Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) shrugged off lingering pain from his recent Aragon crash to score a convincing victory in today’s Malaysian GP, run in gruelling tropical heat. The former 250 and 125 World Champion was followed home by team-mate Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V), who once again increased his World Championship lead over Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) who finished third today.

Pedrosa – who also won here last year – finished the race 2.7 seconds ahead of Marquez to record his third victory of the season. The result gave the Repsol Honda team its fifth one-two finish of the season, following similarly impressive performances at Austin, Jerez, Indianapolis and Brno. The result increases Honda’s lead in the constructors’ title race and Repsol Honda’s lead in the team championship.

Starting from the second row of the grid, Pedrosa grabbed the lead from Lorenzo on lap five and was soon clear of the entertaining battle that raged behind him, with Lorenzo and pole-sitter Marquez swapping positions time and again before half distance. At one point the Yamaha rider made contact with the reigning Moto2 World Champion – who had set a new lap record on lap two – but their fight continued unabated until Marquez went inside his rival at Turn 14 on the ninth lap. From that moment on, Marquez had only the brilliant Pedrosa ahead, but he had lost too much time fighting back and forth with Lorenzo and soon realised that chasing his team-mate would entail taking too many risks. He knew full well that all he really needed to do was increase his points advantage over the reigning champ, which he duly did.

With 15 rounds gone and three to go, the remarkable 20-year-old rookie leads Lorenzo by 43 points. If he does go on to win the title, he will be the youngest crowned king of the elite class in the 65 year history of the sport.

After his third win of the season, Pedrosa sits just 11 points behind Lorenzo. Without the Aragon crash – which wasn’t his fault – he would still be very much in contention for the World Championship.

Alvaro Bautista (Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini RC213V) enjoyed a thrilling duel for fifth place with Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha), which went his way in the final few laps. In the early stages he had run with the lead group, but after running wide he lost touch and that allowed Crutchlow to catch and pass him. However, Bautista had the speed when it mattered most.

Australian rookie Bryan Staring (GO&FUN Honda Gresini FTR Honda) finished 18th, three places out of the points, and is looking forward to going to Phillip Island, a track he knows well.

Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda RC213V) missed today’s race after what should have been an uncomplicated low-side crash during yesterday’s final practice session. The German lost the front into Turn One and caught his right foot on some trackside carpet, which fractured the ankle. He underwent surgery in Kuala Lumpur last night and has yet to decide whether he will be able to race at Phillip Island next weekend.

The MotoGP paddock now continues its eastern tour, immediately heading south to Phillip Island for next Sunday’s Australian GP. The quick-fire action continues with the Japanese GP on October 27, before the circus returns to Europe for the Valencia GP season finale in Spain on November 10.


Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: race winner

“I am very happy with this win, as it is very special. My level of riding today was very good and the victory comes after a difficult week in which I was laid up in bed and could hardly move. To come here and win is fantastic, so thanks to all my team! It is a pity about what happened in Aragón, because we had the pace and the same chance of the win as we did here. However, we can’t keep looking back; we need to continue on and try to carry our form into the final races.”

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda: 2nd

“These twenty points are very important and I'm really happy with how the race went today. I had a nice, fun battle with Lorenzo, but at the same time I could see that Dani was opening up a gap. When I finally managed to overtake Jorge and make the pass stick, I tried to reduce the distance that Dani had put between us. However, I saw that it was too risky to do so. From that moment on, I decided to focus on keeping Lorenzo at bay, because the goal here was to finish the race ahead of him. We did what we came here to do, so we are very happy!”

Alvaro Bautista, Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini: 5th

“I made a good start and that allowed me to get away with the front group for a few laps but then I had a moment when I couldn't get the front brake lever fully on and I ran wide. It took me a couple of laps to get confident with the brakes again and I lost touch. Maybe in the battle with Valentino I overheated the brakes. It was a shame but I fought my way back to Crutchlow and then gritted my teeth to beat him in a fight to the end. Another important top-five finish for me, the team, who have done a great job again, and the sponsors.”

Bryan Staring, GO&FUN Honda Gresini: 18th

“The race went pretty much the same as the rest of the weekend here and unfortunately we just haven't been competitive enough. We have struggled to get confident here and the only real consolation is that next week we go to my home race at Phillip Island, a circuit where I have won many races in the past.”

