Italian Honda star Andrea Dovizioso took his second consecutive second place in the Malaysian Grand Prix earlier today, while third-placed Jorge Lorenzo sealed the title.
Yamaha rider Lorenzo’s third place at Sepang was enough to seal a maiden MotoGP championship for the Spaniard, and though this ended absent Dani Pedrosa’s slim hopes of catching his countryman in the title race when he returned from his collarbone injury sustained in Japan, there were nevertheless smiles all round at Honda as his team-mate Dovizioso continued his terrific run of form.
“I’m very happy with this second place today and it was a great race,” Dovizioso, who also started from second position, told MotoGP.com. “We have been fighting for the victory at the last two races at two very different tracks, and also in different conditions, so this is really positive.”
Lorenzo’s team-mate and multiple champion Valentino Rossi had suffered a nightmare start, dropping to 11th, but with poleman and 2007 champion Casey Stoner crashing from the race in the first lap, Dovizioso and Lorenzo led the way, with Rossi scorching through the field. Lorenzo, perhaps thinking of the points he needed and his epic battle for supremacy with his team-mate at Motegi, let Rossi take the fight to his compatriot Dovizioso, as the two Italians enjoyed a brilliant tussle for the lead. Rossi eventually triumphed by 0.2 seconds to take his first victory since the season opener in Qatar.
'We’ve moved forward a lot… we have to be happy' – Andrea Dovizioso
“I tried to stay close to Valentino on the last lap,” explained Dovizioso, “but in the final braking area I wasn’t close enough to take him in the middle of the corner, even though he was too late on the brakes and went wide.
“Last year we were 40 seconds behind the winner in the race here, so to be just 0.2s behind means we’ve moved forward a lot.
“We have to be happy because this was almost a win, and the riders in front of me are changing at each race, which means we have better consistency.
“We are happy and I’d like to say thank you to Honda and my crew. From the middle of the season until now, we improved a lot because of the hard work of a great team,” Dovizioso added.
Meanwhile, Marc Márquez achieved yet another win from pole to regain the initiative in the 125 category. The Spaniard took the victory on his Ajo Derbi ahead of his main rivals and compatriots Pol Espargaró and Nico Terol, over whom he now has a slender 247–244 point lead at the top of the standings.
GEPA Pictures/Gold & Goose
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