Moto2 Malaysia Race: Celestino Vietti on the top step of an unprecedented podium

Moto2 heads to the Sepang circuit for the penultimate round of its 2024 season. The title is now sealed, as Ai Ogura secured the world crown in Thailand, leaving Buriram with a fifty-plus point lead over his closest challenger, Aron Canet. The stakes are high, however, as the latter is battling it out for the vice-world champion title with some of the top riders. After a hard-fought practice session, Jorge Navarro took pole position at the end of Q2. Joe Roberts' replacement will look to defend it at the Moto2 race in Malaysia.

Here is a table that summarizes the known facts :

Moto2™ Malaysia, Sepang	2023	2024
FP	2'06.183 Fermin Adleguer	2'06.255 Jake Dixon
P1	2'06.293 Ai Ogura	2'05.576 Manuel Gonzalez
P2	2'05.316 Fermin Aldeguer	2'04.775 Albert Arenas
Q1	2'05.724 Tony Arbolino	2'05.202 Somkiat Chantra
Q2	2'05.288 Fermin Aldeguer	2'04.412 Jorge Navarro
Course	Aldeguer, Acosta, Ramirez (See here)	Vietti, Navarro, Guevara
All time lap record	2'04.769 Brad Binder (2019)	2'04.412 Jorge Navarro

Marcos Ramirez made the best start, and took the lead through the first corner. However, it was Celestino Vietti who emerged victorious from the battle between the leaders in the first sector. Promoted to the lead, the Italian finished the first lap with more than a second in hand, while his rivals continued to fight behind him.

Ramirez finally gets the better of Ai Ogura. Followed by Izan Guevara, the two men set off in pursuit of Vietti. It won't take long, as the leader makes a mistake at turn 1, and sees his advantage reduced to nothing.

Each driver in the top five, joined by Jorge Navarro, can then believe in victory. Behind, Deniz Öncü leads the drivers from sixth to tenth place, in a fight with Jake Dixon.

The tires are starting to deteriorate, and it is becoming impossible for some to maintain the pace. Izan Guevara and Ai Ogura are thus dropping out of the top three, while Jorge Navarro is gaining momentum. Halfway through the race, he overtakes his garage neighbor who is also dropping out, and is starting to catch up with Celesitno Vietti.

It is also Jake Dixon's time to shine, as he returns to Ogura and Ramirez. The latter will endure successive attacks from his two opponents, without putting up much resistance. The Moto2 world champion has shown unfailing consistency since the start of the season, but his mechanics are not keeping up. The Japanese rider is forced to retire due to a mechanical failure, ending a long series of top-5 finishes.

Jake Dixon is thus promoted to the podium. A little less than two seconds ahead of him, Jorge Navarro and Celestino Vietti are within a few tenths of each other.

The Team American Racing Kalex seemed to struggle with their rear end towards the end of the race, however, and Navarro let Vietti escape. Jake Dixon then came back at high speed to second place, but cut the throttle a lap too early, giving his teammate his first Moto2 podium.

Vietti finished first, and took another victory this season. Jorge Navarro returned to the podium and inflicted a punishment on his teammate, who had fallen to sixth place. Following this performance, the chances of seeing him on the bike at the last round of the season, if Joe Roberts is still nursing his broken hand, are high.

Aron Canet finished this difficult weekend in eighth position, and is still not officially vice-world champion of Moto2.

Moto2 Malaysian GP Race Results at Sepang:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com