Event results - Round 15 - Race 1

1 Dani Pedrosa 40m45.191s ESP HONDA Repsol Honda Team
2 Marc Marquez 2.757 ESP HONDA Repsol Honda Team
3 Jorge Lorenzo 6.669 ESP YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
4 Valentino Rossi 10.351 ITA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
5 Alvaro Bautista 22.149 ESP HONDA Go & Fun Honda Gresini
6 Cal Crutchlow 22.301 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
7 Bradley Smith 30.864 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
8 Andrea Dovizioso 45.111 ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
9 Aleix Espargaro 59.264 ESP ART Power Electronics Aspar
10 Yonny Hernandez 1'01.417 COL ART Paul Bird Motorsport
11 Hiroshi Aoyama 1'03.665 JPN FTR Avintia Blusens
12 Randy De Puniet 1'14.256 FRA ART Power Electronics Aspar
13 Claudio Corti 1'21.603 ITA FTR NGM Forward Racing
14 Hector Barbera 1'27.976 ESP FTR Avintia Blusens
15 Colin Edwards 1'29.442 USA FTR NGM Forward Racing
16 Danilo Petrucci 1'29.551 ITA IODA Came IodaRacing Project
17 Luca Scassa 1'47.930 ITA ART Cardion AB Motoracing
18 Bryan Staring 1'52.927 AUS HONDA Go & Fun Honda Gresini
19 Michael Laverty DNF WAL ART Paul Bird Motorsport
20 Lukas Pesek DNF CZE IODA Came IodaRacing Project
21 Nicky Hayden DNF USA DUCATI Ducati Team
22 Damian Cudlin DNF AUS ART Paul Bird Motorsport
23 Andrea Iannone DNF ITA DUCATI Pramac Racing

Championship standings

1 Marc Marquez 298 pts ESP HONDA Repsol Honda Team
2 Jorge Lorenzo 255 pts ESP YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
3 Dani Pedrosa 244 pts ESP HONDA Repsol Honda Team
4 Valentino Rossi 198 pts ITA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
5 Cal Crutchlow 166 pts GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
6 Alvaro Bautista 136 pts ESP HONDA Go & Fun Honda Gresini
7 Stefan Bradl 135 pts GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
8 Andrea Dovizioso 120 pts ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
9 Nicky Hayden 102 pts USA DUCATI Ducati Team
10 Bradley Smith 89 pts GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
11 Aleix Espargaro 83 pts ESP ART Power Electronics Aspar
12 Michele Pirro 50 pts ITA DUCATI Pramac Racing
13 Andrea Iannone 47 pts ITA DUCATI Pramac Racing
14 Colin Edwards 32 pts USA FTR NGM Forward Racing
15 Hector Barbera 29 pts ESP FTR Avintia Blusens
16 Randy De Puniet 27 pts FRA ART Power Electronics Aspar
17 Danilo Petrucci 23 pts ITA IODA Came IodaRacing Project
18 Yonny Hernandez 17 pts COL ART Paul Bird Motorsport
19 Hiroshi Aoyama 13 pts JPN FTR Avintia Blusens
20 Claudio Corti 11 pts ITA FTR NGM Forward Racing
21 Ben Spies 9 pts USA DUCATI Pramac Racing
22 Karel Abraham 5 pts CZE ART Cardion AB Motoracing
23 Alex de Angelis 5 pts ITA DUCATI Pramac Racing
24 Michael Laverty 3 pts WAL ART Paul Bird Motorsport
25 Bryan Staring 2 pts AUS HONDA Go & Fun Honda Gresini
26 Javier del Amor 1 pts ESP FTR Avintia Blusens
27 Martin Bauer 0 pts AUT S&B SUTER Remus Racing Team
28 Lukas Pesek 0 pts CZE IODA Came IodaRacing Project
29 Luca Scassa 0 pts ITA ART Cardion AB Motoracing
30 Ivan Silva 0 pts ESP FTR Avintia Blusens
31 Blake Young 0 pts USA APRILIA Attack Performance

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