Moto2™: Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) reigns to retain his crown.

2016-moto3-zarco-champ_0-small

The skies opened ahead of Moto2™ lining up on the grid in Malaysia, with Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) facing down his first chance at the Championship from a soaked pole position – but the Frenchman played his hand perfectly to take an unbelievable win, in front of more impressive podium finishes for Franco Morbidelli (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) and wet weather specialist Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP). With Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) finishing in P6 and Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP40) outside the top ten, Zarco took the crown in stunning style.

Folger got the holeshot as the spray kicked up off the start line, with Morbidelli then soon taking him back as polesitter Zarco slotted into third. Title rival Tom Luthi moved from P5 to P8 in the opening stages as the Swiss rider remained cautious in the difficult conditions, with third Championship challenger Alex Rins moving up ten places from 23rd on the grid to 13th in an impressive early gain. Zarco, 22 points clear of Luthi and a few more of Rins, was the one with the advantage.

An early crash saw some drama in the intermediate class follow that of Moto3™, as Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) slid out followed by Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) at the same corner – before front row starter Axel Pons (AGR Team) then also retired in the difficult conditions.

Morbidelli led the field from Zarco after the Frenchman took Folger back, with Xavier Simeon (QMMF Racing Team) in fourth and local rider Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia) moving into the top five. Luthi then had a shaky lap as he was passed by both Marquez and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Racing Team), with the second man in the title standings down in P8 – but the rain then stopping and conditions improving steadily.

As Simeon was reeled in by those on the chase, Rins was on the fight back further back on track – with the Spaniard moving up into the top ten by 13 laps to go – but was out of title contention. As Luthi struggled in the conditions, the two men in Zarco’s way were then down in P8 and P9 and the title got ever closer for the Ajo Motorsport rider.

The front trio of Morbidelli, Zarco and Folger were locked in a game of chess at the front, as the German kept setting the quickest laps of the three, before Zarco pounced for the lead with 6 laps to go – and disappeared into the distance as he tucked in and pulled away from Morbidelli.

Another win, after another pole, and another intermediate class crown – the first man to defend the Moto2™ title since its introduction in 2010.

Baldassarri came home in a lonely fourth after getting the better of those behind but unable to catch the front trio, with home hero Hafizh Syahrin getting a good pay off for his battles throughout the race as he completed the top five.

Tom Luthi finished the race in P6 after finding some more pace later in the race – but was unable to stop the Frenchman from taking the title. Fellow hopeful Alex Rins, after starting in P23, came home in fourteenth to similarly bow out in Malaysia.

An incredible ride from Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) saw the 2014 Moto3™ World Champion move up from a difficult qualifying in P21 to fight for P4, and then cross the line in seventh – gaining 14 places in tough conditions.

Xavi Vierge (Tech 3 Racing) made good on his practice showings at Sepang to ride through the field into an impressive top ten position, as the 2015 FIM CEV Repsol Moto2™ championship runner-up came home in P8. Luca Marini (Forward Racing Team) split the Tech 3 Racing Team in P9 in tough conditions, with the second Tech 3 of Isaac Viñales completing the top ten as all three took some serious scalps on their way to big points hauls.

Wildcard Ramdan Rosli (Petronas AHM Malaysia) had a stunning ride at his home GP, as he came home in twelfth and ahead of some usual Moto2™ frontrunners.

The curtain came down with a wheelie across the line as Zarco cemented his place in history once again – becoming the first Frenchman to win more than one Championship in Grand Prix Racing, followed by a trackside celebration as both he and a body double did a signature backflip.

Next stop: Valencia, and the Circuit Ricardo Tormo – where Rins, Morbidelli and Luthi will now have their final showdown behind the new World Champion in the table.

