MotoGP Race Results From the Malaysian Grand Prix

Malaysian GP Race Results
Andrea DOVIZIOSO (4) Ducati Team DUCATI
Valentino ROSSI (46) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA
Jorge LORENZO (99) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA
Hector BARBERA (8) Avintia Racing DUCATI
Loris BAZ (76) Avintia Racing DUCATI
Maverick VIÑALES (25) Team Suzuki Ecstar SUZUKI
Alvaro BAUTISTA (19) Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA
Jack MILLER (43) Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA
Pol ESPARGARO (44) Monster Tech 3 YAMAHA
Danilo PETRUCCI (9) OCTO Pramac Yakhnich DUCATI
Marc MARQUEZ (93), Repsol Honda Team HONDA
Eugene LAVERTY (50) Aspar Team MotoGP DUCATI
Aleix ESPARGARO (41) Team Suzuki Ecstar SUZUKI
Bradley SMITH (38) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA
Scott REDDING (45) OCTO Pramac Yakhnich DUCATI
Hiroshi AOYAMA (7) Repsol Honda Team HONDA
Stefan BRADL (6) Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA
Tito RABAT (53) Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA

DNF: Andrea IANNONE (29) Ducati Team DUCATI
DNF: Cal CRUTCHLOW (35) LCR Honda HONDA
DNF: Yonny HERNANDEZ (68) Aspar Team MotoGP DUCATI

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) took his second-ever victory at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix with torrential weather conditions of Sepang to emerge as the ninth winner of 2016: an all time first for the MotoGP World Championship to write another chapter in the ever-changing history books of the premier class. After dueling for the lead earlier in the race, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) came home P2, with teammate Jorge Lorenzo completing the podium.

Lorenzo got the best start off the front row, but it was Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) from Row 2 who moved up to second around Turn 1 with Lorenzo ahead and the frontrunners shuffling. With Rossi pushed down to P4, the front group of the Movistar Yamahas, Ducati Team and Marquez were joined in the fight at the front by Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Aleix Espargaro before the Spaniard slid out at Turn 1. He was able to rejoin but down in the order.

Rossi fought his way back into the lead before Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team), still recovering from a cracked vertebra from a crash in Misano, struck to take P1. Teammate Dovizioso was holding off Marquez in third and fourth, with Jorge Lorenzo stalked by Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) just behind.

A duel broke out at the front between Rossi and Iannone, with the Maniac true to form and hitting back as the Doctor attacked, before a Turn 15 move saw Iannone take back the lead and power out of the corner ahead – with the speed of the Desmosedici GP16 unthreatened on the main straight.

Dovizioso and Marquez were far from out of the fight, with both moving back to gain on the Italian duo in the lead. Lorenzo was the rider finding himself out of podium contention as he fell down to sixth, moving back into the top five as Phillip Island winner Crutchlow then fell at Turn 2 – the first shot of melodrama in the Malaysian GP.

Two more high profile crashes then rocked the front group, as reigning World Champion Marquez lost his Honda at Turn 11 and slid out – rejoining in the points but out of contention for the victory. Iannone then went down at Turn 9, unable to rejoin but walked away unscathed.

Dovizioso and Rossi continued to duel at the front and Rossi was beginning to suffer with the front tire. With a handful of laps remaining, the Doctor ran wide at Turn 1, Dovizioso needing no invitation to pass and start building a gap.

Keeping it calm and on the road, the number four Ducati crossed the line an incredible margin clear by the penultimate lap, before letting that advantage slip away on his way to the flag. Rossi kept his Yamaha upright in second, as Lorenzo took a solid result in the wet to complete the podium, with the caution that at the start saw the Mallorcan overtaken then converted into a good haul of points as he kept it on the road.

Dovizioso's spectacular win, as well as marking the ninth different victor of the year, is his second premier class victory, the first being Donington Park in 2009 - and the second win this season for the Borgo Panigale factory, after a long drought since 2010.

Loris Baz and Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) were the unsung heroes further back on track as the drama ahead stole the spotlight, with Baz showing incredible wet weather pace once again, into fourth with five laps to go. Barbera then overtook his teammate, with the two crossing the line to complete the top five in another Brno-esque triumph for the team.

Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) had an uncharacteristically quiet race as the Silverstone winner struggled slightly in the wet conditions, nevertheless taking a solid P6 and good haul of points. Alvaro Bautista shone for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini once again in Malaysia with an impressive seventh place for the Noale factory, ahead of Assen winner Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich), who completed the top ten.

World Champion Marc Marquez crossed the line eleventh, despite his crash, to retain Phillip Island as his only DNF in a stunning year on his scorecard.