Dovi wins it in Sepang

Sepang: Ducati’s  Andrea Dovizioso brought alive the Moto Grand Prix championship title fight, winning the season’s penultimate race at the Malaysian GP with a dominant display here on Sunday afternoon. It was a Ducati one-two with  Dovizioso and team mate Jorge Lorenzo producing superlative shows in wet conditions, that saw reigning world champion Marc Marquez of Honda take the fourth spot. Johann Zarco of Yamaha Tech 3 finished third.

Italy’s Dovizioso, who won in 44 minutes and 51.497 seconds, thus cutting down on Marquez’s 33-point championship lead to 21 as the teams now head to the final round in Valencia next month.

Beginning third on the grid, Dovizioso pushed hard early on as Marquez  — who began on seventh and needed a win to seal the championship — made a desperate attempt to catch up with the field. Marquez led for a brief moment early into the race only to go wide, that allowed Lorenzo and Zarco to go through.

Dovizioso, on the other hand, kept pressing Marquez and overtook the Spain rider on the fourth lap as the top four riders established a handy lead from the rest. A fourth-place finish on the day would have seen Marquez seal the championship had Dovizioso ended second, but the Italian was in mood to let up.

Lorenzo and Dovizioso maintained the one-two for a major part of the race until the former went wide, which allowed his team mate to go through on lap 15 in what appeared a coded message from the team. Dovizioso’s win meant the title race was stretched to the next round and also gave Ducati a slim chance to have a go at it.

Lorenzo, however, denied getting instructions from the team to let Dovizioso overtake him even as just 0.743 seconds separated the two. “I didn’t see any message as I was concentrated on winning. That was the only thing on my mind. It was a lapse on my part,” he said.

Dovizioso described it a “perfect weekend” but was cautious when asked about his chances of winning the title in Valencia. “It was a perfect weekend. We showed our work and how competitive we can be. We will try and approach the Valencia race in the same manner.

“But we know that Marquez will come out aggressively in Valencia. It was a bad day for him (today) and still he finished fourth, so we know how good he can be.” Pole-sitter Dani Pedrosa of Honda was fifth (+29.144), while Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucciita finished sixth in (+30.380). Italian giant Valentino Rossi was further behind at +30.380 in his Yamaha and was followed by Marc VDS’ Jack Miller.