Andreaa Dovizioso keeps his MotoGP championship hopes alive after storming to victory in a tense wet Malaysian Grand Prix, as standings leader Marc Marquez finished a distant fourth.
Marquez came into the 20-lap Sepang race 33 points in the lead and in need of just seven more points than the Ducati rider to secure a fourth premier class crown.
A heavy downpour just after the Moto2 race left the circuit saturated, with both title protagonists opting for the medium rear Michelin while many went with the soft.
Off the line, Marquez briefly charged into the lead, but ran wide at Turn 1 and allowed Johann Zarco to hit the front, while Dovizioso battled pole man Dani Pedrosa to wrestle back fourth after a tentative start for the Italian.
Zarco used his early grip advantage from the soft tyre to streak almost two seconds clear of Ducati‘s Jorge Lorenzo, though the Spaniard steadily closed down the Frenchman’s advantage.
Behind, Dovizioso shadowed Marquez for third for the first four laps before making a pass stick on lap five. The Ducati rider proceeded to ease away from the Spaniard and hunt down his team-mate, who was now right behind Zarco.
Lorenzo moved into the lead at Turn 9 on lap nine, with Dovizioso following him through at Turn 14. The two factory Ducati‘s ran line astern for the eight laps, both trading race fastest laps as Zarco dramatically dropped off the pace.
Ducati now faced the prospect of employing team orders, but a mistake for Lorenzo at the final corner on lap 16 allowed Dovizioso through and the Italian was able to open up a gap of a second to secure his sixth win of the season.
Zarco found form in the latter stages of the race and was able to hold Marquez at bay to remain third, a result which secures the Tech3 rider top independent honours in the standings.
Marquez took the chequered flag a distant fourth, his championship lead cut down to 21 points heading to the final round of the season in Valencia. His Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa – who also went for the soft rear tyre – completed the top five.
Danilo Petrucci was forced to start from the back of the pack when his bike stopped on the sighting lap and he missed the time window to return to track before pitlane closed.
The Italian put in a determined performance on his Pramac GP17 to take sixth ahead of Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi, whose wet weather woes returned. Team-mate Maverick Vinales was a few seconds further adrift in ninth behind Jack Miller.
KTM’s Pol Espargaro completed the top 10 ahead of Alvaro Bautista and the sister RC16 of Bradley Smith, while Scott Redding, Hector Barbera and Cal Crutchlow took the remaining points.
Tech3 stand-in Michael van der Mark ended his maiden MotoGP race 16th and just five seconds from the points. Double crashes for Sam Lowes and Alex Rins sidelined them along with Loris Baz and Karel Abraham.
