Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang, Moto2 Race: Marini winner like brother Rossi and Bagnaia World Champion.

Since the start of the season, Moto2 has never had the opportunity to celebrate a Spanish victory. A first in the history of the discipline which began in 2010. In fact, from its pole position, Alex Marquez has every intention of defeating this Indian sign. This Malaysian Grand Prix can designate the new World Champion of the category, and it is bagnaia who holds the rope for this coronation with two deadlines at the end of the campaign.

Before launching into the calculations, here is a reminder of the facts with the table which always does its duty of remembering:

Sepang Moto2™	2017	2018
FP1	2'06.856 Miguel Oliveira	2'08.351 Alex Marquez
FP2	2'24.074 Alex Marquez	2'06.928 Alex Marquez
FP3	2'06.605 Franco Morbidelli	2'07.768 Alex Marquez
Qualification	2'06.406 Franco Morbidelli	2'05.629 Alex Marquez (new record)
Warm Up	2'06.569 Brad Binder	2'23.985 Andrea Locatelli
Course	Oliveira, Binder, Morbidelli
All time lap record	2'06.383 Tom Lüthi 2015

To put the stakes in mind, here are the different scenarios which would allow a coronation of Francis Bagnaia in Malaysia:

– If he finishes on the podium

– If he finishes fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh, Miguel Oliveira must not win the race

– If he finishes eighth, ninth, tenth or 11th, Miguel Oliveira must not do better than third

– If he finishes 12th, 13th or 14th, Miguel Oliveira must not appear on the podium.

– If he finishes 15th or does not score points, Miguel Oliveira must not do better than fifth.

32° in the air and 45° on a dry track but under an overcast sky, these are the conditions offered for the 18 laps of this penultimate race of the year in Moto2. Locatelli Oliveira et Marini had composed the morning trifecta. bagnaia came out fifteenth and Quarterly thirteenth.

Marini passes the first turn in the lead. Alex Marquez is only eighth and Quarterly seventh after veering wide in turn 1 practically approached in the lead….The front row exploded! bagnaia, Olive tree et Gardner with the Tech3 follow the leader who gets a scare before starting his second lap...  Olive tree fits between the two VR46 drivers. But bagnaia doesn't want to see the KTM in front of him. A duel is launched and Gardner tries in vain to take advantage of it…

Marina, on the other hand is giving itself some air with a lead of eight tenths. He set the best time of the moment in 2'07.423.  lecuona fall at turn 14. After three laps, the VR46 duo leads the way in front Olive tree et Gardner. Alex Marquez is sixth and Quarterly ninth at a lower pace which leads him to joust in the peloton, and in particular against Fernandez.

After five rounds, Gardner made a mistake in turn 15. He was sixth.

Meanwhile, Olive tree sticks to bagnaia. Pasini is fourth. The top 5 is closed by Alex Marquez, one second behind the leading trio. Quarterly passes seventh at the moment when Olive tree double bagnaia...

Nagashima fall at turn 15. Ten laps from the goal, Olive tree nibbles on Marini while bagnaia monitors the return of Pasini. Tuuli fall at the decidedly tricky turn 15. Fernandez falls in turn.

Olive tree makes the connection with Marini with nine rounds to go and Pasini is in the wake of bagnaia. We have kings academy pilots Red in this leading quartet… And one of them plays the title. Will the ItalTrans driver attack bagnaia ? What resistance will offer Marini ?

Behind, Alex Marquez makes the effort to put it back together by bringing back Baldassarri. The two men touch each other at turn 1 and the action is subject to investigation... They lose precious time on the leading men, five laps from the checkered flag.

Four laps from the end, Quarterly rings the charge and sets his best times. He is seventh and trying to come back Alex Marquez et Baldassarri. In front, Marini still holding on...

Quarterly manly pass a Alex Marquez who defended himself with at least as much conviction three laps from the end... The last lap began with a Marini who holds his first victory at this level of the competition. A performance that he takes under the checkered flag under the eyes of his big brother Valentino Rossi. Olive tree is second in front bagnaia and will present himself in Valencia with a liability of 32 points. The title is therefore the prerogative of the Italian and future Pramac Ducati rider. Pasini is fourth, ahead Quarterly.

Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang, Moto2 Race: classification.

1	Luca MARINI	38'25.689		10	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	25
2	Miguel OLIVEIRA	38'26.883	+1.194 / 1.194	44	POR	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	20
3	Francesco BAGNAIA	38'28.709	+3.020 / 1.826	42	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	16
4	Mattia PASINI	38'30.186	+4.497 / 1.477	54	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	13
5	Fabio QUARTARARO	38'30.939	+5.250 / 0.753	20	FRA	MB Conveyors – Speed ​​Up	Speed ​​Up	11
6	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	38'30.994	+5.305 / 0.055	7	ITA	Pons HP40	Kalex	10
7	Alex MARQUEZ	38'33.379	+7.690 / 2.385	73	SPA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	9
8	Brad BINDER	38'34.632	+8.943 / 1.253	41	RSA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	8
9	Marcel SCHROTTER	38'35.376	+9.687 / 0.744	23	GER	Dynavolt Intact GP	Kalex	7
10	Joan Mir	38'44.236	+18.547 / 8.860	36	SPA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	6
11	Xavi VIRGIN	38'44.505	+18.816 / 0.269	97	SPA	Dynavolt Intact GP	Kalex	5
12	Andrea LOCATELLI	38'45.428	+19.739 / 0.923	5	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	4
13	Jorge NAVARRO	38'46.866	+21.177 / 1.438	9	SPA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	3
14	Dominique AEGERTER	38'47.649	+21.960 / 0.783	77	SWI	Kiefer Racing	KTM	2
15	Sam LOWES	38'52.564	+26.875 / 4.915	22	GBR	Swiss Innovative Investors	KTM	1
16	Simone CORSI	38'54.204	+28.515 / 1.640	24	ITA	Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2	Kalex	0
17	Khairul Idham PAWI	38'54.491	+28.802 / 0.287	89	MAL	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	0
18	Joe ROBERTS	38'55.48	+29.791 / 0.989	16	USA	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	0
19	Jesko RAFFIN	38'56.246	+30.557 / 0.766	2	SWI	SAG Team	Kalex	0
20	Edgar PONS	38'56.758	+31.069 / 0.512	57	SPA	MB Conveyors – Speed ​​Up	Speed ​​Up	0
21	Steven ODENDAAL	39'04.119	+38.430 / 7.361	4	RSA	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	0
22	Jules DANILO	39'08.619	+42.930 / 4.500	95	FRA	Nashi Argan SAG Team	Kalex	0
23	Dimas EKKY PRATAMA	39'23.196	+57.507 / 14.577	30	INA	Tech 3 Racing	Tech 3	0
24	Isaac VIÑALES	39'23.599	+57.910 / 0.403	32	SPA	Forward Racing Team	Suter	0
25	Federico FULIGNI	39'29.426	+63.737 / 5.827	21	ITA	Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2	Kalex	0
26	Rafid Topan SUCIPTO	40'29.755	+124.066 / 60.329	50	INA	Forward Racing Team	Suter	0
-1	Augusto FERNANDEZ	17'11.225		40	SPA	Pons HP40	Kalex	0
-1	Niki TUULI	15'16.913		66	END	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	0
-1	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	16'52.796		45	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	0
-1	Remy GARDNER	11'24.485		87	AUS	Tech 3 Racing	Tech 3	0
-1	Xavi CARDELUS	12'02.737		18	AND	Marinelli Snipers Team	Kalex	0
-1	Iker LECUONA	05'27.706		27	SPA	Swiss Innovative Investors	KTM	0