SHELL MALAYSIA MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

Moto2 Race Classification 2016.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	5	Johann ZARCO	FRA	Ajo Motorsport	Kalex	137.8	45’51.036
2	20	21	Franco MORBIDELLI	ITA	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	137.6	+3.256
3	16	94	Jonas FOLGER	GER	Dynavolt Intact GP	Kalex	137.6	+3.689
4	13	7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	Forward Team	Kalex	136.7	+21.428
5	11	55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAL	Petronas Raceline Malaysia	Kalex	136.5	+24.700
6	10	12	Thomas LUTHI	SWI	Garage Plus Interwetten	Kalex	136.5	+26.184
7	9	73	Alex MARQUEZ	SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	136.4	+28.177
8	8	97	Xavi VIERGE	SPA	Tech 3 Racing	Tech 3	136.3	+28.855
9	7	10	Luca MARINI	ITA	Forward Team	Kalex	136.3	+29.247
10	6	32	Isaac VIÑALES	SPA	Tech 3 Racing	Tech 3	136.3	+29.969
11	5	24	Simone CORSI	ITA	Speed Up Racing	Speed Up	136.2	+30.866
12	4	93	Ramdan ROSLI	MAL	Petronas AHM Malaysia	Kalex	136.2	+31.260
13	3	87	Remy GARDNER	AUS	Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2	Kalex	136.2	+31.793
14	2	40	Alex RINS	SPA	Paginas Amarillas HP 40	Kalex	136.1	+34.697
15	1	19	Xavier SIMEON	BEL	QMMF Racing Team	Speed Up	135.5	+46.669
16		2	Jesko RAFFIN	SWI	Sports-Millions-EMWE-SAG	Kalex	135.3	+49.126
17		11	Sandro CORTESE	GER	Dynavolt Intact GP	Kalex	135.3	+49.293
18		52	Danny KENT	GBR	Leopard Racing	Kalex	135.2	+51.610
19		57	Edgar PONS	SPA	Paginas Amarillas HP 40	Kalex	135.1	+54.949
20		23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	AGR Team	Kalex	135.0	+55.461
21		30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	134.4	+1’08.613
22		27	Iker LECUONA	SPA	CarXpert Interwetten	Kalex	134.0	+1’16.574
23		54	Mattia PASINI	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	133.6	+1’25.838
24		14	Ratthapark WILAIROT	THA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	131.9	+2’01.635
Not Classified
		20	Alessandro NOCCO	ITA	Leopard Racing	Kalex	131.1	7 Laps
		70	Robin MULHAUSER	SWI	CarXpert Interwetten	Kalex	130.7	14 Laps
		49	Axel PONS	SPA	AGR Team	Kalex	130.5	18 Laps
		22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	128.2	18 Laps

Moto2 World Standing 2016.

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Johann ZARCO	Kalex	FRA	251
2	Thomas LUTHI	Kalex	SWI	214
3	Alex RINS	Kalex	SPA	203
4	Franco MORBIDELLI	Kalex	ITA	197
5	Sam LOWES	Kalex	GBR	162
6	Jonas FOLGER	Kalex	GER	159
7	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	Kalex	JPN	159
8	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	Kalex	ITA	125
9	Hafizh SYAHRIN	Kalex	MAL	117
10	Simone CORSI	Speed Up	ITA	98
11	Dominique AEGERTER	Kalex	SWI	71
12	Alex MARQUEZ	Kalex	SPA	69
13	Mattia PASINI	Kalex	ITA	63
14	Sandro CORTESE	Kalex	GER	61
15	Marcel SCHROTTER	Kalex	GER	58
16	Axel PONS	Kalex	SPA	55
17	Xavier SIMEON	Speed Up	BEL	46
18	Julian SIMON	Speed Up	SPA	40
19	Luis SALOM	Kalex	SPA	37
20	Luca MARINI	Kalex	ITA	34
21	Miguel OLIVEIRA	Kalex	POR	33
22	Xavi VIERGE	Tech 3	SPA	33
23	Danny KENT	Kalex	GBR	28
24	Isaac VIÑALES	Tech 3	SPA	19
25	Jesko RAFFIN	Kalex	SWI	14
26	Remy GARDNER	Kalex	AUS	8
27	Anthony WEST	Suter	AUS	6
28	Ratthapark WILAIROT	Kalex	THA	6
29	Ramdan ROSLI	Kalex	MAL	4
30	Robin MULHAUSER	Kalex	SWI	4
31	Edgar PONS	Kalex	SPA	4
32	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	Kalex	JPN	2
33	Federico FULIGNI	Kalex	ITA
34	Steven ODENDAAL	Kalex	RSA
35	Alessandro TONUCCI	Kalex	ITA
36	Iker LECUONA	Kalex	SPA
37	Ricard CARDUS	Suter	SPA
38	Naomichi URAMOTO	Kalex	JPN
39	Efren VAZQUEZ	Suter	SPA
40	Taro SEKIGUCHI	TSR	JPN
41	Alessandro NOCCO		ITA
42	Danny ESLICK	Suter	USA

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of MotoGP.com

Moto2™: Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) reigns to retain his crown.

2016-moto3-zarco-champ_0-small

SHELL MALAYSIA MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

Moto2 World Standing 2016.

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