Moto3 Malaysia: Martin dominates to take title in style
Jorge Martin took victory in style as he eased ahead in the closing stages of the Moto3 Malaysian Grand Prix, claiming the lightweight class crown in the process.
The Del Conca Gresini rider was immediately passed by title rival Marco Bezzecchi at the very first corner and quickly found himself at the wrong end of the top ten in the opening laps.
The Honda man did not panic and calmly picked his way back to the front, the title contenders then battled hard with the Italian hitting both Martin’s tyre and arm as he attempted to shut down a breakaway. Once free the Spaniard immediately pulled out a gap over the chasing group, which extended to 3.556s as he reached the chequered flag.
It is Martin’s sixth win of the season from a record eleventh pole position start.
It then became Bezzecchi’s turn to get tangled in the pack, with passes coming thick and fast. The Redox PruestelGP rider initially did enough to keep his KTM in the top four - where he needed to be to take the championship battle to Valencia - but on the final lap he suddenly found himself fifth, hitting Fabio Di Giannantinio’s rear as he came around the hairpin and towards the finish line for the final time ruined his momentum and his title hopes.
Lorenzo Dalla Porta erased the memory of his big fall from the lead at Phillip Island by slipping past and up to second for Leopard as he continues his strong end to the season.
Enea Bastianini had superb late pace to power up to the front of the lead group as the laps ticked down to take third just behind his team-mate and complete an all Honda podium.
Australian Grand Prix winner Albert Arenas also powered ahead of the unfortunate Bezzecchi to claim fourth for the Angel Nieto Team and be the first KTM to take the chequered flag, with the Italian not far behind in fifth, 26 points shy of Martin's current unmatchable total of 240.
Di Giannanantonio (Del Conca Gresini) also sat up and lost speed on his way to the line after the Bezzecchi touch, leaving him sixth and also out of the title hunt.
Darryn Binder’s contact with Bezzecchi in the early stages saw the Italian have to make his way to the front of the race twice in his bid to win, the Red Bull KTM AJo rider rode aggressively from start to finish on his way to an eventual seventh.
Tony Arbolino had been a frontrunner but the fierce nature of the final laps saw him drop to eighth for the Marinelli Snipers Team.
Tatsuki Suzuki brought the SIC58 Squadra Corse bike home in ninth, while his team-mate Niccolo Antonelli celebrated his return from injury by completing the top ten.
Marcos Ramirez (Bester Capital Dubai) was right behind him in eleventh, holding off Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) as he rose to twelfth.
The remaining points on offer went to Vincente Perez (Reale Avintia Academy 77) in 13th, Nakarin Atiratphuvapat (Honda Team Asia), who couldn’t quite match his practice pace in 14th and top rookie Kazuki Masaki who croosed the line 15th for RBA.
Apiwath Wongthananon (VR 46 Master Camp Team) returned for another wildcard appearance, with Makar Yurchenko also back on the grid with the Marinelli Snipers Team, Yurchenko took a 17th place finish, with the Thai rider 22nd.
Adam Norrodin started his home grand prix from pitlane after receiving a penalty for riding irresponsibly in qualifying. He worked his way up to seventh before falling in the closing stages. He remounted to the cheers of the home fans to end his day a distant 23rd.
Celestino Vietti returned to replace Nicolo Bulega again for the team he joins next season, Sky Racing Team VR46. Fresh from his podium heroics in Australia the young Italian impressed again by running in the lead group in the first handful of laps, but then crashed out at the tricky turn nine.
That same corner then also saw John McPhee, Dennis Foggia and Alonso Lopez hit the gravel with eleven laps remaining.
Aron Canet also failed to go the distance - after leading briefly he slipped away at turn one with seven laps left.
Jakub Kornfeil fell near the end of the race shortly after Norrodin, he too remounted on his way to 20th.
Stefano Nepa was handed a six place grid penalty, stifling his progress. He was the next rider to see the flag in 21st.
Both Jaume Masia and Gabriel Rodrigo missed the race after failing their fitness tests at the start of the weekend, neither were replaced by their teams.
