MotoGP: Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) redeems Island fall to claim formidable Sepang win.

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Thanks to a formidable performance at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix, Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) picked up his second win of the 2019 season in emphatic style. The Spaniard raced clear of a recovering second-place Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) as Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) fought off Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) for P3.

Starting from P11 – his worst qualifying since Mugello 2015 – Marquez needed a lightning start. Both he and Dovizioso, the Italian starting P10, did exactly that as they blasted into Turn 1. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) launched from P4 and managed to grab the lead on the opening lap, but it was a bad start for polesitter Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) as the Frenchman fell to P7, Marquez getting the better of him immediately.

It didn’t take long before Viñales had snatched the baton from Miller though, the Yamaha sliding up the inside of the Ducati at Turn 11 as Marquez passed Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) for P4 on the opening lap. A frantic first lap wasn’t over though as Dovizioso and Miller battled for P2 at Turn 14 and Turn 15. The Desmosedici duo ran slightly wide at the final corner and sniffing a chance, Marquez pounced and sat up Miller – but the Australian grunted past Marquez heading into Turn 1 on Lap 2. The jostling was only helping Viñales’ cause though, the number 12 rider raced to a 0.6 second lead as he set a 1:59.9 on Lap 2 to unleash himself from the MotoGP™ freight train. Marquez knew he had to make up ground quickly and on Lap 3 the World Champion was past Miller for P2, but it was going to take some doing to reel in Viñales.

With Viñales flying and Marquez chasing, the battle for the final podium spot was well and truly on. Dovizioso grabbed P3 from Miller on Lap 4 and The Doctor was also going great guns to challenge Miller too. After a couple of goes, Rossi dispatched Miller at Turn 9 as the Australian saved a crash – was the Pramac man hitting tyre troubles in the soaring heat? Well, shortly after, things got heated between Miller and Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) at the final corner as the two made contact. At the front, Viñales was holding a 1.4/1.5 lead over Marquez as Dovizioso and Rossi were unable to keep tabs on the Honda. It quickly became a battle for the final podium spot between the two veteran Italians, with Rossi finding it tough going to make a pass stick due to Dovizioso’s superior straight-line power.

While Miller slipped back into the clutches of Petronas Yamaha SRT duo and Johann Zarco (LCR Honda Idemitsu), Rins was making forward progress. Viñales was comfortable out front, Marquez wasn’t being troubled in P2 but the P3 battle was on. Dovi vs Rossi, Rins closing in. With six laps to go Rins had cut a two-second gap down to under a second, with Rossi again unable to make a late, lunging pass at Turn 9 stick on Dovizioso. Heading onto the final couple of laps there was nothing to choose between Dovi, Rossi and Rins for P3. Viñales was now three seconds clear of Marquez as the duo rounded the final lap to claim tremendous respective results. Viñales untouchable in Malaysia, Marquez claiming another top-two finish.

Rossi’s wait for a podium goes on after being unable to get the better of Dovizioso in Sepang, but it wasn’t through a lack of effort. Rins bridged the gap to the Italians but couldn’t ultimately mount a challenge for a rostrum. It wasn’t the Sunday Petronas Yamaha SRT would have been looking for as Morbidelli and Quartararo picked up P6 and P7 respectively. Miller slipped back to P9 to finish as the second Ducati, Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) notched up P9. Closing out the top 10 was Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) after the Spaniard was involved in an incident with Zarco at Turn 14. With four laps to go, while battling with Miller, Mir made a lunge up the inside of the Frenchman which led to the Honda rider crashing. Mir was judged to have been at fault as the rookie was handed a long-lap penalty.

After outstanding weekends in Australia, Malaysia wasn’t so fortunate for Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol). Both riders crashed during the race, both riders were thankfully ok.

A stunning performance now sets Viñales and Yamaha up for a phenomenal end to the 2019 campaign in Valencia, with Marquez picking up another record – the most points scored in a premier class season. One last race weekend awaits in two weeks’ time as the MotoGP™ riders aim to end the season on a high, as well as giving themselves a nice springboard into 2020.

Top 10:
1. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP)
2. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 3.059
3. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) + 5.611
4. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 5.965
5. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 6.350
6. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 9.993
7. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 12.864
8. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) + 17.252
9. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) + 19.773
10. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 22.854.

SHELL MALAYSIA MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

MotoGP Race Classification 2019.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	12	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	165.2	40’14.632
2	20	93	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	165.0	+3.059
3	16	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	164.8	+5.611
4	13	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	164.8	+5.965
5	11	42	Alex RINS	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	164.8	+6.350
6	10	21	Franco MORBIDELLI	ITA	Petronas Yamaha SRT	Yamaha	164.6	+9.993
7	9	20	Fabio QUARTARARO	FRA	Petronas Yamaha SRT	Yamaha	164.4	+12.864
8	8	43	Jack MILLER	AUS	Pramac Racing	Ducati	164.1	+17.252
9	7	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	163.9	+19.773
10	6	36	Joan MIR	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	163.7	+22.854
11	5	44	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	163.6	+24.821
12	4	63	Francesco BAGNAIA	ITA	Pramac Racing	Ducati	163.2	+30.251
13	3	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	163.2	+30.447
14	2	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	162.9	+34.215
15	1	82	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	162.9	+34.461
16		55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAL	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	162.3	+44.319
17		17	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	162.1	+47.343
Not Classified
		5	Johann ZARCO	FRA	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	Honda	164.2	4 Laps
		35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	LCR Honda CASTROL	Honda	164.0	6 Laps
		29	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	163.0	9 Laps

MotoGP World Standing 2019.

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Marc MARQUEZ	Honda	SPA	395
2	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati	ITA	256
3	Maverick VIÑALES	Yamaha	SPA	201
4	Alex RINS	Suzuki	SPA	194
5	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	ITA	176
6	Fabio QUARTARARO	Yamaha	FRA	172
7	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	ITA	166
8	Jack MILLER	Ducati	AUS	149
9	Cal CRUTCHLOW	Honda	GBR	133
10	Franco MORBIDELLI	Yamaha	ITA	115
11	Pol ESPARGARO	KTM	SPA	94
12	Joan MIR	Suzuki	SPA	83
13	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	Honda	JPN	74
14	Aleix ESPARGARO	Aprilia	SPA	56
15	Francesco BAGNAIA	Ducati	ITA	54
16	Andrea IANNONE	Aprilia	ITA	43
17	Miguel OLIVEIRA	KTM	POR	33
18	Johann ZARCO	Honda	FRA	30
19	Jorge LORENZO	Honda	SPA	25
20	Tito RABAT	Ducati	SPA	18
21	Stefan BRADL	Honda	GER	16
22	Michele PIRRO	Ducati	ITA	9
23	Hafizh SYAHRIN	KTM	MAL	8
24	Sylvain GUINTOLI	Suzuki	FRA	7
25	Karel ABRAHAM	Ducati	CZE	7
26	Mika KALLIO	KTM	FIN	3
27	Bradley SMITH	Aprilia	GBR

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com

MotoGP: Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) redeems Island fall to claim formidable Sepang win.

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SHELL MALAYSIA MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

MotoGP World Standing 2019.

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