Francesco Bagnaia (SKY Racing Team VR46) clinched the 2018 Moto2™ World Championship at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix after finishing P3 at Sepang. The Italian finished behind title rival Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) to seal the title, with teammate Luca Marini making it a memorable day for SKY Racing Team VR46 as he secured his maiden Grand Prix victory.
As the lights went out, both the main riders in the Championship got off to a flyer. However Marini it was who led coming out of Turn 1 after a messy opening corner for his fellow front row starters; Fabio Quartararo (MB Conveyors – Speed Up) and Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) both running in hot. This allowed Bagnaia and Oliveira to slip through up the inside to get into P2 and P3. Pretty much the perfect getaway for ‘Pecco’, who slotted in behind teammate Marini.
Marini then got himself into a rhythm at the front, with Bagnaia and Oliveira battling away for P2 – the title firmly in Bagnaia’s hands at this early stage of the race, even with Oliveira making a pass stick at Turn 4 with 12 laps to go. The Portuguese rider locked his radar on race leader Marini, who now had a second lead, with Bagnaia slipping into the clutches of compatriot Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team), with pole sitter Marquez and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons HP40) also in hot pursuit of the Championship leader.
Oliveira had reeled in Marini 11 laps remaining, with a win for the KTM rider enough to take the title chase down to Valencia if Bagnaia dropped below the podium positions. With six laps to go, it seemed the battle for the win was between Marini and Oliveira, with both Baldassarri and Marquez losing touch in the battle for the final podium spot – Pasini though remained 0.4 behind countryman Bagnaia.
In sweltering Sepang conditions, Marini was being made to sweat by Oliveira as he continued to look strong for a first Grand Prix win. But the Italian was on rails as he soaked up the pressure from the KTM behind and with two laps to go, a 0.7 gap had appeared. Going into the final lap, Marini had the biggest lead he’d had for a while, with Bagnaia sitting comfortably in a Championship clinching P3 – over a second was the cushion back to Pasini.
As the chequered flag was waved it was double delight for SKY Racing Team VR46 as Marini took a magnificent maiden Grand Prix victory, with Bagnaia coming home third to seal the 2018 Moto2™ World Championship. Oliveira didn’t go down without a fight as he took P2 at the Sepang International Circuit – his 11th podium of the season.
Pasini crossed the line in P4, with Quartararo rounding out the top five after getting the better of sixth place Baldassarri and seventh place Marquez in the latter stages. Australian GP winner Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took P8 in Malaysia, with Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Joan Mir (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) rounding out the top ten in P9 and P10 respectively.
Iker Lecuona (Swiss Innovative Investors), Xavi Cardelus (Marinelli Snipers Team), Remy Gardner (Tech 3 Racing), Tetsuta Nagashima (Idemistu Honda Team Asia), Niki Tuuli (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Augusto Fernandez (Pons HP40) crashed out.
Just like the lightweight class, the 2018 intermediate class crown was decided in Malaysia and it went the way of ‘Pecco’. A stunning season for the Italian, with teammate Marini continuing his fantastic 2018.
SHELL MALAYSIA MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX
Moto2 Race Classification 2018.
| Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | 10 | Luca MARINI | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | 155.7 | 38’25.689 |
| 2 | 20 | 44 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 155.7 | +1.194 |
| 3 | 16 | 42 | Francesco BAGNAIA | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | 155.5 | +3.020 |
| 4 | 13 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 155.4 | +4.497 |
| 5 | 11 | 20 | Fabio QUARTARARO | FRA | MB Conveyors – Speed Up | Speed Up | 155.4 | +5.250 |
| 6 | 10 | 7 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | ITA | Pons HP40 | Kalex | 155.4 | +5.305 |
| 7 | 9 | 73 | Alex MARQUEZ | SPA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 155.2 | +7.690 |
| 8 | 8 | 41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 155.1 | +8.943 |
| 9 | 7 | 23 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | Dynavolt Intact GP | Kalex | 155.1 | +9.687 |
