Obviously, if the joy is intense in the new Moto3 world champion Jorge Martin, the disappointment is at the same height for the one who fought tooth and nail throughout the year against the Spanish driver.
The dream was therefore shattered in Malaysia for Marco Bezzecchi and the Redox PrüstelGP team who must now raise their heads and fight in the final round in Valencia to maintain their 2nd place in the championship, still mathematically accessible to Fabio Di Giannantonio, only 9 points behind the VR46 Riders Academy rider seconded to the German team.
Race Sunday began with the Warm up session for the Moto3™ category at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. Marco Bezzecchi took advantage of the warm-up to prepare for the race and find the right feeling.
The Redox PrüstelGP driver started from the front row, right next to Jorge Martin in pole position. Marco Bezzecchi got off to a good start and was able to take the lead from the first corner to lead the race. He was even able to immediately create a small gap and finished the first 3 laps in the lead.
Without being able to escape, he had to give up the lead to avoid a fall but always remained at the forefront, showing a certain caution in the face of the numerous overtakes, sometimes bordering on dangerousness, inherent to this category.
Towards the end of the race, his rival Jorge Martin took the lead and suddenly found himself with a larger gap than usual. Unfortunately for him, Marco Bezzecchi was unable to catch up with him, busy fighting with the other pilots around him.
He therefore finished 5th while George Martin wins both the Malaysian Grand Prix and the Moto3 category world title.
The German team that fields the KTM of Marco Bezzecchi is both very disappointed to see the dream of winning the championship disappear, but also very happy and proud of the Italian's performance and the work done, the latter being materialized by 3 victories and 6 other podiums this year.
Next year, Marco Bezzecchi will integrate the Moto2 Tech3 Racing KTM structure, accompanied by its technical manager Florian Chiffoleau whose interviews we regularly publish here.
Marco Bezzecchi : “Unfortunately I can't say much at the moment, I'm just very disappointed. We gave everything, but in the end, there was a little missing. I thank everyone who made this journey possible for me. And even if we had imagined a different ending, we can all be proud of our accomplishments. Thanks to my team, to KTM, to our sponsors and fans, to Valentino Rossi and the VR46 Riders Academy, who have all given me the necessary support throughout the season.”
Florian Prüstel : “Marco showed us a great race today, he gave everything. Too bad it only brought a 5th place, but Jorge Martin once again proved his strength and ended up victorious. This victory allowed J. Martin to extend his lead and capture the title prematurely. In the next and final race in Valencia, we will do our best to achieve our goal of finishing the season as Vice-World Champion. I am very proud of the work we have accomplished this season. In the first season with KTM we are the best KTM rider and also the best KTM team. A big thank you to the team, sponsors and partners.”
The next race will take place in Valencia in less than two weeks, and will be the last stop of the 2018 season. The Grand Prix Motul de la Comunitat Valencia will take place there on November 18 and Marco Bezzecchi will face it Fabio Di Giannantonio, the teammate of Jorge Martin, for the title of vice-champion in the Moto3 category.
