Honda’s Marc Marquez fought through the penalty to win MotoGP’s Malaysian GP at Sepang from Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Tech 3 Yamaha’s Johann Zarco as a crash for Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi from the lead hindered his win chance.
It was a dream start for Rossi to take the lead with Zarco in second from Pramac Racing Ducati’s Jack Miller as Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone battled Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso and Honda pair of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa.
The man on the move was Tech 3 Yamaha’s Hafizh Syahrin as he made up nearly chunk of places to be right on the tail of the Top 10 behind Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales after starting from last on his home grand prix at Sepang.
At the front, Rossi kept Zarco in check as Miller came under pressure from Marquez who cleared Dovizioso and Iannone in successive laps. In fact, a moment in the final corner for Marquez unsettled Iannone who tried to take an evasive action but crashed himself.
Marquez though was unfazed as he passed Miller on the next lap and after few laps, he was in second behind Rossi after passing Zarco. Behind the Top 3, Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Vinales were the two riders on the charge.
Rins passed Pedrosa, Dovizioso and Miller to fourth with Vinales having to do additional work to pass Angel Nieto Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista and Pramac Racing Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci – he did so to slot behind Rins.
The pace, meanwhile, just wasn’t there for all the Ducati riders as Dovizioso fell to the back of Pedrosa in seventh with Miller dropping to eighth from Bautista, while Petrucci battled Syahrin for 10th position.
It looked set for a grandstand finish until four laps remaining but it wasn’t to be as Rossi dropped out in Turn 1 with Marquez then inheriting the lead from Zarco and Rins. The Italian was keeping Marquez in check to break his winless streak since Assen last year.
Marquez then eased off to win the Malaysian GP – his first win since winning the 2018 MotoGP title in Thailand. The fight for second got interesting with Zarco facing the heat from Rins and a recovering Vinales.
The Frenchman tried hard but Rins finally found a way on the final lap to take second with Zarco completing the podium then from Vinales, who made up seven places from 11th on the grid for a Top 4 finish.
Pedrosa’s fifth place finish helped Honda to seal the constructors’ championship with Dovizioso only in sixth as he lead the pack of Ducati riders with Bautista in seventh, Miller eighth and Petrucci ninth.
Having started dead last, Syahrin did all he could to finish in 10th with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro finishing 11th from Marc VDS Honda’s Franco Morbidelli, who recovered into the points after a slow start – keeping in the fight with Syahrin for the rookie honours.
Cal Crutchlow’s stand-in Stefan Bradl in the LCR Honda was 13th from teammate Takaaki Nakagami with KTM’s Bradley Smith taking the final point. Teammate Pol Espargaro along with Jorge Lorenzo’s stand-in Michele Pirro ran inside the points at one stage.
A crash for Pirro ended his chances while Espargaro retired due after an issue as did Angel Nieto Ducati’s Karel Abraham. Following his fall, Rossi was 18th behind Marc VDS Honda’s Thomas Luthi and Avintia Racing Ducati’s Xavier Simeon. Aprilia’s Scott Redding was 19th.