Sunday, 26 October

The MotoGP™ race at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix was won by MotoGP™ World Champion Marc Marquez in the scorching afternoon heat at Sepang, with Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo also on the podium.

A huge crowd of more than 80,000 fans witnessed a great MotoGP race with Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) winning for the first time since Silverstone – riding superbly at round 17 and coming from behind after dropping back from pole on the first lap.

Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) took the early initiative in the race after a first crash by Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) who lost the front around Turn 15 while in second place.

Pedrosa recovered to 11th before suffering a second crash.
Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) took the lead at midrace stage as he got in front of Lorenzo and was followed through by Marquez. Two laps later Marquez pushed in front of the Italian and he built up a sufficient gap to defend his lead.

Marquez’s victory is the 12th of his second season in MotoGP, equaling Mick Doohan’s record of most premier class victories in a single season. The result seals the premier class Constructor’s title for Honda and ends a run of four Yamaha victories.

Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) beat Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) to the line for fourth as the Englishman closed in on the last lap, only to run long on the final corner.

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) rode bravely to sixth place, having broken a bone in his foot in a big crash on Saturday.

Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) crossed the line seventh, staying upright having almost collided with Pol Espargaro’s rear wheel midrace.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was on course fourth again before he dropped several positions to eighth in the final laps, apparently suffering from a technical issue.

The top ten was completed by Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) and Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini).
Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) and Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) both fell at Turn 1 on the second lap.

A mechanical problem forced an early retirement for Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team), his third DNF in three races.
Turn 9 saw Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar) lose the front as he chased his teammate Hiroshi Aoyama at the back of the top ten. Fellow Open Honda rider Karel Abraham (Cardio AB Motoracing) crashed some laps later.

Danilo Petrucci (Octo IodaRacing Team) retired with five laps to go, having been in a point scoring position. Hiroshi Aoyama (Drive M7 Aspar) also fell, but was able to remount and finish 11th.

More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:

Sepang International Circuit (Sepang, Malaysia), 26th October 2014

The Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix saw Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo claim Yamaha’s eighth double podium of the season after a heated battle at the Sepang International Circuit.

Valentino Rossi had a dream start to the Malaysian Grand Prix as he shot up two places to fourth and settled behind his teammate Lorenzo. As Lorenzo moved up the order, Rossi quickly responded and climbed to third, but he was shadowed in his every move by rival Marc Marquez. While lying second Dani Pedrosa crashed out of the race on the last corner of the third lap, promoting Rossi to second as he continued the hunt for his teammate. Slowly but surely Rossi closed the gap and on lap nine he made his move.

Aware that he was still followed by rival Marquez, the Doctor put the hammer down on the next lap but went slightly off line on the last corner and was forced to give the position to Marquez. Rossi refused to give up and chased his rival but, as the tyres started to wear down and the heat started to take its toll, he was unable to retake the lead and finished the race in second, +2.445 behind the leader.

Teammate Lorenzo catapulted off the line at the start of the Sepang battle and arrived at the first corner in second place until a slight touch with rival Marc Marquez forced him wide in the first corner. The Majorcan was quick to recover and went through the first corners side by side with teammate Rossi in third and fourth place.

Lorenzo was the quicker one of the two and soon made his move on Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa to take the lead before the end of the fist lap. He put his head down in the attempt to extend his lead, but Rossi soon caught up and with 11 laps to go made his move. Before Lorenzo could answer he held off an attack from Marquez in his typical x-fuera style, but was unable make it last. Lorenzo remained determined to fight, but eventually settled for third place, his 85^th MotoGP podium finish.

Rossi’s impressive comeback from sixth to second earns him 20 points and leaves him second in the championship standings with 275 points. Lorenzo’s performance sees him take 16 points and leaves him third in the championship standings on 263 points, just 12 points behind his teammate.

Valentino Rossi
2nd / +2.445 / 20 laps

“This race is the most difficult race for the riders but I felt good with my preparations. This means I have worked well. The second place is positive for me because we struggled much during the weekend and I wasn’t very strong. This morning we improved the bike and once again in the afternoon. The bike was perfect for the race. I fought a lot and I enjoyed the fight with Jorge and also the battle with Marc at the end. At one moment I thought I could win, but unfortunately Marc was a little bit too fast. The best way to think of the second place for the championship is to try and fight for the podium. That’s my target, but Valencia is a difficult track for me. In the past I struggled there a lot, so this year I want to try the maximum. I want to be competitive on Sunday and try to arrive on the podium.”

Jorge Lorenzo 3rd / +3.508 / 20 laps
“This race was very difficult. It was probably the hottest race in Malaysia in the whole 12 years that I have competed. I made a good start and was very brave on the first lap. I pushed at the maximum for the first seven to ten laps, but little by little trying to get the bike stopped was getting worse and worse. Valentino was really fast and during the second part of the race he was able to keep the same pace that I had at the beginning. It was very difficult to ride and fight. I wasn’t as fit as in Silverstone or Misano. These three weeks outside of Europe I’ve not trained hard enough, so I wasn’t as quick.”

Massimo Meregalli

“It’s been almost a perfect day, we finished the triple header overseas races with a brilliant result and again have both riders on the podium. Vale rode a superb race and Jorge also was very strong. Their performances were especially impressive considering the incredibly hot conditions. We were able to see in warm up that the pace and speed were good so we thought we could get a great result. Unfortunately we didn’t win but we have six podiums in three races and two wins, we can’t ask for much more. We go home satisfied with our efforts and look forward to finishing the season on a high note with a great race in Valencia. We have to thank all our staff, three overseas races in a row is tough and everyone worked very hard and never gave up.”

RACE RESULT

1. Marc Marquez (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 40’45.523 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP + 2.445 3. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP + 3.508 4. Stefan Bradl (GER) LCR Honda MotoGP + 21.234 5. Bradley Smith (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech3 + 22.283 6. Pol Espargarò (SPA) Monster Yamaha Tech3 + 34.668 7. Yonny Hernandez (COL) Energy T.I. Pramac Racing + 38.435 8. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati Team + 48.839 9. Hector Barbera (SPA) Avintia Racing + 50.792 10. Scott Redding (GBR) Go&Fun Honda Gresini + 59.088 11. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Drive M7 Aspar + 1’15.949 12. Michael Laverty (GBR) Paul Bird Motorsport + 1’17.966 13. Mike Di Meglio (FRA) Avintia Racing + 1’27.773 14. Brok Parkes (AUS) Paul Bird Motorsport + 1’44.244 15. Alex De Angelis (RSM) NGM Forward Racing Not classified (1 laps) 16. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Octo IodaRacing Team Not classified (6 laps) 17. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team Not classified (8 laps) 18. Karel Abraham (CZE) Cardion AB Motoracing Not classified (9 laps) 19. Nicky Hayden (USA) Drive M7 Aspar Not classified (14 laps) 20. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Ducati Team Not classified (16 laps) 21. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) NGM Forward Racing Not classified (19 laps) 22. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Go&Fun Honda Gresini Not classified (19 laps)