3 Moto2018 world championship ranking:
| 1 | George Martin | Honda | 240 | |
| 2 | Marco Bezzecchi | KTM | 214 | -26 |
| 3 | Fabio DiGiannantonio | Honda | 205 | -35 |
| 4 | Enea Bastianini | Honda | 166 | -74 |
| 5 | Lorenzo Dalla Porta | Honda | 151 | -89 |
| 6 | Aron canet | Honda | 128 | -112 |
| 7 | gabriel rodrigo | KTM | 116 | -124 |
| 8 | Jakub Kornfeil | KTM | 115 | -125 |
| 9 | Albert Arenas | KTM | 107 | -133 |
| 10 | Marcos Ramirez | KTM | 95 | -145 |
| 11 | Andrea Migno | KTM | 82 | -158 |
| 12 | Tatsuki suzuki | Honda | 71 | -169 |
| 13 | James Masia | KTM | 66 | -174 |
| 14 | John Mcphee | KTM | 62 | -178 |
| 15 | Niccolo Antonelli | Honda | 62 | -178 |
| 16 | Philipp Oettl | KTM | 58 | -182 |
| 17 | Darryn binder | KTM | 57 | -183 |
| 18 | Tony Arbolino | Honda | 57 | -183 |
| 19 | Dennis Foggia | KTM | 55 | -185 |
| 20 | Adam Norrodin | Honda | 46 | -194 |
| 21 | Ayumu Sasaki | Honda | 45 | -195 |
| 22 | Kaito Toba | Honda | 37 | -203 |
| 23 | Alonso lopez | Honda | 36 | -204 |
| 24 | Celestine Vietti | KTM | 18 | -222 |
| 25 | Nicholas Bulega | KTM | 18 | -222 |
| 26 | Vicente Perez | KTM | 16 | -224 |
| 27 | Raul fernandez | KTM | 13 | -227 |
| 28 | Makar Yurchenko | Honda | 9 | -231 |
| 29 | Kazuki Masaki | KTM | 9 | -231 |
| 30 | Livio Law | KTM | 8 | -232 |
| 31 | Somkiat Chantra | Honda | 7 | -233 |
| 32 | Manuel Pagliani | Honda | 6 | -234 |
| 33 | Nakarin Atiratphuvapat | Honda | 4 | -236 |
| 34 | Ai Ogura | Honda | 1 | -239 |
| 35 | Yari Montella | Honda | 0 | -240 |
| 36 | Apiwath Wongthananon | KTM | 0 | -240 |
| 37 | Stefano Nepa | KTM | 0 | -240 |
| 38 | Jeremy Alcove | Honda | 0 | -240 |
| 39 | Kevin Zannoni | TM RACING | 0 | -240 |
| 40 | Luca GrÜNwald | KTM | 0 | -240 |
| 41 | Shizuka Okazaki | Honda | 0 | -240 |
| 42 | Yuto Fukushima | Honda | 0 | -240 |
| 43 | Filip Salac | KTM | 0 | -240 |
| 44 | Ryan Van De Lagemaat | KTM | 0 | -240 |
| 45 | Maximilian Kofler | KTM | 0 | -240 |
Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang, Moto3 Race: classification.
| 1 | 88 | Jorge MARTIN | Honda | 38'34.799 |
| 2 | 48 | Lorenzo FROM THE DOOR | Honda | +3.556 |
| 3 | 33 | Enea BASTIANINI | Honda | +3.757 |
| 4 | 75 | Albert Arenas | KTM | +3.795 |
| 5 | 12 | Marco BEZZECCHI | KTM | +4.095 |
| 6 | 21 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Honda | +4.106 |
| 7 | 40 | Darryn BINDER | KTM | +4.232 |
| 8 | 14 | Tony ARBOLINO | Honda | +4.704 |
| 9 | 24 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | Honda | +4.707 |
| 10 | 23 | Niccolo ANTONELLI | Honda | +4.715 |
| 11 | 42 | Marcos RAMIREZ | KTM | +4.727 |
| 12 | 27 | Kaito TOBA | Honda | +5.101 |
| 13 | 77 | Vicente PEREZ | KTM | +6.392 |
| 14 | 41 | Nakarin ATIRATPHUVAPAT | Honda | +7.063 |
| 15 | 22 | Kazuki MASAKI | KTM | +7.353 |
| 16 | 16 | Andrea MIGNO | KTM | +7.478 |
| 17 | 76 | Makar YURCHENKO | Honda | +7.626 |
| 18 | 71 | Ayumu SASAKI | Honda | +13.843 |
| 19 | 65 | Philipp OETTL | KTM | +19.992 |
| 20 | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | KTM | +26.678 |
| 21 | 81 | Stefano NEPA | KTM | +34.184 |
| 22 | 9 | Apiwath WONGTHANANON | KTM | +34.468 |
| 23 | 7 | Adam NORRODIN | Honda | + 1'37.387 |
| Unclassified | ||||
| 44 | Aaron CANET | Honda | 7 Tours | |
| 72 | Alonso LOPEZ | Honda | 11 Tours | |
| 17 | John MCPHEE | KTM | 11 Tours | |
| 10 | Dennis FOGGIA | KTM | 11 Tours | |
| 31 | Celestino VIETTI | KTM | 15 Tours |