| 10 | 6 | 36 | Joan MIR | SPA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 154.5 | +18.547 |
| 11 | 5 | 97 | Xavi VIERGE | SPA | Dynavolt Intact GP | Kalex | 154.5 | +18.816 |
| 12 | 4 | 5 | Andrea LOCATELLI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 154.4 | +19.739 |
| 13 | 3 | 9 | Jorge NAVARRO | SPA | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Kalex | 154.3 | +21.177 |
| 14 | 2 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SWI | Kiefer Racing | KTM | 154.3 | +21.960 |
| 15 | 1 | 22 | Sam LOWES | GBR | Swiss Innovative Investors | KTM | 153.9 | +26.875 |
| 16 | 24 | Simone CORSI | ITA | Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 | Kalex | 153.8 | +28.515 | |
| 17 | 89 | Khairul Idham PAWI | MAL | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 153.8 | +28.802 | |
| 18 | 16 | Joe ROBERTS | USA | NTS RW Racing GP | NTS | 153.7 | +29.791 | |
| 19 | 2 | Jesko RAFFIN | SWI | SAG Team | Kalex | 153.7 | +30.557 | |
| 20 | 57 | Edgar PONS | SPA | MB Conveyors – Speed Up | Speed Up | 153.7 | +31.069 | |
| 21 | 4 | Steven ODENDAAL | RSA | NTS RW Racing GP | NTS | 153.2 | +38.430 | |
| 22 | 95 | Jules DANILO | FRA | Nashi Argan SAG Team | Kalex | 152.9 | +42.930 | |
| 23 | 30 | Dimas EKKY PRATAMA | INA | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 151.9 | +57.507 | |
| 24 | 32 | Isaac VIÑALES | SPA | Forward Racing Team | Suter | 151.9 | +57.910 | |
| 25 | 21 | Federico FULIGNI | ITA | Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 | Kalex | 151.5 | +1’03.737 | |
| 26 | 50 | Rafid Topan SUCIPTO | INA | Forward Racing Team | Suter | 147.8 | +2’04.066 | |
| Not Classified | ||||||||
| 40 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | SPA | Pons HP40 | Kalex | 154.8 | 10 Laps | ||
| 66 | Niki TUULI | FIN | Petronas Sprinta Racing | Kalex | 152.3 | 11 Laps | ||
| 45 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | JPN | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 137.9 | 11 Laps | ||
| 87 | Remy GARDNER | AUS | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 145.7 | 13 Laps | ||
| 18 | Xavi CARDELUS | AND | Marinelli Snipers Team | Kalex | 138.0 | 13 Laps | ||
| 27 | Iker LECUONA | SPA | Swiss Innovative Investors | KTM | 121.7 | 16 Laps | ||
Moto2 World Standing 2018.
| Pos. | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Kalex | ITA | 304 |
| 2 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | POR | 272 |
| 3 | Brad BINDER | KTM | RSA | 201 |
| 4 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | Kalex | ITA | 162 |
| 5 | Alex MARQUEZ | Kalex | SPA | 157 |
| 6 | Joan MIR | Kalex | SPA | 155 |
| 7 | Luca MARINI | Kalex | ITA | 147 |
| 8 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Kalex | GER | 138 |
| 9 | Xavi VIERGE | Kalex | SPA | 131 |
| 10 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Speed Up | FRA | 128 |
| 11 | Mattia PASINI | Kalex | ITA | 128 |
| 12 | Iker LECUONA | KTM | SPA | 60 |
| 13 | Jorge NAVARRO | Kalex | SPA | 58 |
| 14 | Sam LOWES | KTM | GBR | 49 |
| 15 | Simone CORSI | Kalex | ITA | 47 |
| 16 | Andrea LOCATELLI | Kalex | ITA | 45 |
| 17 | Dominique AEGERTER | KTM | SWI | 42 |
| 18 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | Kalex | SPA | 37 |
| 19 | Remy GARDNER | Tech 3 | AUS | 29 |
| 20 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | Kalex | JPN | 23 |
| 21 | Romano FENATI | Kalex | ITA | 14 |
| 22 | Hector BARBERA | Kalex | SPA | 10 |
| 23 | Jesko RAFFIN | Kalex | SWI | 9 |
| 24 | Stefano MANZI | Suter | ITA | 8 |
| 25 | Danny KENT | Speed Up | GBR | 8 |
| 26 | Isaac VIÑALES | Suter | SPA | 7 |
| 27 | Joe ROBERTS | NTS | USA | 5 |
| 28 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | Tech 3 | NED | 2 |
| 29 | Khairul Idham PAWI | Kalex | MAL | 1 |
| 30 | Edgar PONS | Speed Up | SPA | 1 |
| 31 | Steven ODENDAAL | NTS | RSA | 1 |
| 32 | Niki TUULI | Kalex | FIN | 1 |
| 33 | Thitipong WAROKORN | Kalex | THA | |
| 34 | Eric GRANADO | Suter | BRA | |
| 35 | Jules DANILO | Kalex | FRA | |
| 36 | Hector GARZO | Tech 3 | SPA | |
| 37 | Lukas TULOVIC | KTM | GER | |
| 38 | Federico FULIGNI | Kalex | ITA | |
| 39 | Bryan STARING | Tech 3 | AUS | |
| 40 | Xavi CARDELUS | Kalex | AND | |
| 41 | Dimas EKKY PRATAMA | Tech 3 | INA | |
| 42 | Alejandro MEDINA | Kalex | SPA | |
| 43 | Sheridan MORAIS | Kalex | POR | |
| 44 | Corentin PEROLARI | Transformiers | FRA | |
| 45 | Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN | Kalex | MAL | |
| 46 | Rafid Topan SUCIPTO | Suter | INA | |
| 47 | Cedric TANGRE | Tech 3 | FRA |
Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com
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