In his penultimate Moto3™ World Championship race, John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) produced a phenomenal ride to come from P22 on the grid to P1 at the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia to claim his first win since the 2020 San Marino GP. Ayumu Sasaki made it a Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max 1-2 with a second place finish, with Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) picking up the final podium in P3.

Tricky conditions greeted the riders at the beginning of the race as there were still plenty of damp patches lingering from overnight rain in Sepang, but everyone – rightly – opted for slicks. Off the line, newly crowned World Champion Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) timed his launch to perfection to grab the holeshot, with Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) and teammate Garcia slotting in close behind. Turn 9 then saw Foggia overtake both GASGAS Aspar riders before David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) expertly grabbed P3 – Guevara was now down to P9.

On Lap 2 coming out of Turn 9, Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) highsided out of the top five as the field did a great job of avoiding the Italian, but the incident saw Nepa – thankfully conscious – taken to the medical centre. Once the race had settled down, a lead group of five had formed but we then saw Turn 9 catch out Muñoz and Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) in quick succession.

With 12 laps to go, the fight for the lead was now between eight riders: Garcia, Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI), Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Foggia, Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max), Guevara and Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team). McPhee – after starting P22 – was dragging himself and Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) into the lead group, quickly making it a 20-wheel battle.

After Guevara took the lead for a couple of laps, Foggia bit back with eight laps to go before Guevara was back holding the baton with six laps left. After making great progress, Rossi crashed out of P7 at Turn 1 with five laps to go, seeing a group of five form for the lead – McPhee in sixth was seven tenths away from Foggia’s rear wheel.

Coming out of the final corner on Lap 13 of 17, Guevara made contact with the rear end of Sasaki’s machine. The World Champion was out of shape and on the grass, but thankfully the number 28 wrestled control of his GASGAS bike to avoid a crash. However, it was podium hopes over for the Spaniard – he was now P12.

Heading onto Lap 16 of 17, Garcia led from Sasaki, Masia, Foggia, Moreira and McPhee. Six riders going for Sepang glory. The last corner on the penultimate lap saw Foggia dive underneath Masia and Sasaki, which gave Garcia some crucial breathing space on the final lap – 0.3s to be precise. Turn 9 – a stranglehold for Garcia in the race – saw Foggia take P1 as an almighty battle played out for victory. McPhee saw an opportunity at Turn 14 to pounce – and pounce he did. Four riders dispatched in one move.

Sasaki was second and got a good dose of slipstream from teammate McPhee, but the Japanese rider was slightly wide at the final corner to allow McPhee to take the inside line. The Scotsman won the race to the chequered flag to claim a spectacular victory in his penultimate Moto3™ race. Sasaki made it a 1-2 for Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, with Garcia battling his way to P3. That result hands the latter advantage in the Championship P2 race, while GASGAS also wrap up the triple crown.

Masia missed out on a podium by just 0.099s as Moreira and Foggia take home P5 and P6 – Foggia now sits eight points down on Garcia in the chase for P2 in the overall standings. Holgado, Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI), Ortola and the recovering Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) rounding out the top 10, the Turk coming from P25 on the grid.

Xavier Artigas (CFMOTO Racing PrüstelGP) was 11^th ahead of Guevara, a disappointing end to another great weekend for the Champion, as Elia Bartolini (QJMotor Avintia Racing Team), Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) and Adrian Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Tech3) completed the points.

0.3s covered the top six in a classic Moto3™ encounter. Next up: the final round in Valencia! 

Top 10:
1. John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max)
2. Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) + 0.048
3. Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.146
4. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.245
5. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) + 0.319
6. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) + 0.371
7. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 5.817
8. Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) + 6.034
9. Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) + 6.230
10. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) + 6.732

Two MotoGP™ World Championship contenders crashed and another qualified all the way back on the fourth row as Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) shattered the All Time Lap Record in Q2 at the Sepang International Circuit. Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) masterfully got himself out of Q1 only to drop his Desmosedici on its front end while on track to go to provisional pole at the start of his second run in Q2 at the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia. He would be classified ninth but still out-qualified title rivals Alex Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), the former of whom went down at Turn 8 and the latter of whom could only take 12th on the grid.

