MotoGP Malaysia: Marquez beats Rossi in two way fight for victory

Marc Marquez secured his 12th victory of the MotoGP season at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, equalling the record set by Mick Doohan in 1997.

Things didn’t start very well for the newly crowned double world champion who slipped to sixth place by the time the field made its way through the first section of corners. However, the Spaniard quickly regained lost ground and was behind the leading Yamaha pair by the second lap of the race.

When Valentino Rossi overtook Lorenzo on lap 10 , Marquez quickly sensed an opportunity and passed the #99 Yamaha, setting up the foundation of a two way showdown for Sepang glory.

Marquez eventually emerged victorious, despite the best efforts of ‘The Doctor’ who was chasing his third victory of the season.

Behind the leading trio came the LCR Honda of Stefan Bradl who held off a charging Bradley Smith in the Tech 3 Yamaha. The injured Pol Espargaro finished in a creditable sixth place, having started well down the order in 12th.

Dani Pedrosa’s hopes of taking second place in the riders standings took a big blow when he crashed twice during the race, with the second of the crashes bringing up his retirement.

Honda will head to Valencia for the final round of 2014 MotoGP world championship with the constructors title secured, bringing an end to Yamaha’s four year reign. On the drivers front, Rossi and Lorenzo are separated by 12 points in the fight for best of the rest behind world champion Marquez.

MALAYSIAN MOTOGP GRAND PRIX - TOP 10
1. Marc Marquez Honda
2. Valentino Rossi Movistar Yamaha
3. Jorge Lorenzo Movistar Yamaha
4. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda
5. Bradley Smith Yamaha Tech 3
6. Pol Espargaro Yamaha Tech 3
7. Yonny Hernandez Pramac Racing
8. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Team
9. Hector Barbera Avintia Racing
10. Scott Redding Go&Fun Honda

MOTO2: VINALES VICTORIOUS AS RABAT CROWNED CHAMPION

Maverick Vinales took his fourth Moto2 victory of the season in Malaysia but the day belonged to Esteve Rabat who clinched the Moto2 title with a third place finish at Sepang.

Rabat led the race from pole position before slipping behind Paginas Amarillas’ Vinales and his own teammate Mika Kallio with 10 laps to go. These two riders traded positions for a couple of laps before Vinales surged ahead of his Finnish rival, winning the race by a margin of over two and a half seconds. The Spanish rider will step up to MotoGP next season with Suzuki.

MOTO3: VASQUEZ WINS, MILLER KEEPS TITLE HOPES ALIVE WITH 2nd

Saxo Print’s Efren Vazquez won the Malaysian round of Moto3 world championship ahead of Australia’s Jack Miller who defended superbly from championship rival Alex Marquez to cut down the points gap between the two riders to 11 points going into the final round of the season at Valencia.

The two championship rivals had their own strong points - Marquez was quicker on the straights while Miller could brake just little bit later than his Spanish rival. In the end it was Miller who prevailed in the battle of the titans. Whenever Marquez fancied his way at turn 1, Miller took the inside line, forcing Marquez to run wide and leaving him with a heap of bikes to overtake before he could challenge for the lead of the race again.

Alex Rins drove superbly from 17th on the grid to fill the final spot on the podium while Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo’s Danny Kent finished in fourth place ahead of the aforementioned Marquez.