Marc Márquez secretly hoped for it. Bend the championship from Malaysia to present himself as World Champion for the fourth time in MotoGP during the last event in Valencia would have been a relief. But Dovizioso resisted by winning in rain which would have required too much risk for the Honda driver. MM93 therefore wisely led his bike to the finish, taking a fourth place which allows him to keep 21 points ahead at the end. Which is still comfortable.
A precious and substantial capital that its rival at Ducati recognizes as difficult to make up for on a regular basis: “ Something should happen in Valencia » admitted the man who, at least, tied with his opponent on the total number of successes this year: six.
And then there was also this team discipline among the reds which, however, was not obvious on the track. Lorenzo was still leading the way on the Sepang track four laps from the finish in control of the race, forcing his teammate in the running for the crown to take risks to stay in contact. And if there was an overrun, it was firstly because Por Fuera almost fell to the ground.
However, in principle, Marc Márquez doesn't find anything shocking. It even makes common sense: “ Quite frankly, when you are a driver in a team, you are a professional. You are aware of what you should do in each situation. I don't know if there were any instructions or not, but Lorenzo understood what he needed to do. This is completely normal. You understand that you are fighting for a victory but that your team is fighting for a title. I completely agree with that ».
On his race, he comments: “ We had the worst conditions of the meeting. It was very slippery. The limit was difficult to find and a mistake could quickly happen. I started off being very aggressive, then I quickly realized that the two Ducatis were faster than me. With Zarco, I took risks. So I told myself that 24 or 21 points ahead was not the most important thing. I secured my fourth place. In this race, you had to be calm and keep a low profile. I could have won by risking everything, but I could also have fallen and found myself only eight points ahead ».
« The Ducatis were very strong under acceleration, as always, but on the wet track I couldn't compensate with my braking. Of course I'm going to Valencia with the pressure. I'm not going there relaxed because I want to stay focused and attack from FP1. But I like this layout and the turns of this circuit ».
#MalaysianGP MotoGP J.3: Ranking
| 1 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 44'51.497 |
| 2 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | 0.743 |
| 3 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | 9.738 |
| 4 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 17.763 |
| 5 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 29.144 |
| 6 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 30.38 |
| 7 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 30.769 |
| 8 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda | 35.238 |
| 9 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 38.053 |
| 10 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | 39.847 |
| 11 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 42.559 |
| 12 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 44.602 |
| 13 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Ducati | 48.696 |
| 14 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | 50.058 |
| 15 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 50.705 |
| 16 | 60 | Michael VAN DER MARK | Yamaha | 56.397 |
| 17 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 58.391 |
| 18 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Honda | + 1'25.571 |
| Not Classified | ||||
| 22 | Sam LOWES | Aprilia | 11 lapses | |
| 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 12 lapses | |
| 76 | Loris BAZ | Ducati | 15 lapses | |
| 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 0 laps | |
