Races – Report and standings of the MotoGP Malaysian GP 2017 –

2017 MotoGP Malaysian GP report and standings

Races - 2017 MotoGP Malaysian GP Report and Ranking -

Andrea Dovizioso did not crack under the pressure of the title at the Malaysian GP 2017: the Italian driver wins in the wet his second consecutive victory at Sepang ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, Johann Zarco and Marc Marquez, cautious fourth. The title will therefore be played in Valencia (Spain), with an advantage of 21 points for the Honda official! MNC summary and results.

With 33 points behind Marc Marquez before the Malaysian GP, ​​penultimate MotoGP 2017 race, Andrea Dovizioso absolutely had to get a good result at Sepang and hope that his rival was behind to prolong the suspense for the title … won for the official Ducati, who wins while Marquez finishes fourth ! 

  •  Malaysian GP:
  • [Video] Malaysian GP:
  • Malaysian GP –  

The gap between the last two riders still in contention for the crown therefore decreases to 21 points, but the advantage is still very comfortable for the Honda rider. The five-time world champion in Grand Prix also wears a big smile on his arrival: Marquez is perfectly aware that his fourth MotoGP title is reaching out to him..

However, a setback can never be ruled out in motorsports in general and in motorcycle sport in particular: Valentino Rossi can attest to this, he who wiped his face against the late Nicky Hayden by falling in the final in Valencia ! 

  • MNC of October 30, 2006 :

This catastrophic scenario, Marc Marquez will obviously do everything to avoid it in front of his audience by seeking to reduce his risk-taking as much as possible, as he did this Sunday in Malaysia. Having started on the hats of wheels, the Honda official gradually lowered the wing to finally secure fourth place behind Johann Zarco.

  • [Video] Malaysian GP: 

Impossible to blame the defending champion, who had several heat waves on the Sepang asphalt, which was initially soaked and then dried in places. Caution therefore guided Marc Marquez, author of a spectacular catch-up in FP4. Conversely, his rival took a lot of risks: Andrea Dovizioso did indeed spare his efforts to get back on his teammate Jorge Lorenzo, strong leader.. 

  • [Video] Malaysian GP:

Taking advantage of a Mallorcan error to take the lead, "Dovi" headed without trembling for his second consecutive victory at Sepang, his sixth this season tied with Marc Marquez. You said championship contested ?!    

"It was very complicated because the track has evolved and I lost the front several times, like Jorge who I was able to pass following his slide", confesses Dovizioso who was using a GP17 without aerodynamic appendages while that of his teammate was equipped with it. "We are going to focus for the final in Valencia and try to do the best we can," he predicts.

  • [Video] Malaysian GP: Dovizioso, first to the title ! 
  • [Video] Malaysian GP: 

"The tire remained constant at the rear, but not at the front", regrets for his part Jorge Lorenzo who took the lead from Johann Zarco with 12 laps from the finish and signs his best result on Ducati with this third podium this season (third in Jerez and Aragon). "I did not want to take more risks after having made myself a heat", explains the n ° 99 by specifying not to have forced more following his error, insofar as it was his teammate Dovizioso who it had exceeded. 

Ducati double at Sepang

Thanks to this performance, Ducati signed the double with his official motorcycles in front of Johann Zarco’s private Yamaha! Author of a splendid start to the race, the Frenchman was picked up by the GP17s while some passages were starting to dry up. Enough to destroy its soft rear tire, when its rivals were in midrange ?

"I am happy to have chosen the soft rear tire, it was the key for the podium today", estimates the beginner of the year, who does not regret at all his choice of tire and who notes the superiority of the Ducati in these conditions.

The n ° 5, third 9.738 sec from the winner, climbs for the second time this season on the podium after his second place in France. Johann maintains a nice 17-point lead over Lorenzo in the provisional, which should be enough to lock in his 6th final place in Valencia ahead of the Mallorcan. Danilo Petrucci, second private driver in the ranking in 8th place, is 33 lengths behind the French rookie.

"Petrux" nevertheless gave himself the means to score big points at Sepang, despite a start from last place following a problem with his Ducati during the formation lap: thanks to a good comeback, the Italian finished behind Marquez and Pedrosa in 6th place in the Malaysian GP. 

Yamaha always skates in the wet…

The n ° 9 is ahead of his compatriot Valentino Rossi, distant 7th 30.7 seconds behind the winner. The Doctor, very efficient in the dry, saw all his hopes vanish with the arrival of the rain: lack of traction on his M1, it was impossible to play at the forefront. Iwata’s coat of arms must imperatively correct the course for 2018 !

Same penalty for his teammate Maverick Viñales, ninth to 38 seconds after dropping to 16th place in front of Michael van der Marck’s Yamaha Tech3 who was competing in his first MotoGP race to replace Jonas Folgas! The Dutchman finished his freelance in 16th place ahead of Andrea Iannone, who lost the thread after having shone in Japan (4th) then in Australia (6th). 

Conversely, Pol Espargaro continues his fantastic end to the season on the KTM with a new entry in the Top 10 ahead of Alvaro Bautista and his teammate, Bradley Smith. Disillusionment on the other hand for Loris Baz, victim of a fall for his penultimate race in MotoGP…

The Ducati Avintia rider followed the end of the race from his box like Sam Lowes, Karel Abraham and Alex Rins, excluded from the race on black flag for having cut the circuit by returning to change motorcycle after his fall without performing the full turn…

The constructor title acquired for Honda

Finally, the last benefit of Dovizioso’s victory at Sepang: Ducati returns to Yamaha in the constructor standings, which Honda is now certain to win. The winged crest actually has 29 points more than Ducati (332 against 303), while Yamaha’s counter indicates 301 points.

The crest of Iwata and its pilots therefore have an interest in having a superb race in Valence to erase this 2 points delay on Ducati! Suzuki is currently third with 87 points ahead of Aprilia and KTM, tied at 64 points. 

2017 Malaysian MotoGP Grand Prix Results

  1. 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 44’51.497
  2. 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team Ducati +0.743
  3. 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +9.738
  4. 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda +17.763
  5. 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda +29.144
  6. 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA OCTO Pramac Racing Ducati +30.380
  7. 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +30.769
  8. 43 Jack MILLER AUS EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda +35.238
  9. 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +38.053
  10. 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +39.847
  11. 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Pull & Bear Aspar Team Ducati +42.559
  12. 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +44.602
  13. 45 Scott REDDING GBR OCTO Pramac Racing Ducati +48.696
  14. 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati +50.058
  15. 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda Honda +50.705
  16. 60 Michael VAN DER MARK NED Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +56.397
  17. 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +58.391
  18. 53 Tito RABAT SPA EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda + 1’25.571

Not classified

  • 22 Sam LOWES GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia (11 laps)
  • 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Pull & Bear Aspar Team Ducati (12 laps)
  • 76 Loris BAZ FRA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati (15 laps)
  • 42 Alex RINS SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki (0 lap)

MotoGP 2017 provisional classification after the Malaysian GP

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

Go on Monday morning on MNC to find out about the riders’ statements and the editorial staff’s analysis: stay tuned !

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