Moto3 Malaysia Race: Superb victory for John McPhee, concerns for Stefano Nepa

Third in the Championship, Dennis Foggia qualified in pole position for the fourth time in his GP career, all achieved this season with France, Catalonia and Thailand. He will aim for victory for the fifth time this year after the GPs of Indonesia, Great Britain, San Marino and Thailand. He scored no points during his two visits to Sepang in Moto3.

Only louis salom (2013) Joan Mir (2017) et George Martin (2018) won from pole in Moto3 at Sepang. The 3 Moto2022 World Champion, Izan Guevara, qualified in second position, which is the ninth time since the start of the year that he has qualified in the top three. He will look to win in back-to-back races for the third time this year, with Catalunya/Germany and Aragon/Japan.

Second in the Championship, Sergio Garcia, who scored his first Moto3 podium at Sepang in 2019, qualified in third position, which is the fifth time since the start of the year that he has qualified in the top three with Argentina, the Spain, Japan and Australia. In three of them he finished on the podium, including a victory in Argentina. GASGAS could clinch the Moto3 constructors' world championship title for the first time in GP if the best GASGAS rider does not concede more than 16 points to the best rider Honda.

James Masia, who finished third at Sepang in Moto3 in 2019, qualified in fourth position, which is the seventh time since the start of the year that he has qualified in the top 6. He will aim for victory for the first time since France earlier this year.

The rookie Daniel Holgado qualified in fifth position, which is the eighth time since the start of the year that he has qualified in the top six. He will try to get on the podium for the second time, like in Aragon where he was third.

Fourth in the championship, Ayumu Sasaki qualified in seventh position, which is the eighth time this year that he has failed to qualify in the top six. He will try to win for the first time since Austria at the start of the year.

What will the Malaysian Grand Prix have in store for us in this category? Before you know it, here is the table that summarizes the facts known so far.

Moto3 Sepang™	2019	2022
FP1	2'18.921 Andrea Migno	2'12.226 Dennis Foggia
FP2	2'12.466 Kaito Toba	2'12.348 Dennis Foggia
FP3	2'11.673 Tatsuki Suzuki	2'12.418 David Munoz
Q1	2'12.390 Albert Arenas	2'12.632 Ryusei Yamanaka
Q2	2'11.758 Marcos Ramírez	2'11.411 Dennis Foggia
Warm-up	2'12.523 Albert Arenas	2'25.542 Jaume Masia
Course	Dalla Porta, Garcia, Masia	McPhee, Sasaki, Garcia
All time lap record	2'11.673 Tatsuki Suzuki (2019)	2'11.411 Dennis Foggia

It's 31.1° in the air and 35.7° on the track: the sky is overcast. The track still shows traces of humidity following the rain this morning

Furusato is penalized for a bike that is too light: he will start from the stands

The drivers will have 17 laps to complete.

It's off and it's Guevara who takes control of Foggia and Garcia. Suzuki and Nepa complete this top5

Foggia makes the effort and takes the lead again. They come in a bundle! Guevara is falling in the rankings, he is now 9th!

Big fall for Nepa in turn 9: the driver complains about his leg

5 drivers now clearly stand out with Garcia at the controls ahead of Masia, Moreira, Foggia and Munoz.

Ogden Falls

There are 14 laps remaining and in front of Masia is the new leader of a group of 6: he is ahead of Moreira, Garcia, Foggia, Holgado, Sasaski: Ortola, Guevara, McPhee and Artigas complete this top10 provisional..

Munoz crashes in turn 9, Suzuki makes a mistake in the same place.

There's bickering in this group of 6 for victory: in this little game, it's Foggia who doesn't give up and takes the lead again but only for a little because Moreira, tough as hell, takes the lead again, Foggia responds! Followed by Masia who recovers 2nd position, Sasaki, Guevara, Garcia and Moreira bring up the rear of this provisional top6: there are 10 laps left for the drivers to decide between themselves!

Guevara is back in force! He brings with him Moreira, Ortola, Rossi, McPhee, Oncu.

The world champion takes the lead!

8 laps from the goal, Foggia returns him to 2nd position: Sasaki, Garcia, Masia complete this top5

There are 6 laps remaining and we are witnessing some battles: Guevara regains the leadership in front of Sasaki: Garcia, 3rd, having missed out, is passed by Masia who thus recovers 3rd position.

Fall of Rossi

Abandonment by Tatay who returns to the box.

Frightened by Guevara who goes into the grass: Sasaki misses a report and swerves, thus taking the Spaniard on board. Lost race!

New leader of the race: Garcia ahead of Masia, Foggia, Sasaki and McPhee. 3 rounds left

Furusato crashes in turn 1

 They start the last lap, there are 4 in the lead: Garcia, Foggia, Sasaki and Masia

Foggia moves to the forefront but Masia responds as does McPhee who takes control!

Victory for McPhee ahead of Sasaki and Garcia  

Very good end of the season for the British: he is leaving through the big door of Moto3!!!

Bad fall at the start of the race for Stefano Nepa. The KTM MTA team rider appears to have suffered a displaced fracture of his tibia and fibula and immediately after the fall he was in severe pain while on the stretcher.

Moto3 Malaysia Race: classification

1. John McPhee, Husqvarna, 17 laps in 38:04.589

2. Sasaki, Husqvarna, + 0.048sec

3. Garcia, GASGAS, +0.146

4. Masia, KTM
5. Moreira, KTM
6. Foggia, Honda
7. Holgado, KTM
8 Yamanaka, KTM
9 Ortola, KTM
10 Deniz Öncü, KTM
11 Artigas, CFMOTO
12 Guevara, GASGAS
13 Bartolini, KTM
14 Migno, Honda
15 Adrian Fernández, KTM.

Credit classification motogp.com