My life is complicated! Starting on Friday, I was nervous because I didn't have confidence in the bike. On Saturday, we solved some problems in the sprint, and on Sunday we arrived prepared, ready to fight for the top 10. Starting from far away is difficult, I gave it my all, but it's hard to make up positions on that track because the front tire overheats more and more, but anyway, I'm happy with the work we did today. We still lack a bit of consistency, especially in time attacks, because every time we put on new tires, all the KTM riders improve, except me, so it's something we need to understand and I'm sure we can improve. Last year, I had the same problem and we solved it, so I'm confident we'll find a way to solve it with the KTM too."
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"It's a shame because I lost some time at the start battling with Chantra, because my pace in the first part of the race was good to stay with the group. After I stayed in the slipstream, temperatures rose and the tires wore out. We'll continue to try new things and have some ideas that we'll test on track in Jerez in two days during the private tests."
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"It's been an intense weekend, and we've established a clear direction for the next test and the wildcard race weekend in Valencia, aiming to improve further. We've been working on the bike's balance, and we need to continue doing so to establish a baseline. This process will take some time, so we need to keep working hard."
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MOTO2 Dixon celebrates at Sepang, Moreira soars to the top of the standings
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Jake Dixon (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) wins the Moto2™ race at the Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix: the British rider prevails in Sepang, with overtaking moves, crashes, and changes in the World Championship standings. Second place goes to David Alonso (CFMOTO Aspar Team) ahead of Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego). There's a major twist in the title fight: championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) crashes, handing the lead to Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team), who finished fifth today.
Holgado leads before the red flag . Great starts for Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) and Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Aspar Team), who takes the lead while Baltus quickly slips to seventh.
Behind Holgado are Albert Arenas (ITALJET Gresini Moto2), David Alonso (CFMOTO Aspar Team), Jake Dixon (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), Tony Arbolino (Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha Moto2), and Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP), who has his world title rival Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) in 11th place.
Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team), Darryn Binder (ITALJET Gresini Moto2), and Dani Muñoz (Red Bull KTM Ajo) crashed in the early stages of the race. Roberts' crash brought out the red flag, but the American was fortunately unhurt. The
race restarted after 11 laps, with Holgado reclaiming the lead ahead of Jake Dixon, Arenas, and Manuel Gonzalez, followed by David Alonso. Moreira was still 11th and must make up ground. Dixon and Arenas are battling it out for the podium. The Briton barely touches the Spaniard, who slips to fifth place behind Alonso and Baltus.
Dixon takes the lead, while Moreira makes a strong comeback . Dixon gains more than half a second in one lap and passes Holgado, taking the lead with nine laps to go. Manuel Gonzalez passes Arenas and moves up to fifth, while Moreira is eighth. Aron Canet (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego), third in the championship, is 16th and therefore out of the points.
Manu Gonzalez is out. Dixon extends his lead over Alonso, who in turn distances Holgado. Baltus is fourth, with Moreira behind him, chasing crucial championship points. With three laps to go, the big twist: Manuel Gonzalez crashes, and Moreira, in fifth, scores 11 key points, moving up to nine over his rival. Baltus finishes third
in the top ten, ahead of Holgado and Moreira. Sixth place for Arenas, ahead of Dani Muñoz, Alex Escrig (KLINT Forward Factory Team), Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Tony Arbolino (Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha Moto2).
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"I'm really happy with the race and the weekend here in Malaysia. We're doing a fantastic job this year, and this result proves it. Now there are two races left: we need to stay calm, focus, and keep working as we've been doing so far."
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MOTO3 First world championship victory for Furusato and first victory of the season for Honda
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The Moto3™ race at the Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang is taking place after a crash on the formation lap between José Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Noah Dettwiler (CIP Green Power). Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) takes his first World Championship victory, and it's Honda's first win of the season. Furusato leads Angel Piqueras (Frinsa - MT Helmets - MSI) and Adrian Fernandez. Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Aspar Team) is named Rookie of the Year.
Change of Plan During the formation lap, a serious crash occurs between world champion José Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Noah Dettwiler (CIP Green Power), both of whom were taken to the hospital. This delay and a change of plan for Sunday's race in Malaysia will result, with Moto3 returning to the track for ten laps.
Start and early stages. In a situation conditioned by what happened, the track returned with Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) starting from second on the grid and taking the lead ahead of Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Aspar Team) and poleman David Almansa (Leopard Racing). Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) finished fourth, closely followed by Angel Piqueras (Frinsa - MT Helmets - MSI) and Guido Pini (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP).
Overtaking and counter-overtaking in the leading group . The leading group consisted of 11 riders, including Malaysian Danish. David Almansa took the lead ahead of Furusato, but the Japanese rider reclaimed the lead: the race continued with a series of overtaking and counter-overtaking moves.
Furusato took the lead, with Quiles leading the field . At halfway through the race, Furusato, Pini, Quiles, Adrian Fernandez, and Piqueras gained almost a second on their pursuers. Furusato remains in the lead with a nearly half-second advantage, while the battle behind him heats up. Quiles pulls off a Marc Márquez-like stunt: with a great stunt, he avoids a near-certain crash but slips to seventh place.
Final stages and top ten: With two laps to go, Pini contacts Adrian Fernandez and is passed by Piqueras. Furusato takes his first world championship victory ahead of Piqueras and Adrian Fernandez. Fourth place goes to Almansa, ahead of Ryusei Yamanaka (Frinsa - MT Helmets - MSI), Carpe, and Quiles, who is crowned Rookie of the Year. Eighth place goes to Scott Ogden (CIP Green Power), with Brian Uriarte (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) and Valentín Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech3) also in the top ten.
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“I'm very happy with our podium, but also quite sad about the accident during the warm-up lap. Today I can only send all our strength to José Antonio and Noah.”
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“It was a very difficult race. I gave it my all on every lap, giving it 100%, but things didn't go as we'd hoped. We could have done much better.”
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