With a new penalty point on his licence to go with the two already there, few actually thought that the possibility of a grid penalty would bother Marc Marquez in Malaysia. The youngster may be a touch wild, but he has injected a new excitement to MotoGP this year and PH2 loves him because of it.
Marquez closed up to Pedrosa late on...
Having set pole position, Marc was the man on form in Malaysia. However it was Rossi’s second spot that raised a few eyebrows. Could we see the Doctor back on the podium?
Fair play to Lorenzo, he needs to start winning races and showed some serious commitment at the start, catapulting himself into the lead. With its long straights, Malaysia suits the rapid Honda so the odds were stacked against Lorenzo as Pedrosa and Marquez tucked into his slipstream.
Unlike so many recent races, the early laps seemed to promise an action packed battle for the lead as Lorenzo failed to make a break, keeping the top five together in a pack. And speaking of a pack, was Marquez taking it easy with his team mate in front? Was he hell and Marc’s onboard camera was full of Pedrosa’s rear tyre as usual!
... but it was Dani who took the win
16 to go and Pedrosa eventually made it past Lorenzo, rapidly followed a few corners later by Marquez. Elbows emerged and Lorenzo retook second spot as he demonstrated to Marc he is no pushover during the course of a brutal few laps of fairing bashing. As the two Spaniards traded places, Pedrosa was merrily making his escape at the front while Rossi was clinging in there in fourth spot.
With 11 laps to go, Marquez eventually broke Lorenzo and set out after leader Pedrosa. With his championship effectively over, Dani wasn’t a threat to Marc but you just knew that inside Marquez’s crash helmet the red mist was descending…
After the excitement of the first half of the race, the final ten laps were a bit of a parade as Pedrosa lead the field home with Marc in second, Lorenzo third and Rossi fourth. More points for Marc over Lorenzo, job done for the rookie sensation.
Moto2 and once again it was damage limitation for Scott Redding. Despite a red flag reducing the race to a 12 lap dash, Scotty couldn’t make up the gap to the leaders and finished a decent seventh. With Espargaro in second spot, Redding’s championship lead is down to just nine points. It’s squeaky bum time for the Gloucestershire lad…
A dramatic Moto3 race saw Salom take the win and extend his championship lead with Rins in second and Oliveira in third.
MotoGP
1. Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team)
2. Marquez (Repsol Honda Team)
3. Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing)
Moto2
1. Rabat (Tuenti HP 40)
2. Espargaro (Tuenti HP 40)
3. Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing)
Moto3
1. Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
2. Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0)
3. Oliveira (Mahindra Racing)
Brit watch
Cal Crutchlow (MotoGP) - 6
Bradley Smith (MotoGP) - 7
Michael Laverty (MotoGP – CRT) - DNF
Scott Redding (Moto2) – 7
Danny Kent (Moto2) – 12
Gino Rea – (Moto2) - 18
John McPhee (Moto3) – 17