When Q2 kicked off, Martin immediately stormed to a 1:58.021, almost three tenths of a second quicker than Quartararo’s All Time Lap Record of 1:58.303. Bagnaia was fastest in Q1 but had to start the second stanza of qualifying with a used soft Michelin slick on the back of his Ducati, and would be sixth at the end of the first runs on a 1:58.862. Still, he was ahead of his key rivals at that point, with Alex Espargaro eighth on a 1:58.935 and Quartararo, who had a finger strapped after a crash in FP4, 11th on a 1:59.215.

When Bagnaia went back out for his second run, Marquez latched on for a tow, as he had done in Q1. The tow was lost when Bagnaia had a front-end lose at Turn 4 having just set a new fastest first sector, and the eight-time World Champion was on his own. It proved little impediment, with Marquez jumping from the very bottom of the timing screen to third by clocking a 1:58.454.

The Honda man’s effort left Quartararo 12th and the Frenchman had a big front-end scare of his own at Turn 8. He saved it, but ran out of time to beat the chequered flag and get one more lap in, sealing his fate. Aleix Espargaro also sealed his own fate when he then indeed did take a tumble at Turn 8, and a chance to capitalise on the misfortunes of Bagnaia and Quartararo had gone begging.

Meanwhile, Martin was on the charge again! He slashed multiple tenths more from his new lap record to clinch pole with a 1:57.790, with Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) qualifying second courtesy of the 1:58.246 he clocked on his first run, and Marquez to join them at the front of the field for lights out. Row 2 will be the Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducatis of Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini sandwiching last-start race winner Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) in fifth.

Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), who will have to serve a Double Long Lap penalty on Sunday afternoon after riding slowly on the race line in front of Bagnaia and Marc Marquez in FP3, heads up Row 3, where he will be joined by Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) and Bagnaia. On Row 4, we find second and third in the Championship, with Aleix Espargaro 10th, Quartararo 12th, and Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) splitting them.

Earlier, it had also been a blockbuster Q1 with both factory Ducatis, Marc Marquez, Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), and more vying for the two positions which would take them into Q2. The threat of rain only increased the urgency, and Bagnaia was forced to tow several riders around with him when he went out for his first run. It mattered little for the Italian, who went top with a 1:58.895 on his first flyer and backed it up with a 1:58.645 next time through, as teammate Jack Miller sat second on a 1:59.064.

The second runs became a high-speed game of cat-and-mouse. Miller was seemingly sent out as a decoy and Marc Marquez, among others, duly followed the #43 entry back around the race track, leaving Bagnaia to his own devices. However, then the Australian ran wide at Turn 4 and Marc Marquez was the head of the train – until he too ran wide, at Turn 9, while brother Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) had crashed at Turn 8.

Miller was back in the locomotive position as riders started their respective final laps, but only as far as Turn 2, when he highsided in dramatic fashion – fortunately he would be seen sitting back in the Ducati Lenovo Team box a few minutes later. Unfortunately for him, he opened the door for Marc Marquez to snatch the other Q2 berth with a 1:58.878 on that lap, and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) took third for the session on a 1:59.053.

Binder is therefore set to start 13th, ahead of Miller, Cal Crutchlow (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team), Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in 19th. Remy Gardner (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) was classified 10th in Q1 after a crash at Turn 8 and hence will line up 20th on the grid, ahead of Alex Marquez, Raul Fernandez (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing), Tetsuta Nagashima (LCR Honda Idemitsu), and Darryn Binder (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team), who also had a spill.

After one of the most exhilarating afternoons of qualifying, the scene is set for a huge Sunday at Sepang. Warm Up starts at 10:40, then we will find out of Bagnaia can convert Match Point in the race itself from 15:00 (GMT +8)!

