Vinales clears off from Marquez for Malaysian MotoGP victory

Full Malaysian MotoGP race results at Sepang

Maverick Vinales has produced a flawless performance to take victory at the Malaysian MotoGP for Monster Yamaha having bolted away from Marc Marquez at Sepang.

The Spanish rider has claimed his and Yamaha’s first win since the Assen round by storming into the lead on the opening lap by passing Jack Miller at Turn 9 before darting clear of all his rivals with a stunning race pace.

Marquez, who started down in 11th place following his controversial qualifying crash, made light work of charging through the pack by making it into the top three before the end of Lap 1.

But a couple of laps behind Miller proved costly for the Repsol Honda rider, as Vinales pulled out a valuable one-second advantage at the front by the time Marquez moved into second place on Lap 3 with a smart move past Miller at Turn 14.

Looking to pursue the Monster Yamaha rider, Marquez simply didn’t have the pace to match Vinales which saw the gap gradually expand as the race progressed.

Vinales duly claimed a dominant victory to launch himself into third place in the MotoGP riders’ standings with one round to go.

Marquez’s second place keeps up his stunning record of finishing inside the top two in every round apart from the Americas MotoGP and secures a new biggest points haul across a single MotoGP campaign.

Further back Andrea Dovizioso resisted a race-long attack from Valentino Rossi and Alex Rins to complete the podium for Ducati, as the nine-time world champion’s rostrum drought continued despite an encouraging performance in fourth place.

With Rins in fifth for Suzuki, it left a subdued Petronas Yamaha duo to finish further down the order than expected.

Both Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli topped every practice session ahead of their team’s home debut in the premier class, but the satellite Yamaha pair failed to replicate the same pace in the race.

Morbidelli held on to sixth place ahead of team-mate Quartararo who was left visibly frustrated at the end of the race.

Miller endured a poor late fade to take eighth place for Pramac Ducati, while behind him Johann Zarco was taken out by Joan Mir which landed the Suzuki with a Long Lap penalty, allowing the Australian to escape in the final three laps.

Danilo Petrucci also profited for ninth place for Ducati ahead of Mir, with Red Bull KTM’s Pol Espargaro recovering from a nightmare Sepang weekend to take 11th place.

Francesco Bagnaia failed to replicate his Phillip Island speed in 12th place but ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro, as Jorge Lorenzo returned to the points for Repsol Honda in 14th place.

Mika Kallio completed the points places in 15th for Red Bull KTM ahead of home rider Hafizh Syahrin on the Tech3 KTM and Avintia Ducati’s Karel Abraham.

Both Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Andrea Iannone (Aprilia) crashed out of the race, while both Miguel Oliveira (Tech3 KTM) and Tito Rabat (Avintia Ducati) missed the Sepang race due to respective injuries.