondas get away, Jorge fought straight back into turn four which prompted a feisty attack from his younger compatriot. Marquez twice charged up the inside of the Yamaha but on both occasions, Lorenzo would fight straight back with a move at turn eleven resulting in contact. Marc would try for a third time at turn thirteen on the ninth lap and this time, succeeded by running Lorenzo out of room on the exit, a move the reigning champion wasn’t too impressed with.

Rossi paid a touching tribute to his late friend Marco Simoncelli after finishing fourth (Photo Credit: Yamaha)

Rossi paid a touching tribute to his late friend Marco Simoncelli after finishing 4th (Photo Credit: Yamaha)

From there, the positions remained static with Valentino Rossi a lonely fourth on the second factory Yamaha while Alvaro Bautista stole fifth from Cal Crutchlow on the penultimate lap by outbraking him into final corner. Bradley Smith kept his teammate in sight to finish seventh while Andrea Dovizioso salvaged eighth on another awful day for Ducati which saw two of their four motorcycles failed to finish.

Andrea Iannone suffered a broken steering damper mount on his Pramac Machine while a despondent Nicky Hayden had to pull over on the pit straight with smoke pouring from his machine. Yonny Hernandez did at least bring his GP13 home in tenth for his best result of the year though, trailing CRT winner Aleix Espargaro by two seconds.

Avatar photo
5101 posts

About author
MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3 and WorldSBK writer for The Checkered Flag. Contact: [email protected]
Articles
Related posts
MotoGPNASCAR Cup Series

Trackhouse Racing Team entering MotoGP in 2024

1 Mins read
NASCAR Cup Series team Trackhouse Racing will become a MotoGP team in 2024 as they partner with Aprilia to field bikes for Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez.
DakarMotoGP

Marc Marquez shoots down running Dakar Rally on bike

3 Mins read
As much as MotoGP great Marc Márquez likes the Dakar Rally, he has no interest in racing it on a bike. While it has its own challenges, he did not necessarily rule out a run on four wheels.
MotoGPSportscars

MotoGP star Rossi announced as BMW M Motorsports driver for 2023

2 Mins read
BMW M Motorsport has announced the MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi as a works driver for 2023