MotoGP: Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) back-to-back wins at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix

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It was a must win in many ways for Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso as the paddock arrived at Sepang International Circuit, and the Italian kept calm under intense pressure to secure his sixth win of the season – and take the Championship fight down to the wire. Slicing through the rain to catch and pass teammate Jorge Lorenzo, Dovizioso was seven tenths clear of the Majorcan at the flag in a 1-2 for Ducati – and key rival Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) crossed the line in fourth. Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) completed the podium after a stunning start, wrapping up the title of top Independent Team rider.

It was Marquez who took an incredible initial holeshot from the third row, but the reigning Champion headed wide along with Lorenzo – allowing Zarco to slice through into the lead. Once there, the Frenchman lit it up to escape into the distance, and Lorenzo moved through to chase the Tech 3 rider down. Marquez slotted into third, with Dovizioso initially the man to lose out – but the Italian soon began to move through.

Zarco’s lead began to diminish, Dovizioso passed Marquez, and then both Ducatis were able to pass the Frenchman. It seemed Marquez would have the pace to take third from Zarco, but the reigning Champion couldn’t make up the ground. At the front, Lorenzo was holding firm as the two red machines streaked away – but the number 99 then suffered a moment at Turn 15 with a foot off the footpeg. ‘DesmoDovi’ saw his chance to strike, then facing down some nervous laps as the end of the race neared. Lorenzo managed to bring it back to seven tenths over the line, with Zarco back on the rostrum in third.

Marquez was eight seconds further back in fourth, with polesitter and teammate Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) completing the top five after a more promising showing in the wet for the former winner at the venue in similar conditions. Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) put in a superstar performance in the wet as he was forced to start from the back after a technical problem with his number one bike, and moved up to take sixth over the line – a gain of over 15 places.

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was close to his compatriot by the end of the race to take seventh and only four tenths back, ahead of a more lonely finish for EG 0,0 Marc VDS rider Jack Miller into P8. Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) had a tough race for ninth, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory) giving KTM another consecutive top ten finish after another impressive race.

Alvaro Bautista (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) took P11, with the points scorers completed by Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Racing), Hector Barbera (Reale Avintia Racing) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda.)

It’s now truly everything or nothing for the two title challengers, and the Championship comes back to Europe for the final showdown at Valencia. Marquez leads by 21 points, so it’s a long shot for ‘DesmoDovi’…but never, ever say never.

SHELL MALAYSIA MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

MotoGP Race Classification 2017

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	148.2	44’51.497
2	20	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Ducati Team	Ducati	148.2	+0.743
3	16	5	Johann ZARCO	FRA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	147.7	+9.738
4	13	93	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	147.3	+17.763
5	11	26	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	146.6	+29.144
6	10	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	OCTO Pramac Racing	Ducati	146.6	+30.380
7	9	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	146.6	+30.769
8	8	43	Jack MILLER	AUS	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	146.3	+35.238
9	7	25	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	146.2	+38.053
10	6	44	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	146.1	+39.847
11	5	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Pull&Bear Aspar Team	Ducati	145.9	+42.559
12	4	38	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	145.8	+44.602
13	3	45	Scott REDDING	GBR	OCTO Pramac Racing	Ducati	145.6	+48.696
14	2	8	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	145.5	+50.058
15	1	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	LCR Honda	Honda	145.5	+50.705
16		60	Michael VAN DER MARK	NED	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	145.2	+56.397
17		29	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	145.1	+58.391
18		53	Tito RABAT	SPA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	143.7	+1’25.571
Not Classified
		22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	133.5	11 Laps
		17	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Pull&Bear Aspar Team	Ducati	144.3	12 Laps
		76	Loris BAZ	FRA	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	144.1	15 Laps
		42	Alex RINS	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki		0 Lap

MotoGP World Standing 2017

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Marc MARQUEZ	Honda	SPA	282
2	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati	ITA	261
3	Maverick VIÑALES	Yamaha	SPA	226
4	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	ITA	197
5	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	SPA	185
6	Johann ZARCO	Yamaha	FRA	154
7	Jorge LORENZO	Ducati	SPA	137
8	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	ITA	121
9	Cal CRUTCHLOW	Honda	GBR	104
10	Jonas FOLGER	Yamaha	GER	84
11	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Ducati	SPA	75
12	Jack MILLER	Honda	AUS	73
13	Scott REDDING	Ducati	GBR	64
14	Aleix ESPARGARO	Aprilia	SPA	62
15	Andrea IANNONE	Suzuki	ITA	60
16	Pol ESPARGARO	KTM	SPA	55
17	Alex RINS	Suzuki	SPA	46
18	Loris BAZ	Ducati	FRA	45
19	Karel ABRAHAM	Ducati	CZE	30
20	Tito RABAT	Honda	SPA	29
21	Hector BARBERA	Ducati	SPA	27
22	Bradley SMITH	KTM	GBR	24
23	Michele PIRRO	Ducati	ITA	18
24	Mika KALLIO	KTM	FIN	11
25	Sam LOWES	Aprilia	GBR	5
26	Katsuyuki NAKASUGA	Yamaha	JPN	4
27	Sylvain GUINTOLI	Suzuki	FRA	1
28	Michael VAN DER MARK	Yamaha	NED
29	Takuya TSUDA	Suzuki	JPN
30	Hiroshi AOYAMA	Honda	JPN
31	Broc PARKES	Yamaha	AUS

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of MotoGP.com

MotoGP: Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) back-to-back wins at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix

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SHELL MALAYSIA MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

MotoGP World Standing 2017

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