MotoGP™ Q2 Top 10
1. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) – 1:57.790
2. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) + 0.456
3. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.664
4. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.700
5. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.785
6. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.789
7. Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.864
8. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.976
9. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 1.072
10. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 1.145

Moto2™ World Championship leader Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) will start the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia from pole position ahead of his first match point Sunday, as the Japanese rider’s 2:06.405 saw him beat Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) by 0.083s. Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) rounds out the front row of the grid in P3, with title-chasing Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) settling for P6.

Moto2™’s qualifying story was all about two riders: Ogura and Fernandez. A huge 15 minutes awaited the duo in Q2 as Q1 graduate Filip Salač (Gresini Racing Moto2™) suffered an early crash, but there was no such worries for Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) – the Italian set a 2:06.488 to go quickest early in the session.

With seven minutes left, Ogura made his move to the top of the timesheets. 0.083s was the Free Practice pacesetter’s advantage over Arbolino, with Fernandez P6 heading into the final six minutes. It was a quiet couple of minutes that followed though as most of the field pitted, with Fernandez needing to find three tenths to beat his title rival.

However, nothing was coming on his final flying effort. And, crucially, no one was able to better Ogura’s time and for the third time this season, the Japanese star bagged pole position. A late charge from teammate Somkait Chantra saw the Thai rider pounce up to P7, one place behind Fernandez – how important could that be on Sunday afternoon?

Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) fronts the second row of the grid in P4, the British rider beat fifth fastest Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) by a slender 0.004s. Fernandez, meanwhile, was just under a tenth away from the front row but starts from P6 – work to do for the future MotoGP™ star.

Chantra’s late charge sees him launch from P7, the Thai star has Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) for company on the third row, with Australian GP winner Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up) closing out the top 10.

A potentially title-defining Sunday is on the horizon. It’s Ogura vs Fernandez, a win and a disaster for the Spaniard is the only way this fascinating title race doesn’t go to the season finale in Valencia. Tune in at 13:20 to see how it plays out. 

Top 10:
1. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) – 2:06.405
2. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 0.083
3. Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) + 0.247
4. Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.296
5. Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) + 0.300
6. Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.333
7. Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 0.491
8. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.529
9. Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) + 0.545
10. Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up) + 0.547

A new lap record saw Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) claim a fourth Moto3™ pole position of the season as his 2:11:411 enabled the Italian to beat World Champion Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) in Q2 at the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia. Sergio Garcia makes it two Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team machines on the front row, as the Spaniard and Foggia get set to fight it out for the silver medal in 2022.

Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI), Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power), Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) and Joel Kelso (CIP Green Power) joined the Q2 fray after progressing through Q1, as the early pace in the second 15-minute sprint was set by Foggia – and it was a belter. A 2:11.958 was the best Moto3™ lap of the weekend, but it didn’t last long as Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) pounced to go provisional pole.

After the first set of fast laps, 0.087s split the top four. Sasaki led Foggia, Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports), with Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) – chasing P2 in the overall standings – 1.7s off in P17. That soon changed though as the Spaniard set a belting time on his first second run attack, the new fastest time was a 2:11.674.

And it was a time that was beaten – by his two main rivals! Guevara briefly sat P1 but Foggia’s new all-time lap record saw the Italian rise to pole position at the end of the session, with the top three in the World Championship all starting on the front row for Sunday’s penultimate race of the season.

Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) set his best lap on his final effort to rise to the spearhead of Row 2 in P4, with the Spaniard joined by teammate Daniel Holgado on the second row in P5. Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) completed the top six, with Sasaki shuffled down to P7 by the end of the session. Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing), Rossi and Muñoz rounded out a top 10 covered by 0.640s in Moto3™ Q2.

Tune into the Moto3™ race at 12:00 local time (GMT+8) on Sunday! 

Top 10:
1. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) – 2:11.411
2. Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.224
3. Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.263
4. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.340
5. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.425
6. Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) + 0.432
7. Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) + 0.496
8. Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) + 0.523
9. Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.549
10. David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) + 0.640